2 Chronicles 29
29
King Hezekiah
1-2Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old and was king in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. His mother was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. In God’s opinion he was a good king; he kept to the standards of his ancestor David.
3-9In the first month of the first year of his reign, Hezekiah, having first repaired the doors of The Temple of God, threw them open to the public. He assembled the priests and Levites in the court on the east side and said, “Levites, listen! Consecrate yourselves and consecrate The Temple of God—give this much-defiled place a good housecleaning. Our ancestors went wrong and lived badly before God—they discarded him, turned away from this house where we meet with God, and walked off. They boarded up the doors, turned out the lights, and canceled all the acts of worship of the God of Israel in the holy Temple. And because of that, God’s anger flared up and he turned those people into a public exhibit of disaster, a moral history lesson—look and read! This is why our ancestors were killed, and this is why our wives and sons and daughters were taken prisoner and made slaves.
10-11“I have decided to make a covenant with the God of Israel and turn history around so that God will no longer be angry with us. Children, don’t drag your feet in this! God has chosen you to take your place before him to serve in conducting and leading worship—this is your life work; make sure you do it and do it well.”
12-17The Levites stood at attention: 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; Shimri and Jeiel sons of Elizaphan; Zechariah and Mattaniah sons of Asaph; Jehiel and Shimei of the family of Heman; Shemaiah and Uzziel of the family of Jeduthun. They presented themselves and their brothers, consecrated themselves, and set to work cleaning up The Temple of God as the king had directed—as God directed! The priests started from the inside and worked out; they emptied the place of the accumulation of defiling junk—pagan rubbish that had no business in that holy place—and the Levites hauled it off to the Kidron Valley. They began the Temple cleaning on the first day of the first month and by the eighth day they had worked their way out to the porch—eight days it took them to clean and consecrate The Temple itself, and in eight more days they had finished with the entire Temple complex.
18-19Then they reported to Hezekiah the king, “We have cleaned up the entire Temple of God, including the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering and the Table of the Bread of the Presence with their furnishings. We have also cleaned up and consecrated all the vessels which King Ahaz had gotten rid of during his misrule. Take a look; we have repaired them. They’re all there in front of the Altar of God.”
20-24Then Hezekiah the king went to work: He got all the leaders of the city together and marched to The Temple of God. They brought with them seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven he-goats to sacrifice as an Absolution-Offering for the royal family, for the Sanctuary, and for Judah as a whole; he directed the Aaronite priests to sacrifice them on the Altar of God. The priests butchered the bulls and then took the blood and sprinkled it on the Altar, and then the same with the rams and lambs. Finally they brought the goats up; the king and congregation laid their hands upon them. The priests butchered them and made an Absolution-Offering with their blood at the Altar to atone for the sin of all Israel—the king had ordered that the Whole-Burnt-Offering and the Absolution-Offering be for all Israel.
25-26The king ordered the Levites to take their places in The Temple of God with their musical instruments—cymbals, harps, zithers—following the original instructions of David, Gad the king’s seer, and Nathan the prophet; this was God’s command conveyed by his prophets. The Levites formed the orchestra of David, while the priests took up the trumpets.
27-30Then Hezekiah gave the signal to begin: The Whole-Burnt-Offering was offered on the Altar; at the same time the sacred choir began singing, backed up by the trumpets and the David orchestra while the entire congregation worshiped. The singers sang and the trumpeters played all during the sacrifice of the Whole-Burnt-Offering. When the offering of the sacrifice was completed, the king and everyone there knelt to the ground and worshiped. Then Hezekiah the king and the leaders told the Levites to finish things off with anthems of praise to God using lyrics by David and Asaph the seer. They sang their praises with joy and reverence, kneeling in worship.
31-35Hezekiah then made this response: “The dedication is complete—you’re consecrated to God. Now you’re ready: Come forward and bring your sacrifices and Thank-Offerings to The Temple of God.”
And come they did. Everyone in the congregation brought sacrifices and Thank-Offerings and some, overflowing with generosity, even brought Whole-Burnt-Offerings, a generosity expressed in seventy bulls, a hundred rams, and two hundred lambs—all for Whole-Burnt-Offerings for God! The total number of animals consecrated for sacrifice that day amounted to six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep. They ran out of priests qualified to slaughter all the Whole-Burnt-Offerings so their brother Levites stepped in and helped out while other priests consecrated themselves for the work. It turned out that the Levites had been more responsible in making sure they were properly consecrated than the priests had been. Besides the overflow of Whole-Burnt-Offerings there were also choice pieces for the Peace-Offerings and lavish libations that went with the Whole-Burnt-Offerings. The worship in The Temple of God was on a firm footing again!
36Hezekiah and the congregation celebrated: God had established a firm foundation for the lives of the people—and so quickly!
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
2 Chronicles 29
29
Judah’s King Hezekiah
1Hezekiah was twenty-five years old#2Kg 18:2–3 when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah#29:1 = Abi in 2Kg 18:2 daughter of Zechariah. 2He did what was right in the Lord’s sight#2Ch 28:1; 34:2 just as his ancestor David had done.
