Hezekiah Purifies the Temple^(A)

29 Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ·ruled [reigned] twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. ² Hezekiah did what ·the Lord said was right [^Lwas pleasing/proper in the eyes/sight of the Lord], just as his ·ancestor [father] David had done.

³ Hezekiah opened the doors of the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord and ·repaired [restored] them in the first month of the first year he was king. ⁴ Hezekiah brought in the priests and Levites and gathered them in the ·courtyard [square] on the east side of the ·Temple [^Lhouse]. ⁵ Hezekiah said, “Listen to me, Levites. ·Make yourselves ready for the Lord’s service [Consecrate/Purify/Sanctify yourselves], and ·make holy [consecrate/purify/sanctify] the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord, the God of your ·ancestors [fathers]. Remove from the ·Temple [^Lhouse] everything that makes it ·impure [defiled; ritually unclean]. ⁶ Our ·ancestors [fathers] were unfaithful to God and did ·what the Lord said was wrong [^Levil in the Lord’s sight/eyes]. They ·left [abandoned; forsook] the Lord and ·stopped worshiping at [^Lturned their faces away from] the ·Temple [^Lhouse] where he lives. They ·rejected [^Lturned their backs on] him. ⁷ They shut the doors of the ·porch [portico; vestibule; entry room] of the ·Temple [^Lhouse], and ·they let the fire go out in [put/snuffed out] the lamps. They stopped burning incense and offering burnt offerings in the ·holy place to [sanctuary of] the God of Israel. ⁸ So the Lord became very angry with the people of Judah and Jerusalem, and he ·punished them. Other people are frightened and shocked by what he did to them. So they ·insult the people of Judah. You know these things are true […made them an object of dread/terror, horror, and ridicule/^Lhissing, as you can see with your own eyes]. ⁹ That is why our ·ancestors [fathers] ·were killed in battle [^Lhave fallen by the sword] and our sons, daughters, and wives ·were [are] taken captive. ¹⁰ Now I, Hezekiah, ·have decided [intend] to make an ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with the Lord, the God of Israel, so ·he will not be angry with us anymore [^Lhis burning anger will turn away from us]. ¹¹ My sons, don’t ·waste any more time [be negligent now]. The Lord chose you to stand ·before him [in his presence], to ·serve [minister to] him, to be his ·servants [ministers], and to burn incense to him.”

¹² ·These are [Then] the Levites ·who started to work [^Lrose]. From the Kohathite ·family [clan] there were Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah. From the Merarite ·family [clan] there were Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel. From the Gershonite ·family [clan] there were Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah. ¹³ From Elizaphan’s ·family [clan] there were Shimri and Jeiel. From Asaph’s ·family [clan] there were Zechariah and Mattaniah. ¹⁴ From Heman’s ·family [clan] there were Jehiel and Shimei. From Jeduthun’s ·family [clan] there were Shemaiah and Uzziel [5:12].

¹⁵ These Levites gathered their brothers together and ·made themselves holy [consecrated/purified/sanctified themselves]. Then they went into the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord to purify it. They obeyed the king’s command that had come from the Lord. ¹⁶ When the priests went into the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord to ·purify [cleanse] it, they took out all the ·unclean [defiled; ^Critually] things they found in the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord and put them in the ·Temple [^Lhouse] courtyard. Then the Levites took these things out to the Kidron Valley. ¹⁷ Beginning on the first day of the first month, they ·made holy [consecrated; purified; sanctified] the ·Temple [^Lhouse]. On the eighth day of the month, they came to the ·porch [portico; vestibule; entry room] of the ·Temple [^Lhouse], and for eight more days they ·made holy [consecrated; purified; sanctified] the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord. So they finished on the sixteenth day of the first month.

