- 1. ¶ HEZEKIAH began to reign when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Ani, the daughter of Zechariah.
- 2. And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, just as David his father had done.
- 3. In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he 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 court of the sanctuary,
- 5. And said to them, Hear me, O Levites, sanctify now yourselves and sanctify the house of the LORD God of our fathers, and remove your evil works from your mind,
- 6. So that we may not do according to that which our fathers have done, for they did evil in the sight 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 porches and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings upon the altar of the God of Israel.
- 8. Therefore the wrath of the LORD came upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he has delivered them to curse, to desolation, and to sword, as you see with your own 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. And even now, because we have gone astray from following the LORD our God and have forsaken the covenant which he gave to our fathers, therefore he also has forsaken us.
- 11. My sons, be not now negligent; for the LORD has chosen you to stand before him, to serve him and to 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 Elzaphan, 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 Jeruthun, 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 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 elders of Jerusalem, and went up to the house of the LORD.
- 21. And they brought to him seven bullocks, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven he-goats for an atonement for the kingdom and for Judah and for the sanctuary. And he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the LORD
- 22. And to kill the bullocks, and commanded the priests to receive the blood and sprinkle it on the horns of the altar;
- 23. And to bring forth the he-goats before the LORD and before the king and before the congregation of Israel, and to lay hands upon them;
- 24. And that the priests should kill them and sprinkle their blood upon the horns of the altar to make an atonement for all Israel; for the king had commanded that all Israel should bring burnt offerings and sacrifices.
- 25. And he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with psalteries, and with the songs of David, and with the songs of Gad the prophet of King David and of Nathan the prophet of King David; for David used to sing the songs of the LORD his God as they were sung by the mouth of the prophets.
- 26. And the Levites stood singing the songs of David, and the priests sounded with curved and straight trumpets.
- 27. Then Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offerings upon the altar. And when the burnt offerings began, Hezekiah also began to sing the songs of the LORD, according to the songs of David king of Israel.
- 28. And all the congregation of Israel worshipped and sang songs and sounded with the curved and straight trumpets until the burnt offerings were finished.
- 29. And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him knelt and worshipped.
- 30. Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praises to the LORD with the words of David and of Asaph the prophet. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed down and worshipped.
- 31. Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now you have consecrated yourselves to the way of the LORD; come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the LORD. And the people brought in sacrifices and thank offerings; everything which their hearts desired, they brought in.
- 32. And the number of the burnt offerings which the people brought was seventy bullocks, a 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 slay all the burnt offerings; therefore their brethren, the Levites, helped them until the work was finished, and after this the priests sanctified themselves; for the Levites were meek in their hearts to sanctify themselves more than the priests.
- 35. And also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace offerings and of the lambs for the burnt offerings. So the service of the house of the LORD was set in order.
- 36. And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people of Israel, because the service of the temple was accomplished; for the thing was done promptly.
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