2 Chronicles 29

1 Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old; and he was king in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years; and his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.

And Ezekias began to reign at the age of twenty-five years, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Abia, daughter of Zacharias.

2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done.

And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done.

3 In the first year of his rule, in the first month, opening the doors of the Lord's house, he made them strong.

And it came to pass, when he was established over his kingdom, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them.

4 And he sent for the priests and the Levites, and got them together in the wide place on the east side,

And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and put them on the east side,

5 And said to them, Give ear to me, O Levites: now make yourselves holy, and make holy the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and take away everything unclean from the holy place.

and said to them, Hear, ye Levites: now sanctify yourselves, and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and cast out the impurity from the holy places.

6 For our fathers have done evil, sinning in the eyes of the Lord our God, and have given him up, turning away their faces from the house of the Lord, and turning their backs on him.

For our fathers have revolted, and done that which was evil before the Lord our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their face from the tabernacle of the Lord, and have turned [their] back.

7 The doors of his house have been shut and the lights put out; no perfumes have been burned or offerings made to the God of Israel in his holy place.

And they have shut up the doors of the temple, and put out the lamps, and have not burnt incense, and have not offered whole-burnt-offerings in the holy [place] to the God of Israel.

8 And so the wrath of the Lord has come on Judah and Jerusalem, and he has given them up to be a cause of fear and wonder and shame, as your eyes have seen.

And the Lord was very angry with Juda and Jerusalem, and made them an astonishment, and a desolation, and a hissing, as ye see with your eyes.

9 For see, our fathers have been put to death with the sword, and our sons and daughters and wives have been taken away prisoners because of this.

And, behold, your fathers have been smitten with the sword, and your sons and your daughters and your wives are in captivity in a land not their own, as it is even now.

10 Now it is my purpose to make an agreement with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that the heat of his wrath may be turned away from us.

Therefore it is now in my heart to make a covenant, a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that he may turn away his fierce wrath from us.

11 My sons, take care now: for you have been marked out by the Lord to come before him and to be his servants, burning offerings to him.

And now be not wanting [to your duty], for the Lord has chosen you to stand before him to minister, and to be ministers and burners of incense to him.

12 Then the Levites took their places; Mahath, the son of Amasai, and Joel, the son of Azariah, among the Kohathites; and of the sons of Merari, Kish, the son of Abdi, and Azariah, the son of Jehallelel; and of the Gershonites, Joah, the son of Zimmah, and Eden, the son of Joah;

Then the Levites rose up, Maath the son of Amasi, and Joel the son of Azarias, of the sons of Caath: and of the sons of Merari, Kis the son of Abdi, and Azarias the son of Haelel: and of the sons of Gedsoni, Jodaad the son of Zemmath, and Joadam: these [were] the sons of Joacha.

13 And of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel; and of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah;

And of the sons of Elisaphan; Zambri, and Jeiel: and of the sons of Asaph; Zacharias, and Matthanias:

14 And of the sons of Heman, Jehuel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.

and of the sons of Aeman; Jeiel, and Semei: and of the sons of Idithun; Samaisa, and Oziel.

15 And they got their brothers together and made themselves holy, and went in, as the king had said by the word of the Lord, to make the house of the Lord clean.

And they gathered their brethren, and they purified themselves according to the king's command by the order of the Lord, to purify the house of the Lord.

16 And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to make it clean, and everything unclean which was to be seen in the Temple of the Lord they took out into the outer square of the Lord's house, and the Levites got it together and took it away to the stream Kidron.

And the priests entered into the house of the Lord, to purify [it], and they cast out all the uncleanness that was found in the house of the Lord, even into the court of the house of the Lord: and the Levites received [it] to cast into the brook of Kedron without.

17 On the first day of the first month the work of making the house holy was started, and on the eighth day they came to the covered way of the Lord; in eight days they made the Lord's house holy, and on the sixteenth day of the first month the work was done.

And [Ezekias] began on the first day, [even] on the new moon of the first month, to purify, and on the eighth day of the month they entered into the temple of the Lord: and they purified the house of the Lord in eight days; and on the thirteenth day of the first month they finished [the work].

18 Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said, We have made all the house of the Lord clean, as well as the altar of burned offerings with all its vessels, and the table for the holy bread, with all its vessels.

And they went in to king Ezekias, and said, We have purified all the things in the house of the Lord, the altar of whole-burnt-offering, and its vessels, and the table of shew-bread, and its vessels;

19 And all the vessels which were turned out by King Ahaz in his sin while he was king, we have put in order and made holy, and now they are in their places before the altar of the Lord.

and all the vessels which king Achaz polluted in his reign, in his apostasy, we have prepared and purified: behold, they are before the altar of the Lord.

20 Then Hezekiah the king got up early, and got together the great men of the town, and went up to the house of the Lord.

