1 Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he
reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Abijah,
the daughter of Zechariah.
2 And
he did that which was right
in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done.
3 He
in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the
house of the LORD, and repaired them.
4 And
he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the
east street,
5 And
said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the
house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of
the holy place.
6 For
our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God,
and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of
the LORD, and turned their backs.
7 Also
they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not
burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto
the God of Israel.
8 Wherefore
the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them
to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes.
9 For,
lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and
our wives are in
captivity for this.
10 Now it is in
mine heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that his fierce
wrath may turn away from us.
11 My
sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD hath chosen you to stand before him,
to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and burn incense.
12 Then
the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of
the sons of the Kohathites: and of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi,
and Azariah the son of Jehalelel: and of the Gershonites; 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:
14 And
of the sons of Heman; Jehiel, and Shimei: and of the sons of Jeduthun;
Shemaiah, and Uzziel.
15 And
they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and came, according to
the commandment of the king, by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of
the LORD.
16 And
the priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found
in the temple of the LORD into the court of the house of the LORD. And the
Levites took it, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron.
17 Now
they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on
the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the LORD: so they
sanctified the house of the LORD in eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the
first month they made an end.
18 Then
they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have cleansed all the house of
the LORD, and the altar of burnt offering, with all the vessels thereof, and
the shewbread table, with all the vessels thereof.
19 Moreover
all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his
transgression, have we prepared and sanctified, and, behold, they are before
the altar of the LORD.
20 Then
Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up
to the house of the LORD.
21 And
they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he
goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for
Judah. And he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on
the altar of the LORD.
22 So
they killed the bullocks, and the priests received the blood, and sprinkled it on the
altar: likewise, when they had killed the rams, they sprinkled the blood upon
the altar: they killed also the lambs, and they sprinkled the blood upon the
altar.
23 And
they brought forth the he goats for the sin offering before the king and
the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them:
24 And
the priests killed them, and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the
altar, to make an atonement for all Israel: for the king commanded that the
burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.
25 And
he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with psalteries, and
with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer,
and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the LORD by his
prophets.
26 And
the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the
trumpets.
27 And
Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And when the
burnt offering began, the song of the LORD began also with
the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel.
28 And
all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters
sounded: and all this continued until
the burnt offering was finished.
29 And
when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with
him bowed themselves, and worshipped.
30 Moreover
Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the
LORD with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with
gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped.
31 Then
Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the LORD,
come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the LORD.
And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings; and as many as
were of a free heart burnt offerings.
32 And
the number of the burnt offerings, which the congregation brought, was
threescore and ten bullocks, an hundred rams, and two hundred lambs: all these were for
a burnt offering to the LORD.
33 And
the consecrated things were six hundred oxen and three thousand
sheep.
34 But
the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings:
wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them, till the work was ended,
and until the other priests had sanctified themselves: for
the Levites were more
upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.
35 And
also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the
peace offerings, and the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So the service of the
house of the LORD was set in order.
36 And
Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people: for
the thing was done suddenly.
