2 Chronicles 29:3-19

Expanded Bible

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.”