2 Chronicles 29

Hezekiah Succeeds Ahaz in Judah

11Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old; and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. 22He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with everything that his father David had done.

3In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he 3opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them. 4He brought in the priests and the Levites and gathered them into the public square on the east.

Reforms Begun

5Then he said to them, “Listen to me, you Levites. 4Consecrate yourselves now, and consecrate the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and carry the uncleanness out of the holy place. 6For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done evil in the sight of the Lord our God, and they have abandoned Him and 5turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the Lord, and have 6turned their backs. 7They have also 7shut the doors of the porch and extinguished the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel. 8Therefore 8the wrath of the Lord was against Judah and Jerusalem, and He has made them an object of terror, of horror, and of 9hissing, as you see with your own eyes. 9For behold, 10our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons, our daughters, and our wives are in captivity because of this. 10Now it is in my heart 11to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, so that His burning anger may turn away from us. 11My sons, do not be negligent now, for 12the Lord has chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, and to be His ministers and burn incense.”

12Then the Levites arose: 13Mahath the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, from the sons of 14the Kohathites; and from the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; and from the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah and Eden the son of Joah; 13and from the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and 15Jeiel; and from the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah; 14and from the sons of Heman, 16Jehiel and Shimei; and from the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel. 15They assembled their brothers, 17consecrated themselves, and went in 18to cleanse the house of the Lord, according to the commandment of the king 19by the words of the Lord. 16So the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and they brought every unclean thing which they found in the temple of the Lord out to the courtyard of the house of the Lord. Then the Levites received it to carry out to 20the Kidron 21Valley. 17Now they began 22the consecration 23on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they entered the porch of the Lord. Then they consecrated the house of the Lord in eight days, and finished on the sixteenth day of the first month. 18Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed the whole house of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the table of the showbread with all of its utensils. 19Moreover, 24all the utensils which King Ahaz had discarded during his reign in his unfaithfulness, we have prepared and consecrated; and behold, they are before the altar of the Lord.”

Hezekiah Restores Temple Worship

20Then King Hezekiah got up early and assembled the princes of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord. 21They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats 25as a sin offering for the kingdom, the sanctuary, and Judah. And he ordered the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord. 22So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. They also slaughtered the rams and sprinkled the blood on the altar; they slaughtered the lambs as well, and 26sprinkled the blood on the altar. 23Then they brought the male goats of the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and 27they laid their hands on them. 24The priests slaughtered them and purified the altar with their blood 28to atone for all Israel, because the king ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.

2529He then stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, harps, and lyres, 30according to the command of David and of 31Gad, the king’s seer, and of 32Nathan the prophet; for the command was from the Lord through His prophets. 26The Levites stood with 33the musical instruments of David, and 34the priests with the trumpets. 27Then Hezekiah gave the order to offer the burnt offering on the altar. When the burnt offering began, 35the song to the Lord also began with the trumpets, 36accompanied by the instruments of David, king of Israel. 28While the whole assembly worshiped, the singers also sang and the trumpets sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.

29Now at the completion of the burnt offerings, 37the king and all who were present with him bowed down and worshiped. 30Moreover, King Hezekiah and the officials ordered the Levites to sing praises to the Lord with the words of David and Asaph the seer. 38So they sang praises with joy, and bowed down and worshiped.

31Then Hezekiah said, “39Now that you have 40consecrated yourselves to the Lord, come forward and bring sacrifices and thanksgiving offerings to the house of the Lord.” So the assembly brought sacrifices and thanksgiving offerings, and 41everyone who was 42willing brought burnt offerings. 32The number of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was seventy bulls, a hundred rams, and two hundred lambs; all of these were for a burnt offering to the Lord. 33The consecrated offerings were six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep. 34But the priests were too few, so that they were unable to skin all the burnt offerings; 43therefore their brothers the Levites helped them until the work was finished and the other priests had consecrated themselves. For 44the Levites were more 45conscientious to consecrate themselves than the priests. 35There were also 4647many burnt offerings with 48the fat of the peace offerings and 49the drink offerings for the burnt offerings. So the service of the house of the Lord was established again. 36Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had prepared for the people, because the thing came about suddenly.