2 Chronicles 29

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

Hezekiah began to reign [when he was] five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name [was] Abijah the daughter of Zechariah.

2 He did what was right in the Lord's sight, just as his forefather David had done.

And he did [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done.

3 In the first month of the first year of his reign, Hezekiah opened the doors of the Lord's Temple and repaired them.

He, in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the LORD, and repaired them.

4 He summoned the priests and the Levites, and had them gather on the square to the east.

And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and assembled them in the east street,

5 He told them, “Listen to me, Levites. Purify yourselves now and purify the Temple of the Lord, the God of your forefathers. Take away from the Holy Place everything that is filthy.

And said to them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy [place].

6 For our fathers were sinful, and did what was evil in the Lord's sight. They abandoned him and paid no attention to the Lord's Temple, turning their backs on him.

For our fathers have trespassed, and done [that which was] evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned [their] backs.

7 They shut the doors at the entrance to the Temple and put out the lamps. They didn't burn incense or present burnt offerings at the sanctuary of the God of Israel.

Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt-offerings in the holy [place] to the God of Israel.

8 So the Lord's anger fell on Judah and Jerusalem, and he made them into something appalling, terrifying, and ridiculous, as you can see for yourselves.

Wherefore the wrath of the LORD hath been upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes.

9 As a result, our fathers have died in battle, and our sons and our daughters and our wives have been captured.

For lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives [are] in captivity for this.

10 But now I'm going to make an agreement with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will no longer fall on us.

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

11 My sons, don't neglect your responsibilities, for the Lord has chosen you to stand in his presence to serve him, and to be his ministers presenting burnt offerings.”

My sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister to him, and burn incense.

12 Then the Levites went to work. They were Mahath, son of Amasai, and Joel, son of Azariah, from the Kohathites; Kish, son of Abdi, and Azariah, son of Jehallelel, from the Merarites; Joah, son of Zimmah, and Eden, son of Joah, from the Gershonites;

Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites: and of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehalelel: and of the Gershonites; Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah:

13 from the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeiel; and from the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah;

And of the sons of Elizaphan; Shimri, and Jeiel: and of the sons of Asaph; Zechariah, and Mattaniah:

14 from the sons of Heman, Jehiel and Shimei; and from the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.

And of the sons of Heman; Jehiel, and Shimei: and of the sons of Jeduthun; Shemaiah, and Uzziel.

15 They called together the other Levites and all of them purified themselves. Then they went in to clean the Lord's Temple, as the king had commanded, following the instructions as required by the Lord.

And they assembled their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD.

16 The priests went into the inner sanctuary of the Lord's Temple to clean it. They removed all the unclean things that they found in the Lord's Temple and placed them in the Temple courtyard. Then the Levites took them out and carried them to the Kidron Valley.

And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD, to cleanse [it], and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the LORD into the court of the house of the LORD. And the Levites took [it], to carry [it] out abroad into the brook Kidron.

17 They started the work of purification on the first day of the first month, and by the eighth day of the month they had reached the Temple porch. For eight more days they worked on purifying the Temple itself, and finished on the sixteenth day of the first month.

Now they began 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: so 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 tell King Hezekiah, “We have cleaned the entire Temple of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the table of the showbread with all its utensils.

Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have cleansed all the house of the LORD, and the altar of burnt-offering, with all its vessels, and the show-bread table, with all its vessels.

19 We have recovered and purified all the items that King Ahaz threw away during his reign when he was unfaithful. They are now before the Lord's altar.”

Moreover all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign cast away in his transgression, have we prepared and sanctified, and behold, they [are] before the altar of the LORD.

20 King Hezekiah got up early, summoned the city officials, and went to the Lord's Temple.

Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and convened the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the LORD.

21 They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven male lambs, and seven male goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. The king ordered the priests, the descendants of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord.

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

22 So they killed the bulls, and the priests took the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. They killed the rams and sprinkled the blood on the altar. They killed the lambs and sprinkled the blood on the altar.

So they killed the bullocks, and the priests received the blood, and sprinkled [it] on the altar: likewise, when they had killed the rams, they sprinkled the blood upon the altar: they killed also the lambs, and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar.

23 Then they brought the goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly, who placed their hands on them.

And they brought forth the he-goats [for] the sin-offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them:

24 Then the priests killed the goats and placed their blood on the altar for a sin offering, to make atonement for the whole of Israel, because the king had ordered that the burnt offering and sin offering were for the whole of Israel.

And the priests killed them, and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all Israel: for the king commanded [that] the burnt-offering and the sin-offering [should be made] for all Israel.

25 Hezekiah had the Levites stand in the Lord's Temple with cymbals, harps, and lyres, following the instructions of David, Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet. The instructions had come from the Lord through His prophets.

And he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for [so was] the commandment of the LORD by his prophets.

26 The Levites stood with the musical instruments provided by David, with the priests holding their trumpets.

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

27 Then Hezekiah gave the order for the burnt offering to be offered on the altar. As the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began at the same time, the trumpets sounded, and music was played on the instruments of David, once king of Israel.

And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt-offering upon the altar. And when the burnt-offering began, the song of the LORD began [also] with the trumpets, and with the instruments [ordained] by David king of Israel.

28 All the people in the assembly were worshiping, the singers were singing, and the trumpeters were playing. This continued until the burnt offering was finished.

And all the congregation worshiped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded: [and] all [this continued] until the burnt-offering was finished.

29 Once the offerings were completed, the king and everyone there with him bowed down and worshiped.

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

30 Then King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to sing praises to the Lord using the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with joy, and bowed their heads and worshiped.

Moreover, Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise to the LORD, with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshiped.

31 Then Hezekiah told them, “Now that you have dedicated yourselves to the Lord, come and bring your sacrifices and thank offerings to the Lord's Temple.” So the people in the assembly brought their sacrifices and thank offerings, and everyone who wanted to brought burnt offerings.

Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves to the LORD, come near and bring sacrifices and thank-offerings into the house of the LORD. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank-offerings; and, as many as were of a free heart, burnt-offerings.

32 The total number of burnt offerings they brought was seventy bulls, a hundred rams, and two hundred lambs; all these were to be a burnt offering to the Lord.

And the number of the burnt-offerings, which the congregation brought, was seventy bullocks, a hundred rams: [and] two hundred lambs: all these [were] for a burnt-offering to the LORD.

33 In addition there were dedicated offerings of six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep.

And the consecrated things [were] six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep.

34 Since there weren't enough priests to skin all the burnt offerings, their Levite relatives helped them until the work was finished and the priests had been purified. (The Levites had been more conscientious in purifying themselves than the priests had.)

But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt-offerings: wherefore their brethren the Levites helped them, till the work was ended, and until the [other] priests had sanctified themselves: for the Levites [were] more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.

35 Apart from the large number of burnt offerings, there was the fat of the friendship offerings, as well as the drink offerings that went with the burnt offerings. In this way the service of the Lord's Temple was restored.

And also the burnt-offerings [were] in abundance, with the fat of the peace-offerings, and the drink-offerings for [every] burnt-offering. So the service of the house of the LORD was set in order.

36 Hezekiah and everyone there were so happy at what God done for the people, because everything had been achieved so quickly.

And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people: for the thing was [done] suddenly.