2 Chronicles 29
29
1 And so Hezekiah began to reign when he was twenty-five years old. And he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.
2 And he did what was pleasing in the sight of the Lord, in accord with all that his father David had done.
3 In the first year and month of his reign, he opened the double doors of the house of the Lord, and he repaired them.
4 And he brought together the priests and Levites. And he gathered them in the wide eastern street.
5 And he said to them: "Listen to me, O Levites, and be sanctified. Cleanse the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and take away every uncleanness from the sanctuary.
6 Our fathers sinned and did evil in the sight of the Lord our God, abandoning him. They turned their faces away from the tabernacle of the Lord, and they presented their backs.
7 They closed up the doors which were in the portico, and they extinguished the lamps. And they did not burn incense, and they did not offer holocausts, in the sanctuary of the God of Israel.
8 And so the fury of the Lord was stirred up against Judah and Jerusalem, and he handed them over to turmoil, and to destruction, and to hissing, just as you discern with your own eyes.
9 Lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword. Our sons, and our daughters and wives have been led away as captives because of this wickedness.
10 Now therefore, it is pleasing to me that we should enter into a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel. And he will turn away the fury of his indignation from us.
11 My sons, do not choose to be negligent. The Lord has chosen you so that you would stand before him, and minister to him, and worship him, and burn incense to him."
12 Therefore, the Levites rose up, Mahath, the son of Amasai, and Joel, the son of Azariah, from the sons of Kohath; then, from the sons of Merari, Kish, the son of Abdi, and Azariah, the son of Jehallelel; and from the sons of Gershon, Joah, the son of Zimmah, and Eden, the son of Joah;
13 and truly, from the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel; also, from the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah;
14 indeed also, from the sons of Heman, Jehuel and Shimei; then too, from the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.
15 And they gathered together their brothers. And they were sanctified. And they entered in accord with the command of the king and the order of the Lord, so that they might expiate the house of God.
16 And the priests, entering the temple of the Lord so that they might sanctify it, took every uncleanness, which they had found inside, out to the vestibule of the house of the Lord; and the Levites took it away and transported it outside, to the torrent Kidron.
17 Now they began to cleanse on the first day of the first month. And on the eighth day of the same month, they entered the portico of the temple of the Lord. And then they expiated the temple over eight days. And on the sixteenth day of the same month, they finished what they had begun.
18 Also, they entered to king Hezekiah, and they said to him: "We have sanctified the entire house of the Lord, and the altar of holocaust, and its vessels, indeed also the table of the presence, with all its vessels,
19 and all the equipment of the temple, which king Ahaz, during his reign, had polluted after his transgression. And behold, these have all been set forth before the altar of the Lord."
20 And rising up at first light, king Hezekiah joined as one all the leaders of the city, and they ascended to the house of the Lord.
21 And together they offered seven bulls and seven rams, seven lambs and seven he-goats, for sin, for the kingdom, for the Sanctuary, for Judah. And he spoke to the priests, the sons of Aaron, so that they would offer these upon the altar of the Lord.
22 And so they slaughtered the bulls. And the priests took up the blood, and they poured it upon the altar. Then they also slaughtered the rams, and they poured their blood upon the altar. And they immolated the lambs, and they poured the blood upon the altar.
23 They brought the he-goats for sin before the king and the entire multitude. And they laid their hands upon them.
24 And the priests immolated them, and they sprinkled their blood before the altar, for the expiation of all Israel. For certainly the king had instructed that the holocaust and the sin offering should be made on behalf of all Israel.
25 Also, he situated the Levites in the house of the Lord, with cymbals, and psalteries, and harps, according to the disposition of king David, and of the seer Gad, and of the prophet Nathan. For indeed, this was the precept of the Lord, by the hand of his prophets.
26 And the Levites stood, holding the musical instruments of David, and the priests held the trumpets.
27 And Hezekiah ordered that they should offer holocausts upon the altar. And when the holocausts were being offered, they began to sing praises to the Lord, and to sound the trumpets, and to play various musical instruments, which David, the king of Israel, had prepared.
28 Then the entire crowd was adoring, and the singers and those who were holding the trumpeters were exercising their office, until the holocaust was completed.
29 And when the oblation was finished, the king, and all who were with him, bowed down and adored.
30 And Hezekiah and the rulers instructed the Levites to praise the Lord with the words of David, and of Asaph, the seer. And they praised him with great joy, and kneeling down, they adored.
31 And now Hezekiah also added: "You have filled your hands for the Lord. Draw near, and offer victims and praises in the house of the Lord." Therefore, the entire multitude offered victims and praises and holocausts, with devout intention.
32 Now the number of the holocausts that the multitude offered was seventy bulls, one hundred rams, two hundred lambs.
33 And they sanctified to the Lord six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep.
34 Truly, the priests were few; neither were they sufficient to remove the pelts from the holocausts. Therefore, the Levites, their brothers, also assisted them, until the work was completed, and the priests, who were of higher rank, were sanctified. For indeed, the Levites are sanctified with an easier ritual than the priests.
