2 Chronicles 29

1 Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old; and he was king in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years; and his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.

Hezekiah became king when five and twenty years old, and twenty and nine years did he reign in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Abiyah, the daughter of Zecharyahu.

2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done.

And he did what is right in the eyes of the Lord, in accordance with all that David his father had done.

3 In the first year of his rule, in the first month, opening the doors of the Lord's house, he made them strong.

He it was that in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them.

4 And he sent for the priests and the Levites, and got them together in the wide place on the east side,

And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the open place at the east;

5 And said to them, Give ear to me, O Levites: now make yourselves holy, and make holy the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and take away everything unclean from the holy place.

And he said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify yourselves now, and sanctity the house of the Lord the God of your fathers, and carry forth the unclean thing out of the sanctuary.

6 For our fathers have done evil, sinning in the eyes of the Lord our God, and have given him up, turning away their faces from the house of the Lord, and turning their backs on him.

For our fathers have dealt faithlessly, and have done what is evil in the eyes of the Lord our God, and have forsaken him; and they have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord, and turned their backs.

7 The doors of his house have been shut and the lights put out; no perfumes have been burned or offerings made to the God of Israel in his holy place.

They had also locked up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and incense have they not burnt, and the burnt-offerings have they not offered in the sanctuary, unto the God of Israel.

8 And so the wrath of the Lord has come on Judah and Jerusalem, and he has given them up to be a cause of fear and wonder and shame, as your eyes have seen.

Wherefore the wrath of the Lord is upon Judah and Jerusalem. and he hath rendered them to be a horror, an astonishment, and a hissing, as ye see with your eyes.

9 For see, our fathers have been put to death with the sword, and our sons and daughters and wives have been taken away prisoners because of this.

And, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons, and our daughters, and our wives are in captivity because of this.

10 Now it is my purpose to make an agreement with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that the heat of his wrath may be turned away from us.

Now it is in my heart to make a covenant for the Lord the God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us.

11 My sons, take care now: for you have been marked out by the Lord to come before him and to be his servants, burning offerings to him.

My sons, be not negligent now; for of you hath the Lord made choice to stand before him, to minister unto him, and that ye might be unto him ministers and those that burn incense.

12 Then the Levites took their places; Mahath, the son of Amasai, and Joel, the son of Azariah, among the Kohathites; and of the sons of Merari, Kish, the son of Abdi, and Azariah, the son of Jehallelel; and of the Gershonites, Joah, the son of Zimmah, and Eden, the son of Joah;

Then arose the Levites, Machath the son of 'Amassai, and Joel the son of 'Azaryahu, of the sons of the Kehathites; and of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of 'Abdi, and 'Azaryahu the son of Jehallelel; and of the Gershunites, Joach the son of Zimmah, and 'Eden the son of Joach:

13 And of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel; and of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah;

And of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri, and Je'iel; and of the sons of Assaph, Zecharyahu and Matthanyahu;

14 And of the sons of Heman, Jehuel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.

And of the sons of Heman, Jechiel and Shim'i; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shema'yah and 'Uzziel;

15 And they got their brothers together and made themselves holy, and went in, as the king had said by the word of the Lord, to make the house of the Lord clean.

And they gathered together their brethren, and they sanctified themselves, and came, according to the command of the king, by the words of the Lord, to cleanse the house of the Lord.

16 And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to make it clean, and everything unclean which was to be seen in the Temple of the Lord they took out into the outer square of the Lord's house, and the Levites got it together and took it away to the stream Kidron.

And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord, to cleanse it; and they brought out every thing unclean which they found in the temple of the Lord into the court of the house of the Lord; and the Levites received it, to carry it out abroad unto the brook Kidron.

17 On the first day of the first month the work of making the house holy was started, and on the eighth day they came to the covered way of the Lord; in eight days they made the Lord's house holy, and on the sixteenth day of the first month the work was done.

And they commenced on the first day of the first month to sanctify; and on the eighth day of the month they came to the porch of the Lord, and they sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days; and on the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end.

18 Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said, We have made all the house of the Lord clean, as well as the altar of burned offerings with all its vessels, and the table for the holy bread, with all its vessels.

Then went they in the inner part [of the palace] to king Hezekiah, and said, We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, and the altar of burnt-offering, and all its vessels, and the table of shewbread, and all its vessels.

19 And all the vessels which were turned out by King Ahaz in his sin while he was king, we have put in order and made holy, and now they are in their places before the altar of the Lord.

Moreover all the vessels, which king Achaz had cast aside during his reign in his faithlessness, have we put in order and sanctified: and, behold, they are before the altar of the Lord.

