2 Chronicles 29

1 Hezekiah [was] a son of twenty-five years [when] he has reigned, and he has reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Abijah daughter of Zechariah;

Hezekiah was 25 years old when he became the king [of Judah]. He ruled from Jerusalem for 29 years. His mother was Abijah, the daughter of [a man whose name was] Zechariah.

2 and he does that which is right in the eyes of YHWH, according to all that his father David did.

Hezekiah did things that Yahweh considered to be right, like his ancestor King David had done.

3 He, in the first year of his reign, in the first month, has opened the doors of the house of YHWH, and strengthens them,

During March of the first year that Hezekiah was ruling Judah, he unlocked the doors of the temple, and his workers repaired them.

4 and brings in the priests and the Levites, and gathers them to the broad place to the east.

Then he gathered the priests and other descendants of Levi in the area on the east side of the temple,

5 And he says to them, “Hear me, O Levites, now sanctify yourselves, and sanctify the house of YHWH, God of your fathers, and bring out the impurity from the holy place,

and he said to them, “You descendants of Levi, listen to me! Consecrate yourselves. And then consecrate the temple of Yahweh, the God whom our ancestors [worshiped/belonged to]. Remove from the temple all the things that are not pleasing to God.

6 for our fathers have trespassed, and done that which is evil in the eyes of our God YHWH, and forsake him, and turn around their faces from the Dwelling Place of YHWH, and give the neck.

Our ancestors disobeyed God; they did many things that he considered to be evil, things that were not pleasing to him. They abandoned this place where Yahweh lives, and they have turned away from him.

7 They have also shut the doors of the porch, and quench the lamps, and they have not made incense, and have not caused burnt-offering to ascend in the holy place to the God of Israel,

They locked the doors of the temple and extinguished the lamps. They did not burn any incense, and they did not offer any sacrifices that were to be completely burned [on the altar].

8 and the wrath of YHWH is on Judah and Jerusalem, and He gives them for a trembling, for an astonishment, and for a hissing, as you are seeing with your eyes.

Therefore, Yahweh has become very angry with us people of Jerusalem and [other places in] Judah, and he has caused other people to become frightened and horrified [when they hear what Yahweh did to punish us]. And they ridicule us. You know this very well.

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

That is why our fathers have been killed in battles, and our sons and daughters and our wives have been captured and taken [to other countries].

10 Now [it is] with my heart to make a covenant before YHWH, God of Israel, and the fierceness of His anger turns back from us.

But now I intend to make an agreement with Yahweh, our God, in order that he will no longer be angry with us.

11 My sons, do not be at rest now, for YHWH has fixed on you to stand before Him, to serve Him, and to be ministering and making incense to Him.”

[You who are like] my sons, do not waste any time. [Do immediately what Yahweh wants you to do.] Yahweh has chosen you to stand in his presence and offer sacrifices and burn incense.”

12 And the Levites rise—Mahath son of Amasai, and Joel son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathite; and of the sons of Merari: Kish son of Abdi, and Azariah son of Jehalelel; and of the Gershonite: Joah son of Zimmah, and Eden son of Joah;

Then these descendants of Levi started to work [in the temple]: From the descendants of Kohath there were Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah. From the descendants of Merari there were Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehallelel. From the descendants of Gershon there were Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah.

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

From the descendants of Elizaphan there were Shimri and Jeiel. From the descendants of Asaph there were Zechariah and Mattaniah.

14 and of the sons of Heman: Jehiel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun: Shemaiah and Uzziel—

From the descendants of Heman there were Jehiel and Shimei. From the descendants of Jeduthun there were Shemaiah and Uzziel.

15 and they gather their brothers, and sanctify themselves, and come in, according to the command of the king in the matters of YHWH, to cleanse the house of YHWH,

When those men had gathered their fellow descendants of Levi and had consecrated themselves, they entered the temple in order to consecrate it. That was what the king had commanded them to do, and they were also obeying what Yahweh had commanded.

16 and the priests come into the inner part of the house of YHWH to cleanse [it], and bring out all the uncleanness that they have found in the temple of YHWH to the court of the house of YHWH, and the Levites receive [it], to take [it] out to the Brook of Kidron outside.

The priests entered the temple to consecrate it. They brought out into the courtyard of the temple everything that they had found in the temple that was not pleasing to Yahweh. Then the descendants of Levi took those things down to the Kidron Valley [and burned them there].

17 And they begin to sanctify on the first of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they have come to the porch of YHWH, and they sanctify the house of YHWH in eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they have finished.

The priests and other descendants of Levi started this work on the first day of March and finished purifying the courtyard [of the temple] on the eighth day of that month, and they finished purifying the temple one week later.

18 And they come in to Hezekiah the king within, and say, “We have cleansed all the house of YHWH, and the altar of the burnt-offering, and all its vessels, and the table of the arrangement, and all its vessels,

Then they went to King Hezekiah and reported, “We have purified all parts of the temple, and the altar where sacrifices are completely burned, and all the items used at the altar, the table on which the priests place the sacred bread, and the things [used at that table].

19 and all the vessels that King Ahaz cast away in his reign—in his trespass—we have prepared and sanctified, and behold, they [are] before the altar of YHWH.”

While Ahaz was our king, he disobeyed what Yahweh had commanded, and he removed from the temple many things [that should be there], but now we have brought them back and placed them in front of the sacred altar.”

