2 Chronicles 29
New American Standard Bible
Hezekiah Succeeds Ahaz in Judah
29 (A)Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old; and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. 2 (B)He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with everything that his father David had done.
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 He brought in the priests and the Levites and gathered them into the public square on the east.
Reforms Begun
5 Then he said to them, “Listen to me, you Levites. (D)Consecrate yourselves now, and consecrate the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and carry the uncleanness out of the holy place. 6 For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done evil in the sight of the Lord our God, and they have abandoned Him and (E)turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the Lord, and have [a]turned their backs. 7 They have also (F)shut the doors of the porch and extinguished the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel. 8 Therefore (G)the wrath of the Lord was against Judah and Jerusalem, and He has made them an object of terror, of horror, and of (H)hissing, as you see with your own eyes. 9 For behold, (I)our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons, our daughters, and our wives are in captivity because of this. 10 Now it is in my heart (J)to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, so that His burning anger may turn away from us. 11 My sons, do not be negligent now, for (K)the Lord has chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, and to be His ministers and burn incense.”
12 Then the Levites arose: (L)Mahath the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, from the sons of (M)the Kohathites; and from the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; and from the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah and Eden the son of Joah; 13 and from the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and [b]Jeiel; and from the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah; 14 and from the sons of Heman, [c]Jehiel and Shimei; and from the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel. 15 They assembled their brothers, (N)consecrated themselves, and went in (O)to cleanse the house of the Lord, according to the commandment of the king (P)by the words of the Lord. 16 So the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and they brought every unclean thing which they found in the temple of the Lord out to the courtyard of the house of the Lord. Then the Levites received it to carry out to (Q)the Kidron [d]Valley. 17 Now they began [e]the consecration (R)on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they entered the porch of the Lord. Then they consecrated the house of the Lord in eight days, and finished on the sixteenth day of the first month. 18 Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed the whole house of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the table of the showbread with all of its utensils. 19 Moreover, (S)all the utensils which King Ahaz had discarded during his reign in his unfaithfulness, we have prepared and consecrated; and behold, they are before the altar of the Lord.”
Hezekiah Restores Temple Worship
20 Then King Hezekiah got up early and assembled the princes of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord. 21 They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats (T)as a sin offering for the kingdom, the sanctuary, and Judah. And he ordered the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord. 22 So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. They also slaughtered the rams and sprinkled the blood on the altar; they slaughtered the lambs as well, and (U)sprinkled the blood on the altar. 23 Then they brought the male goats of the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and (V)they laid their hands on them. 24 The priests slaughtered them and purified the altar with their blood (W)to atone for all Israel, because the king ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.
25 (X)He then stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, harps, and lyres, (Y)according to the command of David and of (Z)Gad, the king’s seer, and of (AA)Nathan the prophet; for the command was from the Lord through His prophets. 26 The Levites stood with (AB)the musical instruments of David, and (AC)the priests with the trumpets. 27 Then Hezekiah gave the order to offer the burnt offering on the altar. When the burnt offering began, (AD)the song to the Lord also began with the trumpets, [f]accompanied by the instruments of David, king of Israel. 28 While the whole assembly worshiped, the singers also sang and the trumpets sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.
29 Now at the completion of the burnt offerings, (AE)the king and all who were present with him bowed down and worshiped. 30 Moreover, King Hezekiah and the officials ordered the Levites to sing praises to the Lord with the words of David and Asaph the seer. (AF)So they sang praises with joy, and bowed down and worshiped.
31 Then Hezekiah said, “(AG)Now that you have [g]consecrated yourselves to the Lord, come forward and bring sacrifices and thanksgiving offerings to the house of the Lord.” So the assembly brought sacrifices and thanksgiving offerings, and (AH)everyone who was [h]willing brought burnt offerings. 32 The number of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was seventy bulls, a hundred rams, and two hundred lambs; all of these were for a burnt offering to the Lord. 33 The consecrated offerings were six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep. 34 But the priests were too few, so that they were unable to skin all the burnt offerings; (AI)therefore their brothers the Levites helped them until the work was finished and the other priests had consecrated themselves. For (AJ)the Levites were more [i]conscientious to consecrate themselves than the priests. 35 There were also [j](AK)many burnt offerings with (AL)the fat of the peace offerings and (AM)the drink offerings for the burnt offerings. So the service of the house of the Lord was established again. 36 Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had prepared for the people, because the thing came about suddenly.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 29:6 Lit given
- 2 Chronicles 29:13 Or Jeuel
- 2 Chronicles 29:14 Another reading is Jehuel
- 2 Chronicles 29:16 Or wadi
- 2 Chronicles 29:17 Lit to consecrate
- 2 Chronicles 29:27 Lit and on the hands of
- 2 Chronicles 29:31 Lit filled your hands
- 2 Chronicles 29:31 Lit willing of heart
- 2 Chronicles 29:34 Lit upright of heart
- 2 Chronicles 29:35 Lit the burnt offerings to an abundance
2 Chronicles 29
Common English Bible
Hezekiah rules
29 Hezekiah became king when he was 25 years old, and he ruled for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah; she was Zechariah’s daughter. 2 He did what was right in the Lord’s eyes, just as his ancestor David had done. 3 In the very first year of his rule, during the first month, Hezekiah reopened the doors of the Lord’s temple, having repaired them. 4 Then he brought in the priests and Levites and assembled them in the eastern square.
