Hezekiah Reigns in Judah^(A)

29 Hezekiah ^(B)became king when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was ^[a]Abijah the daughter of Zechariah. ² And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done.

Hezekiah Cleanses the Temple

³ In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he ^(C)opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them. ⁴ Then he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them in the East Square, ⁵ and said to them: “Hear me, Levites! Now ^[b]sanctify yourselves, ^(D)sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry out the rubbish from the holy place. ⁶ For our fathers have trespassed and done evil in the eyes of the Lord our God; they have forsaken Him, have ^(E)turned their faces away from the ^[c]dwelling place of the Lord, and turned their backs on Him. ^7 (F)They have also shut up the doors of the vestibule, put out the lamps, and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel. ⁸ Therefore the ^(G)wrath of the Lord fell upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He has ^(H)given them up to trouble, to desolation, and to ^(I)jeering, as you see with your ^(J)eyes. ⁹ For indeed, because of this ^(K)our fathers have fallen by the sword; and our sons, our daughters, and our wives are in captivity.

¹⁰ “Now it is in my heart to make ^(L)a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that His fierce wrath may turn away from us. ¹¹ My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has ^(M)chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, and that you should minister to Him and burn incense.”

¹² Then these Levites arose: ^(N)Mahath the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the ^(O)Kohathites; of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; of the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah and Eden the son of Joah; ¹³ of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeiel; 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 And they gathered their brethren, ^(P)sanctified^[d] themselves, and went according to the commandment of the king, at the words of the Lord, ^(Q)to cleanse the house of the Lord. ¹⁶ Then the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and brought out all the debris that they found in the temple of the Lord to the court of the house of the Lord. And the Levites took it out and carried it to the Brook ^(R)Kidron.

¹⁷ Now they began to ^[e]sanctify on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule of the Lord. So they sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.

¹⁸ Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, the altar of burnt offerings with all its articles, and the table of the showbread with all its articles. ¹⁹ Moreover all the articles which King Ahaz in his reign had ^(S)cast aside in his transgression we have prepared and ^[f]sanctified; and there they are, before the altar of the Lord.”

Hezekiah Restores Temple Worship

²⁰ Then King Hezekiah rose early, gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord. ²¹ And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats for a ^(T)sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. Then he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord. ²² So they killed the bulls, and the priests received the blood and ^(U)sprinkled it on the altar. Likewise they killed the rams and sprinkled the blood on the altar. They also killed the lambs and sprinkled the blood on the altar. ²³ Then they brought out the male goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and they laid their ^(V)hands on them. ²⁴ And the priests killed them; and they presented their blood on the altar as a sin offering ^(W)to make an atonement for all Israel, for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering be made for all Israel.

^25 (X)And he stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with stringed instruments, and with harps, ^(Y)according to the commandment of David, of ^(Z)Gad the king’s seer, and of Nathan the prophet; ^(AA)for thus was the commandment of the Lord by His prophets. ²⁶ The Levites stood with the instruments ^(AB)of David, and the priests with ^(AC)the trumpets. ²⁷ Then Hezekiah commanded them to offer the burnt offering on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, ^(AD)the song of the Lord also began, with the trumpets and with the instruments of David king of Israel. ²⁸ So all the assembly worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished. ²⁹ And when they had finished offering, ^(AE)the king and all who were present with him bowed and worshiped. ³⁰ Moreover King Hezekiah and the leaders commanded the Levites to sing praise to the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshiped.

³¹ Then Hezekiah answered and said, “Now that you have consecrated yourselves to the Lord, come near, and bring sacrifices and ^(AF)thank offerings into the house of the Lord.” So the assembly brought in sacrifices and thank offerings, and as many as were of a ^(AG)willing heart brought burnt offerings. ³² And the number of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was seventy bulls, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord. ³³ The consecrated things were six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep. ³⁴ But the priests were too few, so that they could not skin all the burnt offerings; therefore ^(AH)their brethren the Levites helped them until the work was ended and until the other priests had ^[g]sanctified themselves, ^(AI)for the Levites were ^(AJ)more diligent in ^(AK)sanctifying themselves than the priests. ³⁵ Also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with ^(AL)the fat of the peace offerings and with ^(AM)the drink offerings for every burnt offering.

So the service of the house of the Lord was set in order. ³⁶ Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced that God had prepared the people, since the events took place so suddenly.

The Law of Liberty

14 Receive^(A) one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. ² For one believes he ^(B)may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. ³ Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and ^(C)let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. ^4 (D)Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.

^5 (E)One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶ He who ^(F)observes the day, observes it to the Lord; ^[a]and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for ^(G)he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. ⁷ For ^(H)none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. ⁸ For if we ^(I)live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. ⁹ For ^(J)to this end Christ died ^[b]and rose and lived again, that He might be ^(K)Lord of both the dead and the living. ¹⁰ But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For ^(L)we shall all stand before the judgment seat of ^[c]Christ. ¹¹ For it is written:

¹² So then ^(N)each of us shall give account of himself to God. ¹³ Therefore let us not judge one another ^[d]anymore, but rather resolve this, ^(O)not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.

The Law of Love

¹⁴ I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus ^(P)that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. ¹⁵ Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. ^(Q)Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. ^16 (R)Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; ^17 (S)for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and ^(T)peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ For he who serves Christ in ^[e]these things ^(U)is acceptable to God and approved by men.

^19 (V)Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which ^(W)one may ^[f]edify another. ^20 (X)Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. ^(Y)All things indeed are pure, ^(Z)but it is evil for the man who eats with ^[g]offense. ²¹ It is good neither to eat ^(AA)meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles ^[h]or is offended or is made weak. ^22 [i]Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. ^(AB)Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. ²³ But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for ^(AC)whatever is not from faith is ^[j]sin.

The King of Glory and His Kingdom

A Psalm of David.