20 And Hezekiah the king rises early, and gathers the heads of the city, and goes up to the house of YHWH;

Early the next morning, King Hezekiah gathered together the city officials, and they went to the [courtyard of the] temple.

21 and they bring in seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven young male goats, for a sin-offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah; and he commands to sons of Aaron, the priests, to cause [them] to ascend on the altar of YHWH.

They took with them seven bulls, seven rams, seven male lambs, and seven male goats to be an offering in order that Yahweh would forgive the sins of all the people in the kingdom of Judah, and in order to purify the temple. The king commanded that the priests, who were descendants of Aaron, should offer those animals to be sacrificed to Yahweh on the altar.

22 And they slaughter the oxen, and the priests receive the blood, and sprinkle on the altar; and they slaughter the rams, and sprinkle the blood on the altar; and they slaughter the lambs, and sprinkle the blood on the altar;

So first the priests slaughtered those bulls, and took their blood and sprinkled it on the altar. Then they slaughtered the rams and sprinkled their blood on the altar. Then they slaughtered the lambs and sprinkled their blood on the altar.

23 and they bring the male goats of the sin-offering near before the king and the assembly, and they lay their hands on them;

The goats that were slaughtered to be an offering in order that Yahweh would forgive the sins of the people were brought to the king and the others who were there. Then the king and those who were present laid their hands on those goats.

24 and the priests slaughter them, and make a sin-offering with their blood on the altar, to make atonement for all Israel, that “For all Israel,” said the king, “[is] the burnt-offering and the sin-offering.”

Then the priests slaughtered those goats and splashed their blood on the altar in order that Yahweh would forgive the sins that all the Israeli people had committed. The priests did that because the king had commanded that offerings that would be completely burned [on the altar] and other sacrifices should be made for all the people of Israel.

25 And he appoints the Levites in the house of YHWH with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, by the command of David, and of Gad, seer of the king, and of Nathan the prophet, for the command [is] by the hand of YHWH, by the hand of His prophets;

The king then told the descendants of Levi to stand in the temple with their cymbals and harps and lyres, obeying what David and his prophets Gad and Nathan had commanded. Those were things that Yahweh had told his prophets that the descendants of Levi should do.

26 and the Levites stand with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.

So the descendants of Levi [went and] stood in the temple, ready to play the musical instruments that King David had given to them. And the priests were ready to blow their trumpets.

27 And Hezekiah commands to cause the burnt-offering to ascend on the altar; and at the time the burnt-offering began, the song of YHWH began, and the trumpets, and with [the] hands of [the] instruments of David king of Israel.

Then Hezekiah told some of the priests to burn the animals that would be sacrificed on the altar. When they started to burn the animals, the people started to sing to [praise] Yahweh, while the other descendants of Levi were playing their instruments.

28 And all the assembly are worshiping, and the singers singing, and the trumpeters blowing; the whole [is] until the completion of the burnt-offering.

All the people who were there bowed to worship Yahweh, while the singers sang and the trumpeters blew their trumpets. They continued to do this until they had finished slaughtering all the animals that would be completely burned.

29 And at the completion of the offering up, the king and all those found with him have bowed, and pay respect.

When they finished making those offerings, the king and all those who were there knelt down and worshiped Yahweh.

30 And Hezekiah the king commands—and the princes—to the Levites [to cause them] to give praise to YHWH in the words of David, and of Asaph the seer, and they praise—to joy, and they bow, and pay respect.

Then King Hezekiah and his officials commanded the descendants of Levi to praise Yahweh, singing the songs [composed/written] by David and Asaph the prophet. So they sang songs joyfully and bowed their heads to worship.

31 And Hezekiah answers and says, “Now you have filled your hand for YHWH, come near, and bring in sacrifices and thank-offerings to the house of YHWH”; and the assembly brings in sacrifices and thank-offerings, and every willing-hearted one—burnt-offerings.

Then Hezekiah said, “You have now dedicated yourselves to Yahweh. So come close to the temple and bring animals to be sacrificed and other offerings to thank [Yahweh for what he has done for you].” And those who wanted to bring animals to be completely burned [on the altar] brought them.

32 And the number of the burnt-offerings that the assembly has brought in is seventy oxen, one hundred rams, [and] two hundred lambs; for all these [are] a burnt-offering to YHWH.

Altogether they brought 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 male lambs to be completely burned on the altar.

33 And the sanctified things [are] six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep.

The other animals that they brought were 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep and goats that were set apart to be sacrifices.

34 Only, the priests have become few, and have not been able to strip the whole of the burnt-offerings, and their brothers the Levites strengthen them until the completion of the work, and until the priests sanctify themselves, for the Levites [are] more upright of heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.

But there were not enough priests to remove the skins from the animals that would be completely burned [on the altar]. So their fellow descendants of Levi helped them until that work was finished, and until other priests had purified/consecrated themselves to do that work. It was necessary for them to do that because many of the priests had not yet performed the rituals to consecrate themselves for that work, like the descendants of Levi had done.

35 And also, burnt-offerings [are] in abundance, with fat of the peace-offerings, and with oblations for the burnt-offering; and the service of the house of YHWH is established,

In addition to the all the offerings that were completely burned [on the altar], the priests also burned the fat of the other animals that were sacrificed to maintain good fellowship with Yahweh, and the usual wine offerings. So the worship at the temple began again.

36 and Hezekiah and all the people rejoice because of God’s giving preparation to the people, for the thing has been suddenly.

And Hezekiah and all the other people of Judah celebrated, because God had enabled them to do all those things very quickly.