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
Hezekiah’s Reforms. 1#2 Kgs 18:2–3. Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah, daughter of Zechariah. 2He did what was right in the Lord’s sight, just as David his father had done. 3In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the Lord’s house and repaired them.#2 Chr 28:24. 4He summoned the priests and Levites, gathering them in the open space to the east, 5and said to them: “Listen to me, you Levites! Sanctify yourselves now and sanctify the house of the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and clean out the filth from the sanctuary. 6Our ancestors acted treacherously and did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, our God. They abandoned him, turned away their faces from the Lord’s dwelling, and turned their backs on him. 7They also closed the doors of the vestibule, extinguished the lamps, and failed to burn incense and sacrifice burnt offerings in the sanctuary to the God of Israel.#2 Kgs 16:15. 8#Lv 26:32–33; Dt 28:25; Jer 25:18. Therefore the anger of the Lord has come upon Judah and Jerusalem; he has made them an object of terror, horror, and hissing, as you see with your own eyes. 9For our ancestors fell by the sword, and our sons, our daughters, and our wives have been taken captive because of this. 10Now, I intend to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, that his burning anger may turn away from us. 11My sons, do not be negligent any longer, for it is you whom the Lord has chosen to stand before him, to minister to him, to be his ministers and to offer incense.”
12Then the Levites arose: Mahath, son of Amasai, and Joel, son of Azariah, of the Kohathites; of the descendants of Merari: Kish, son of Abdi, and Azariah, son of Jehallel; of the Gershonites: Joah, son of Zimmah, and Eden, son of Joah; 13of the sons of Elizaphan: Shimri and Jeuel; of the sons of Asaph: Zechariah and Mattaniah; 14of the sons of Heman: Jehuel and Shimei; of the sons of Jeduthun: Shemiah and Uzziel. 15They gathered their kinfolk together and sanctified themselves; then they came as the king had ordered, in keeping with the words of the Lord, to cleanse the Lord’s house.
16The priests entered the interior of the Lord’s house to cleanse it. Whatever they found in the Lord’s temple that was unclean they brought out to the court of the Lord’s house, where the Levites took it from them and carried it out to the Wadi Kidron. 17They began the work of consecration on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they reached the vestibule of the Lord; they consecrated the Lord’s house over an eight-day period, and on the sixteenth day of the first month, they had finished.
18Then they went inside to King Hezekiah and said: “We have cleansed the entire house of the Lord, the altar for burnt offerings with all its utensils, and the table for the showbread with all its utensils. 19We have restored and consecrated all the articles which King Ahaz had thrown away during his reign because of his treachery; they are now before the Lord’s altar.”
The Rite of Expiation. 20Then King Hezekiah hastened to convoke the princes of the city and went up to the Lord’s house. 21Seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven he-goats were presented as a purification offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. Hezekiah ordered the sons of Aaron, the priests, to offer them on the altar of the Lord. 22They slaughtered the bulls, and the priests collected the blood and splashed it on the altar. Then they slaughtered the rams and splashed the blood on the altar; then they slaughtered the lambs and splashed the blood on the altar. 23Then the he-goats for the purification offering were led before the king and the assembly, who laid their hands upon them. 24The priests then slaughtered them and offered their blood on the altar to atone for the sin of all Israel. For the king had said, “The burnt offering and the purification offering are for all Israel.”
25He stationed the Levites in the Lord’s house with cymbals, harps, and lyres, according to the command of David, of Gad the king’s seer, and of Nathan the prophet; for this command was from the Lord through his prophets. 26The Levites were stationed with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. 27Then Hezekiah ordered the burnt offering to be sacrificed on the altar. At the very moment the burnt offering began, they also began the song of the Lord, to the accompaniment of the trumpets and the instruments of David, king of Israel. 28The entire assembly bowed down, and the song was sung and the trumpets sounded until the burnt offering had been completed. 29Once the burnt offering was completed, the king and all who were with him knelt and worshiped. 30King Hezekiah and the princes then told the Levites to sing the praises of the Lord in the words of David and of Asaph the seer. They sang praises till their joy was full, then fell down and worshiped.
31Hezekiah then said: “You have dedicated yourselves to the Lord. Approach, and bring forward the sacrifices and thank offerings for the house of the Lord.” Then the assembly brought forward the sacrifices and thank offerings and all their voluntary burnt offerings. 32The number of burnt offerings that the assembly brought forward was seventy oxen, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs: all of these as a burnt offering to the Lord. 33As consecrated gifts there were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep. 34Since there were too few priests to skin all the victims for the burnt offerings, their fellow Levites assisted them until the task was completed and the priests had sanctified themselves. The Levites, in fact, were more careful than the priests to sanctify themselves.#1 Chr 15:12. 35The burnt offerings were indeed many, along with the fat of the communion offerings and the libations for the burnt offerings. Thus the service of the house of the Lord was re-established. 36Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had re-established for the people, and at how suddenly this had been done.
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