3In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the Lord’s temple and repaired them.#2Ch 28:24; 29:7 4Then he brought in the priests and Levites and gathered them in the eastern public square.#Ezr 10:9; Neh 8:1 5He said to them, “Hear me, Levites. Consecrate yourselves#2Ch 29:15,34; 35:6 now and consecrate the temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Remove everything impure from the holy place. 6For our ancestors were unfaithful and did what is evil in the sight of the Lord our God. They abandoned him, turned their faces away from the Lord’s dwelling place, and turned their backs on him.#29:6 Lit and they gave the back of the neck#Ezk 8:16 7They also closed the doors of the portico, extinguished the lamps, did not burn incense, and did not offer burnt offerings in the holy place of the God of Israel. 8Therefore, the wrath of the Lord was on Judah and Jerusalem, and he made them an object of terror, horror, and mockery,#29:8 Lit hissing#Dt 28:25; Jr 25:18 as you see with your own eyes. 9Our fathers fell by the sword, and our sons, our daughters, and our wives are in captivity because of this.#2Ch 28:5–8,17 10It is in my heart now to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel#2Ch 23:16 so that his burning anger may turn away from us. 11My sons, don’t be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand in his presence, to serve him, and to be his ministers and burners of incense.”#Nm 3:6; 8:6
Cleansing the Temple
12Then the Levites stood up:
Mahath#2Ch 31:13 son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah from the Kohathites;
Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel from the Merarites;#Nm 3:19–20
Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah from the Gershonites;
13Shimri and Jeuel from the Elizaphanites;
Zechariah and Mattaniah from the Asaphites;
14Jehiel#29:14 Alt Hb tradition reads Jehuel and Shimei from the Hemanites;
Shemaiah and Uzziel from the Jeduthunites.
15They gathered their brothers together, consecrated themselves,#2Ch 29:5 and went according to the king’s command by the words of the Lord#2Ch 30:12 to cleanse the Lord’s temple.#1Ch 23:28
16The priests went to the entrance of the Lord’s temple to cleanse it. They took all the unclean things they found in the Lord’s sanctuary to the courtyard of the Lord’s temple. Then the Levites received them and took them outside to the Kidron Valley.#2Ch 15:16 17They began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the portico of the Lord’s temple. They consecrated the Lord’s temple for eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.
18Then they went inside to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed the whole temple of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the table for the rows of the Bread of the Presence and all its utensils. 19We have set up and consecrated all the utensils that King Ahaz rejected during his reign#2Ch 28:24 when he became unfaithful. They are in front of the altar of the Lord.”
Renewal of Temple Worship
20King Hezekiah got up early, gathered the city officials, and went to the Lord’s temple. 21They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. Then he told the descendants of Aaron, the priests, to offer them on the altar of the Lord. 22So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests received the blood and splattered it on the altar.#Lv 4:18 They slaughtered the rams and splattered the blood on the altar. They slaughtered the lambs and splattered the blood on the altar. 23Then they brought the goats for the sin offering right into the presence of the king and the congregation, who laid their hands on them.#Lv 4:15 24The priests slaughtered the goats and put their blood on the altar for a sin offering, to make atonement for all Israel,#Lv 4:26 for the king said that the burnt offering and sin offering were for all Israel.
25Hezekiah stationed the Levites in the Lord’s temple with cymbals, harps, and lyres#1Ch 15:16; 25:6 according to the command of David,#2Ch 8:14 Gad the king’s seer,#2Sm 24:11 and the prophet Nathan.#2Sm 7:2; 1Ch 29:29 For the command was from the Lord through his prophets. 26The Levites stood with the instruments of David,#1Ch 23:5 and the priests with the trumpets.#2Ch 5:12
27Then Hezekiah ordered that the burnt offering be offered on the altar. When the burnt offerings began, the song of the Lord and the trumpets began, accompanied by the instruments of King David of Israel. 28The whole assembly was worshiping, singing the song, and blowing the trumpets — all this continued until the burnt offering was completed. 29When the burnt offerings were completed, the king and all those present with him bowed down and worshiped.#2Ch 20:18 30Then King Hezekiah and the officials told the Levites to sing praise to the Lord in the words of David and of the seer Asaph. So they sang praises with rejoicing and knelt low and worshiped.
31Hezekiah concluded, “Now you are consecrated#29:31 Lit Now you have filled your hands to the Lord. Come near and bring sacrifices and thanksgiving offerings to the Lord’s temple.” So the congregation brought sacrifices and thanksgiving offerings, and all those with willing hearts#Ex 35:5,22; Ezr 1:4,6; 3:5 brought burnt offerings. 32The number of burnt offerings the congregation brought was seventy bulls, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord. 33Six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep and goats were consecrated.
34However, since there were not enough priests, they weren’t able to skin all the burnt offerings, so their Levite brothers helped them#2Ch 35:11 until the work was finished and until the priests consecrated themselves. For the Levites were more conscientious#29:34 Lit upright of heart; Ps 32:11; 64:10#Ps 32:11; 64:10 to consecrate themselves than the priests were.#2Ch 30:3 35Furthermore, the burnt offerings were abundant, along with the fat of the fellowship offerings#Lv 3:16 and with the drink offerings#Nm 15:5–10 for the burnt offering.
So the service of the Lord’s temple was established. 36Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over how God had prepared the people, for it had come about suddenly.
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