Hezekiah Purifies the Temple^(A)

29 Hezekiah^(B) was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. ² He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David^(C) had done.

³ In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the Lord and repaired^(D) them. ⁴ He brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east side ⁵ and said: “Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate^(E) yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary. ⁶ Our parents^(F) were unfaithful;^(G) they did evil in the eyes of the Lord our God and forsook him. They turned their faces away from the Lord’s dwelling place and turned their backs on him. ⁷ They also shut the doors of the portico and put out the lamps. They did not burn incense^(H) or present any burnt offerings at the sanctuary to the God of Israel. ⁸ Therefore, the anger of the Lord has fallen on Judah and Jerusalem; he has made them an object of dread and horror^(I) and scorn,^(J) as you can see with your own eyes. ⁹ This is why our fathers have fallen by the sword and why our sons and daughters and our wives are in captivity.^{(K) 10} Now I intend to make a covenant^(L) with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger^(M) will turn away from us.

²⁵ He stationed the Levites in the temple of the Lord with cymbals, harps and lyres in the way prescribed by David^(A) and Gad^(B) the king’s seer and Nathan the prophet; this was commanded by the Lord through his prophets. ²⁶ So the Levites stood ready with David’s instruments,^(C) and the priests with their trumpets.^(D)

²⁷ Hezekiah gave the order to sacrifice the burnt offering on the altar. As the offering began, singing to the Lord began also, accompanied by trumpets and the instruments^(E) of David king of Israel. ²⁸ The whole assembly bowed in worship, while the musicians played and the trumpets sounded. All this continued until the sacrifice of the burnt offering^(F) was completed.