 1 Hezekiah began to reign being 25 years old, and he reigned 29 years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Abijah the daughter of Zechariah. 2 He did the right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that 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 He brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them into the east street. 5 He said to them, Hear me Levites. Sanctify yourselves and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers and carry the filthiness out of the holy place. 6 For our fathers have sinned and did the evil in the eyes of the Lord our God. They have forsaken Him and turned away their faces from the house of the Lord and turned their backs. 7 They have also shut up the doors of the porch and put out the lamps and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the sanctuary to the God of Israel. 8 Therefore the wrath of the Lord was on Judah and Jerusalem and He delivered them to trouble, to ruin, and to hissing as you see with your eyes. 9 For our fathers have fallen by the sword and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. 10 It is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel so that His fierce wrath may turn away from us. 11 My sons, do not be negligent now. For the Lord has chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, and that you should minister to Him and burn incense. 12 Then the Levites arose: Mahath the son of Amasai, Joel the son of Azariah of the sons of the Kohathites, The sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, Azariah the son of Jehalelel, the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah. 13 Of the sons of Elizaphan: Shimri and Jeiel. And of the sons of Asaph: Zechariah and Mattaniah. 14 Of the sons of Heman: Jehiel and Shimei. And of the sons of Jeduthun: Shemaiah and Uzziel. 15 They gathered their brothers and sanctified themselves, and came, according to the command of the king, by the words of the Lord, to clean the house of the Lord. 16 The priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to clean it. They 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 out to the river Kidron. 17 They began to sanctify on the first of the first month and on the eighth day of the month they came to the porch of the Lord and made the house of the Lord pure in eight days. Then in the sixteenth day of the first month they stopped. 18 They went in to Hezekiah the king and said, We have cleaned all the house of the Lord, and the altar of burnt offering, with all its vessels, and the showbread table, and all its vessels. 19 We have prepared and sanctified all the vessels that king Ahaz in his reign cast away in his sin. And behold, they are before the altar of the Lord. 20 King Hezekiah rose early, gathered the rulers of the city, and went to the house of the Lord. 21 They brought seven bulls 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 They killed the bulls and the priests received the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. They killed the rams and sprinkled the blood on the altar. They also killed the lambs and sprinkled the blood on the altar. 23 They brought out the he goats for the sin offering before the king and the congregation and they laid their hands on them. 24 The priest killed them and they made atonement with their blood on the altar to make atonement for all Israel. For the king commanded the burnt offering and the sin offering to be made for all Israel. 25 He set the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with harps, and with lyres, according to the command of David, and of Gad the king's seer and Nathan the prophet. For the commandment was by the hand of the Lord by His prophets. 26 The Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. 27 Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began with the trumpets and with the instruments ordained by King David of Israel. 28 All the congregation worshiped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded. All this went on until the burnt offering was finished. 29 When they stopped offering, the king and all who were present with him bowed and worshiped. 30 King Hezekiah and the rulers commanded the Levites to sing praise to the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. They sang praises with gladness and bowed their heads and worshiped. 31 Hezekiah said, You have consecrated yourselves to the Lord. Come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the Lord. Then the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings. As many as were of a free heart brought burnt offerings. 32 The number of the burnt offerings that the congregation brought was 70 oxen, 100 rams, 200 lambs. All these were for a burnt offering to the Lord. 33 The things consecrated were 600 oxen and 3,000. 34 But the priests were too few, so that they could not skin all the burnt offerings. And their brothers the Levites helped them until the work was ended, and until the priests had sanctified themselves. For the Levites were more upright of heart to make themselves pure than the priests. 35 Also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace offerings and the drink offerings for every burnt offering. And the service of the house of the Lord was set in order. 36 Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people. For the thing happened suddenly.
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