20 Then Hezekiah the king got up early, and got together the great men of the town, and went up to the house of the Lord.

Then arose king Hezekiah early, and gathered together the princes of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord.

21 And they took with them seven oxen and seven male sheep and seven lambs and seven he-goats as a sin-offering for the kingdom and for the holy house and for Judah. And he gave orders to the sons of Aaron, the priests, that these were to be offered on the altar of the Lord.

And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven sheep, and seven he-goats, as a sin-offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And he ordered the sons of Aaron the priests to offer [them] on the altar of the Lord.

22 So they put the oxen to death and their blood was given to the priests to be drained out against the altar; then they put the male sheep to death, draining out their blood against the altar, and they put the lambs to death, draining out their blood against the altar.

So they slaughtered the bullocks, and the priests received the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar; and they slaughtered the rams, and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar; they also slaughtered the sheep, and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar.

23 Then they took the he-goats for the sin-offering, placing them before the king and the meeting of the people, and they put their hands on them:

And they brought near the he-goats of the sin-offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them:

24 And the priests put them to death, and made a sin-offering with their blood on the altar, to take away the sin of all Israel: for the king gave orders that the burned offering and the sin-offering were for all Israel.

And the priests slaughtered them, and they made an expiation with their blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all Israel; because for all the people, said the king, should be the burnt-offering and the sin-offering.

25 Then he put the Levites in their places in the house of the Lord, with brass and corded instruments of music as ordered by David and Gad, the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for the order was the Lord's, given by his prophets.

And he stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the command of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: because from the Lord was this commandment by means of his prophets.

26 So the Levites took their places with David's instruments, and the priests with their horns.

And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.

27 And Hezekiah gave the word for the burned offering to be offered on the altar. And when the burned offering was started, then the song of the Lord was started, with the blowing of horns and with all the instruments of David, king of Israel.

And Hezekiah ordered to offer the burnt-offering on the altar. And when the burnt-offering began, the song of the Lord began [also] with the trumpets, and with the instruments of David the king of Israel.

28 And all the people gave worship, to the sound of songs and the blowing of horns; and this went on till the burned offering was ended.

And all the assembly prostrated themselves, and the song sounded, and the trumpeters blew; all this [continued] until the burnt-offering was completed.

29 And at the end of the offering, the king and all who were present with him gave worship with bent heads.

And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him kneeled down and prostrated themselves.

30 Then King Hezekiah and the captains gave orders to the Levites to give praise to God in the words of David and Asaph the seer. And they made songs of praise with joy, and with bent heads gave worship.

And king Hezekiah and the princes then said to the Levites to sing praises unto the Lord with the words of David, and of Assaph the seer. And they sang praises with great joy, and they bowed their heads and prostrated themselves.

31 Then Hezekiah made answer and said, Now that you have given yourselves to the Lord, come near and take offerings and praise-offerings into the house of the Lord. So all the people took in offerings and praise-offerings: and those whose hearts were moved, took in burned offerings.

Then commenced Hezekiah, and said, Now have ye consecrated yourselves unto the Lord: come near and bring sacrifices and thanksgiving-offerings unto the house of the Lord. And the assembly brought in sacrifices and thanksgiving-offerings, and every one who was liberal of heart, burnt-offerings.

32 The number of burned offerings which the people took in was seventy oxen, a hundred male sheep, and two hundred lambs: all these were for burned offerings to the Lord.

And the number of the burnt-offerings, which the assembly brought, was seventy bullocks, one hundred rams, [and] two hundred sheep: as a burnt-offering unto the Lord were all these.

33 And the holy things were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep.

And the hallowed sacrifices were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep.

34 There were not enough priests for the work of cutting up all the burned offerings; so their brothers the Levites gave them help till the work was done and the priests had made themselves holy: for the Levites were more upright in heart to make themselves holy than the priests.

Only the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt-offerings: wherefore their brethren the Levites assisted them, till the work was ended, and until the other priests could sanctify themselves, for the Levites were of upright heart to sanctify themselves more than the priests.

35 And there was a great amount of burned offerings, with the fat of the peace-offerings and the drink offerings for every burned offering. So the work of the Lord's house was put in order.

But there were also burnt-offerings in abundance, with the fat of the peace-offerings, and the drink-offerings for the burnt-offerings. So was [again] established the service of the house of the Lord.

36 And Hezekiah and all the people were full of joy, because God had made the people ready: for the thing was done suddenly.

And Hezekiah rejoiced, with all the people, over that which God had prepared for the people; because the thing occurred suddenly.