5 “Listen to me, you Levites!” he said. “Make yourselves holy so you can make holy the temple of the Lord God of your ancestors by removing from the sanctuary any impure thing. 6 Our ancestors were unfaithful and did what was evil in the Lord our God’s eyes. They abandoned him, they ignored the Lord’s dwelling, and they defied him. 7 They even closed the doors of the entrance hall, snuffed out the lamps, and stopped burning incense and offering entirely burned offerings in the sanctuary of the God of Israel. 8 This angered the Lord so much that he made Judah and Jerusalem an object of terror and horror, something people hiss at, as you can see with your own eyes. 9 That’s why our ancestors died violent deaths, while our sons, daughters, and wives were taken captive. 10 But now I intend to make a covenant with the Lord, Israel’s God, so God will no longer be angry with us. 11 Don’t be careless, my sons! The Lord has chosen you to stand in his presence to serve him, so that you can be his servants and burn incense to him.”
12 Then the following Levites got up:
from the descendants of the Kohathites: Mahath, Amasai’s son, and Joel, Azariah’s son;
from the descendants of Merari: Kish, Abdi’s son, and Azariah, Jehallelel’s son;
from the Gershonites: Joah, Zimmah’s son, and Eden, Joah’s son;
13 from the descendants of Elizaphan: Shimri and Jeuel;
from the descendants of Asaph: Zechariah and Mattaniah;
14 from the descendants of Heman: Jehuel and Shimei;
and from the descendants of Jeduthun: Shemaiah and Uzziel.
15 These men gathered their relatives, made themselves holy, and went in to purify the Lord’s temple by obeying the king’s command as the Lord had told him. 16 The priests went in to purify the inner portion of the Lord’s temple. They brought out to the courtyard of the Lord’s temple all the impurities they discovered inside. Then the Levites took them out to the Kidron Valley. 17 They began to make things holy on the first day of the first month.[a] On the eighth day of the month they reached the Lord’s entrance hall. They made holy the Lord’s temple for eight days, finishing on the sixteenth day of the first month.
18 Then they went before King Hezekiah. “We have purified the Lord’s entire temple,” they said, “and the altar for the entirely burned offering together with all its equipment, and the table for the stacks of bread together with all its equipment. 19 We have also restored and made holy all the items King Ahaz threw out during his rule in his unfaithfulness. They are now before the Lord’s altar.”
Hezekiah rededicates the temple
20 Early the next morning Hezekiah gathered the city leaders and went to the Lord’s temple. 21 They brought seven bulls, seven rams, and seven lambs, along with seven male goats, for a purification offering on behalf of the kingdom, the sanctuary, and Judah. Hezekiah ordered the priests, Aaron’s sons, to offer them up on the Lord’s altar. 22 When they slaughtered the bulls, the priests took the blood and splashed it against the altar. Next they slaughtered the rams and splashed their blood against the altar, and also slaughtered the lambs, splashing their blood against the altar as well. 23 Finally, they brought the goats for the purification offering before the king and the assembly. After laying their hands on them, 24 the priests slaughtered them and smeared the blood on the altar as a purification offering to take away the sin of all Israel, because the king had specifically ordered that the entirely burned sacrifice and the purification offering should be on behalf of all Israel. 25 Hezekiah had the Levites stand in the Lord’s temple with cymbals, harps, and zithers, just as the Lord had ordered through David, the king’s seer Gad, and the prophet Nathan. 26 While the Levites took their places holding David’s instruments, and the priests their trumpets, 27 Hezekiah ordered the entirely burned offering to be offered up on the altar. As they began to offer the entirely burned offering, the Lord’s song also began, accompanied by the trumpets and the other instruments of Israel’s King David. 28 The whole congregation worshipped with singing choirs and blaring trumpets until the end of the entirely burned offering. 29 After the entirely burned offering was complete, the king and all who were with him bowed down in worship. 30 Then King Hezekiah and the leaders ordered the Levites to praise the Lord by using the words of David and the seer Asaph. They did so joyously; then they bowed down in worship too.
31 “Now that you have dedicated yourselves to the Lord,” King Hezekiah told them, “bring sacrificial thank offerings to the Lord’s temple.” So the assembly brought sacrificial thank offerings, with some people volunteering to provide entirely burned offerings. 32 All in all, the congregation brought seventy bulls, a hundred rams, and two hundred lambs as entirely burned offerings for the Lord, 33 as well as six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep as holy offerings. 34 Unfortunately, there weren’t enough priests to skin all these entirely burned offerings. So their relatives the Levites (who had been more conscientious about preparing themselves than the priests) stepped in and helped them until the work was done or additional priests had made themselves holy. 35 In addition to the wealth of entirely burned offerings, there was the fat of the well-being sacrifices and drink offerings accompanying the entirely burned offerings. In this way, the service of the Lord’s temple was restored, 36 and Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had done for them, since it had happened so quickly.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 29:17 March–April, Nisan
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