¹⁸ Then they went to King Hezekiah and said, “We have ·purified [cleansed] the entire ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord, the altar for burnt offerings and its ·utensils [equipment], and the table for the ·holy bread [^Tshowbread] and all its ·utensils [equipment]. ¹⁹ When Ahaz was king, he was unfaithful to God and ·removed some things [discarded some utensils/equipment]. But we have ·put them back [prepared] and ·made them holy [consecrated/purified/sanctified them] for the Lord. They are now in front of the Lord’s altar.”

²⁰ Early the next morning King Hezekiah ·gathered [assembled] the ·leaders [officials] of the city and went up to the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord. ²¹ They brought seven ·bulls [oxen], seven ·male sheep [rams], seven lambs, and seven male goats. These animals were an ·offering to remove the sin of the people and [sin offering for] the kingdom ·of [or and for] Judah and ·to make [for] the ·Temple [sanctuary]. King Hezekiah commanded the priests, the descendants of Aaron, to ·offer [sacrifice] these animals on the Lord’s altar. ²² So the priests ·killed [slaughtered] the ·bulls [oxen] and sprinkled their blood on the altar. They ·killed [slaughtered] the ·sheep [rams] and sprinkled their blood on the altar. Then they ·killed [slaughtered] the lambs and sprinkled their blood on the altar. ²³ Then the priests brought the male goats for the sin offering before the king and the people there. After the king and the people ·put [laid] their hands on the goats, ²⁴ the priests ·killed [slaughtered] them. They ·made an offering [sprinkled/presented their blood] on the altar to ·remove the sins of the Israelites [atone for all Israel]. The king had said that the burnt offering [Lev. 1:1–17] and ·sin [or purification] offering [Lev. 4:3] should be made for all Israel.

²⁵ King Hezekiah ·put [stationed; positioned] the Levites in the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord with cymbals, harps, and lyres, as David, Gad, and Nathan had commanded. (Gad was the king’s ·seer [prophet], and Nathan was a prophet.) This command came from the Lord through his prophets. ²⁶ So the Levites stood ready with David’s musical instruments, and the priests with their trumpets.

²⁷ Then Hezekiah gave the order to ·sacrifice [offer] the burnt offering [Lev. 1:1–17] on the altar. When the burnt offering [Lev. 1:1–17] began, the singing to the Lord also began. The trumpets were blown, and the musical instruments of David king of Israel were played. ²⁸ ·All the people [The entire assembly] worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpeters ·blew their trumpets [sounded] until the burnt offering [Lev. 1:1–17] was finished.

²⁹ When the sacrifices were completed, King Hezekiah and everyone with him bowed down and worshiped. ³⁰ King Hezekiah and his ·officers [officials] ordered the Levites to ·praise [sing praises to] the Lord, using the words David and Asaph the ·seer [prophet] had used. So they praised God with ·joy [gladness] and bowed down and worshiped.

³¹ Then Hezekiah said, “Now that you people of Judah have ·given [consecrated; dedicated] yourselves to the Lord, come near to the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord. Bring sacrifices and ·offerings, to show thanks to him [or thank offerings].” So the people brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and anyone who was willing also brought burnt offerings [Lev. 1:1–17]. ³² For burnt offerings [Lev. 1:1–17] they brought a total of seventy ·bulls [oxen], one hundred ·male sheep [rams], and two hundred lambs; all these animals were sacrificed as burnt offerings to the Lord. ³³ The ·holy [consecrated] offerings totaled six hundred ·bulls [oxen] and three thousand sheep and goats. ³⁴ There were not enough priests to skin all the animals for the burnt offerings. So their ·relatives [brothers] the Levites helped them until the work was finished and other priests could be ·made holy [consecrated; purified; sanctified]. The Levites had been more careful to ·make themselves holy [consecrate/purify/sanctify themselves] than the priests. ³⁵ There were many burnt offerings [Lev. 1:1–17] along with the fat of ·fellowship [or peace; well-being] offerings [Lev. 3:1] and drink offerings. So the service in the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord ·began again [was established/restored]. ³⁶ And Hezekiah and the people ·were very happy [rejoiced] that God had made it happen so quickly for his people.