Hezekiah and his successors
1HEZEKIAH was twenty-five years old when he came to the throne, and he reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years; his mother was Abijah daughter of Zechariah.
2He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as his ancestor David had done.
3In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened and repaired the doors of the house of the LORD.
4He brought in the priests and Levites and, assembling them in the square on the east side,
5said to them, “Levites, listen to me. Hallow yourselves now, hallow the house of the LORD the God of your forefathers, and remove all defilement from the sanctuary.
6For our forefathers were unfaithful and did what was wrong in the eyes of the LORD our God: they forsook him, they faced about, and they turned their backs on his dwelling-place.
7They shut the doors of the porch and extinguished the lamps; they ceased to burn incense and offer whole-offerings in the sanctuary to the God of Israel.
8Therefore the anger of the LORD fell on Judah and Jerusalem and he made them repugnant, an object of horror and derision, as you see for yourselves.
9That is why our fathers fell by the sword, why our sons and daughters and our wives are in captivity.
10Now I intend that we should pledge ourselves to the LORD the God of Israel, in order that his anger may be averted from us.
11My sons, let no time be lost; for the LORD has chosen you to serve him and to minister to him, to be his ministers and to burn sacrifices.”
12The Levites set to work; they were Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah of the family of Kohath; of the family of Merari, Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel; of the family of Gershon, Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah;
13of the family of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeiel; of the family of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah;
14of the family of Heman, Jehiel and Shimei; and of the family of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.
15They assembled their kinsmen and hallowed themselves, and then went in, as at the LORD's command the king had instructed them, to purify the house of the LORD.
16The priests went inside to purify the house of the LORD; they removed all defilement they found in the temple into the court of the house of the LORD, where the Levites received it and carried it outside to the wadi of the Kidron.
17They began the rites on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day they reached the porch; then for eight days they consecrated the house of the LORD, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.
18When they went into the palace they reported to King Hezekiah, “We have purified the whole of the house of the LORD, the altar of whole-offering with all its vessels, and the table of the Bread of the Presence arranged in rows with all its vessels.
19We have also put in order and consecrated all the vessels which King Ahaz cast aside during his reign, when he was unfaithful. They are now in place before the altar of the LORD.”
20Early next morning King Hezekiah assembled the officers of the city and went up to the house of the LORD.
21They brought seven bulls, seven rams, and seven lambs for the whole-offering, and seven he-goats as a purification-offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah; these he commanded the priests of Aaron's line to offer on the altar of the LORD.
22When the bulls were slaughtered, the priests took the blood and flung it against the altar; the rams were slaughtered, and their blood was flung against the altar; the lambs were slaughtered, and their blood was flung against the altar.
23The he-goats for the purification-offering were brought before the king and the assembly, who laid their hands on them;
24and the priests slaughtered them and used their blood as a purification-offering on the altar to make expiation for all Israel. For the king had commanded that the whole-offering and the purification-offering should be made for all Israel.
25He stationed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, lutes, and lyres, according to the rule prescribed by David, by Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet; for this rule had come from the LORD through his prophets.
26The Levites stood ready with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.
27Hezekiah gave the order that the whole-offering should be offered on the altar. At the moment when the whole-offering began, the song to the LORD began too, with the trumpets, led by the instruments of David king of Israel.
28The whole assembly prostrated themselves, the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; all this continued until the whole-offering was complete.
29When the offering was complete, the king and all his company bowed down and prostrated themselves.
30King Hezekiah and his officers commanded the Levites to praise the LORD in the words of David and of Asaph the seer. They praised him most joyfully and bowed down and prostrated themselves.
31Hezekiah said, “Now that you are consecrated to the LORD, approach with your sacrifices and thank-offerings for the house of the LORD.” So the assembly brought sacrifices and thank-offerings; and everyone of willing spirit brought whole-offerings.
32The number of whole-offerings which the assembly brought was seventy bulls, a hundred rams, and two hundred lambs; all these made a whole-offering to the LORD.
33The consecrated offerings were six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep.
34But the priests were too few and could not flay all the whole-offerings; so their colleagues the Levites helped them until the work was completed and all the priests had hallowed themselves -- for the Levites had been more scrupulous than the priests in hallowing themselves.
35There were indeed whole-offerings in abundance, besides the fat of the shared-offerings and the drink-offerings for the whole-offerings. In this way the service of the house of the LORD was restored;
36and Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had done for the people and because it had come about so speedily.
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