35 Thus, there were very numerous holocausts, with the fat of the peace offerings and the libations of the holocausts. And the service of the house of the Lord was completed.
36 And Hezekiah and all the people were joyful because the ministry of the Lord was accomplished. For certainly, it had pleased them to do this suddenly.
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2 Chronicles 29
29
The Reign of Hezekiah
1Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Abijah the daughter of Zechariah. 2And he did that which was right in the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that David his father had done.
3In the first year of his kingship, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of Yahweh and strengthened them. 4And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and he gathered them into the eastern square. 5And he said to them, “Hear me, O Levites! Sanctify yourselves now, and sanctify the house of Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,#Or “fathers” and bring out the defilement from the sanctuary. 6For our ancestors#Or “fathers” acted unfaithfully and did evil in the sight of Yahweh our God, and have forsaken him and turned away their faces from the dwelling place of Yahweh. They have turned their backs#Literally “And they have given back” on it. 7They also shut the doors of the portico and extinguished the lamps. And they did not burn incense or offer burnt offerings in the sanctuary to the God of Israel. 8And the wrath of Yahweh was upon Judah and Jerusalem. And he made them as an abhorrence, as a desolation and an object of scorn, as you see with your own eyes. 9Now behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity on account of this. 10Now it is in my heart#Literally “with my heart” to make#Literally “cut” a covenant with Yahweh, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger might turn away from him. 11Now, my sons, do not be negligent, for Yahweh has chosen you to stand before him to serve him and to be his servants and incense burners.”
12Then the Levites arose—Mahath the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, from the Kohathites; and Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel from the Merarites; and Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah, from the Gershonites. 13And from the descendants#Or “sons” of Elizaphan: Shimri and Jeiel; and from the descendants#Or “sons” of Asaph: Zechariah and Mattaniah; 14and from the descendants#Or “sons” of Heman: Jeiel and Shimei; and from the descendants#Or “sons” of Jeduthun: Shemaiah and Uzziel— 15and they gathered their brothers and sanctified themselves, and they went in according to the command of the king because of the words of Yahweh, to purify the house of Yahweh. 16And the priests went into the inner part of the house of Yahweh to purify it. And they brought out all the impurity that they found in the temple of Yahweh out to the courtyard of the house of Yahweh. And the Levites took them to bring them outside to the Wadi#Or “valley”; a wadi is a valley that is dry most of the year, but contains a stream during the rainy season Kidron. 17And they began to sanctify themselves on the first day of the first month. And on the eighth day of the month they came to the portico of Yahweh. And they sanctified the house of Yahweh for eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished. 18And they went into the inner part to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed all the house of Yahweh: the altar of burnt offering, all its objects, the table of the rows of bread and all its objects, 19and all the objects that King Ahaz discarded in his reign when he sinned, we have prepared and sanctified. Look, they are before the altar of Yahweh.”
20Then King Hezekiah rose early and gathered the officials of the city, and he went up to the house of Yahweh. 21And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats as a purification offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And he commanded the descendants#Or “sons” of Aaron, the priests, to offer them on the altar of Yahweh. 22And they slaughtered the cattle, and the priests received the blood and threw it toward the altar. Then they slaughtered the rams and threw the blood toward the altar, and then they slaughtered the lambs and threw the blood toward the altar. 23Then they brought the goats of the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and they laid hands upon them. 24And the priest killed them and offered their blood against the altar to make atonement for all Israel, for the king had commanded the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.
25And he stood the Levites in the house of Yahweh with cymbals, harps, and lyres, according to the command of David and Gad, the seer of the king, and Nathan the prophet, for the command was by the hand of Yahweh by the hand of his prophets. 26When the Levites stood with the objects of David and the priests with the trumpets, 27Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And at the time the burnt offering began, the song of Yahweh began, and also the trumpets, at the hands of the instruments of David king of Israel. 28Then all the assembly bowed down, and the song was sung, and the trumpeters trumpeted—all together until the end of the burnt offering. 29And when the offering was finished, the king and all who were found with him knelt down and bowed themselves. 30Then King Hezekiah and the princes commanded the Levites to praise Yahweh with the words of David and Asaph the seer. So they offered praise with joy, and they bowed down and worshiped.
31Then Hezekiah answered and said, “Now you have consecrated yourselves#Literally “you have filled your hands” to Yahweh. Come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of Yahweh!” And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all who were willing in heart brought burnt offerings. 32And the number of burnt offerings that the assembly brought was seventy cattle, one hundred rams, two hundred lambs—all these were to offer to Yahweh. 33And the consecrated offerings of cattle were six hundred cattle and three thousand sheep. 34But the priests were too few, and they were not able to offer all the burnt offerings, so their brothers, the Levites, strengthened them to finish the work, and until the rest of the priests consecrated themselves. (For the Levites were more conscientious#Literally “more upright of heart” to sanctify themselves than the priests.) 35And beside the many burnt offerings was the fat of the peace offerings and the libations for the burnt offerings. So the service of the house of Yahweh was established. 36And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had established with the people, for the matter happened suddenly.
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