2 Chronicles 29:3-19
Evangelical Heritage Version
Restoration of the Temple
3 In the first month of the first year of his reign, Hezekiah opened the doors of the House of the Lord and repaired them. 4 He brought the priests and the Levites and assembled them in the eastern square. 5 He said to them:
Listen to me, you Levites! Consecrate yourselves now, and consecrate the House of the Lord, the God of your fathers. Remove the filth from the holy place, 6 for our fathers have been unfaithful. They have done evil in the eyes of the Lord our God. They have forsaken him. They have turned their faces away from the dwelling of the Lord. They have turned their backs. 7 They also have shut the doors of the porch of the temple and have extinguished the lamps. They have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel.
8 So the wrath of the Lord is on Judah and Jerusalem. He has made them into an object of terror, horror, and hissing, as you see with your own eyes. 9 Look! 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 to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us. 11 Now, you my sons, do not be negligent, for you are the ones the Lord has chosen to stand in his presence, to minister to him, to serve him, and to burn incense to him.
12 These are the Levites who responded:
from the descendants of the Kohathites: Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah,
from the descendants of Merari: Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jahallelel,
from the Gershonites: Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah,
13 from the descendants of Elizaphan: Shimri and Jeiel, from the descendants of Asaph: Zechariah and Mattaniah,
14 from the descendants of Heman: Jehiel and Shimei, and from the descendants of Jeduthun: Shemaiah and Uzziel.
15 They gathered their brother Levites, consecrated themselves, and went to cleanse the House of the Lord, as the king commanded by the words of the Lord.
16 The priests entered the inner part of the Lord’s house to cleanse it. They brought every unclean thing that they found in the Lord’s temple out into the courtyard of the House of the Lord. The Levites took it and carried it out to the Kidron Valley.
17 On the first day of the first month, they began to consecrate the temple. By the eighth day of the month they had gotten as far as the porch of the Lord. They continued to purify the House of the Lord for eight more days. On the sixteenth day of the first month, they completed the work.
18 They went in to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed the entire House of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the table for the presentation of bread and all its utensils. 19 We have prepared and consecrated all the utensils which King Ahaz discarded during his reign, when he was unfaithful. Look! They are right there in front of the altar of the Lord.”
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