And king Ezekias rose early in the morning, and gathered the chief men of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord.

21 And they took with them seven oxen and seven male sheep and seven lambs and seven he-goats as a sin-offering for the kingdom and for the holy house and for Judah. And he gave orders to the sons of Aaron, the priests, that these were to be offered on the altar of the Lord.

And he brought seven calves, seven rams, seven lambs, seven kids of goats for a sin-offering, for the kingdom, and for the holy things, and for Israel: and he told the priests the sons of Aaron to go up to the altar of the Lord.

22 So they put the oxen to death and their blood was given to the priests to be drained out against the altar; then they put the male sheep to death, draining out their blood against the altar, and they put the lambs to death, draining out their blood against the altar.

And they slew the calves, and the priests received the blood, and poured it on the altar: and they slew the rams, and poured the blood upon the altar: also they slew the lambs, and poured the blood round the altar.

23 Then they took the he-goats for the sin-offering, placing them before the king and the meeting of the people, and they put their hands on them:

And they brought the goats for a sin-offering before the king and the congregation; and laid their hands upon them.

24 And the priests put them to death, and made a sin-offering with their blood on the altar, to take away the sin of all Israel: for the king gave orders that the burned offering and the sin-offering were for all Israel.

And the priests slew them, and offered their blood as a propitiation on the altar; and they made atonement for all Israel: for the king said, The whole-burnt-offering, and the sin-offering [are] for all Israel.

25 Then he put the Levites in their places in the house of the Lord, with brass and corded instruments of music as ordered by David and Gad, the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for the order was the Lord's, given by his prophets.

And he stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, and lutes, and harps, according to the commandment of king David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for by the commandment of the Lord the order [was] in the hand of the prophets.

26 So the Levites took their places with David's instruments, and the priests with their horns.

And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.

27 And Hezekiah gave the word for the burned offering to be offered on the altar. And when the burned offering was started, then the song of the Lord was started, with the blowing of horns and with all the instruments of David, king of Israel.

And Ezekias told [them] to offer up the whole-burnt-offering on the altar: and when they began to offer the whole-burnt-offering, they began to sing to the Lord, and the trumpets [accompanied] the instruments of David king of Israel.

28 And all the people gave worship, to the sound of songs and the blowing of horns; and this went on till the burned offering was ended.

And all the congregation worshipped, and the psalm-singers [were] singing, and the trumpets sounding, until the whole-burnt-sacrifice had been completely offered.

29 And at the end of the offering, the king and all who were present with him gave worship with bent heads.

And when they had done offering [it], the king and all that were present bowed, and worshipped.

30 Then King Hezekiah and the captains gave orders to the Levites to give praise to God in the words of David and Asaph the seer. And they made songs of praise with joy, and with bent heads gave worship.

And king Ezekias and the princes told the Levites to sing hymns to the Lord in the words of David, and of Asaph the prophet: and they sang hymns with gladness, and fell down and worshipped.

31 Then Hezekiah made answer and said, Now that you have given yourselves to the Lord, come near and take offerings and praise-offerings into the house of the Lord. So all the people took in offerings and praise-offerings: and those whose hearts were moved, took in burned offerings.

Then Ezekias answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves to the Lord, bring near and offer sacrifices of praise in the house of the Lord. And the congregation brought sacrifices and thank-offerings into the house of the Lord; and every one who was ready in his heart [brought] whole-burnt-offerings.

32 The number of burned offerings which the people took in was seventy oxen, a hundred male sheep, and two hundred lambs: all these were for burned offerings to the Lord.

And the number of the whole-burnt-offerings which the congregation brought, was seventy calves, a hundred rams, two hundred lambs: all these [were] for a whole-burnt-offering to the Lord.

33 And the holy things were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep.

And the consecrated calves were six hundred, [and] the sheep three thousand.

34 There were not enough priests for the work of cutting up all the burned offerings; so their brothers the Levites gave them help till the work was done and the priests had made themselves holy: for the Levites were more upright in heart to make themselves holy than the priests.

But the priests were few, and could not flay the whole-burnt-offering, so their brethren the Levites helped them, until the work was finished, and until the priests had purified themselves: for the Levites [more] zealously purified [themselves] than the priests.

35 And there was a great amount of burned offerings, with the fat of the peace-offerings and the drink offerings for every burned offering. So the work of the Lord's house was put in order.

And the whole-burnt-offering [was] abundant, with the fat of the complete peace-offering, and the drink-offerings of the whole-burnt-sacrifice. So the service was established in the house of the Lord.

36 And Hezekiah and all the people were full of joy, because God had made the people ready: for the thing was done suddenly.

And Ezekias and all the people rejoiced, because God has prepared the people: for the thing was done suddenly.