¹¹ And he answered them, ^(A)“To you it has been given to know ^(B)the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.

Come to Me, and I Will Give You Rest

^25 (A)At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, ^(B)Lord of heaven and earth, that ^(C)you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and ^(D)revealed them to little children;

¹⁵ and how ^(A)from childhood you have been acquainted with ^(B)the sacred writings, ^(C)which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ^16 (D)All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ that ^(E)the man of God^[a] may be complete, ^(F)equipped ^(G)for every good work.

²⁴ You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing ^(A)a camel!

^25 (B)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ^(C)you clean the outside of ^(D)the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of ^(E)greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶ You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of ^(F)the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

^27 (G)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like ^(H)whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and ^(I)all uncleanness. ²⁸ So you also ^(J)outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of ^(K)hypocrisy and lawlessness.

^29 (L)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, ³⁰ saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ ³¹ Thus you witness against yourselves that you are ^(M)sons of those who murdered the prophets. ^32 (N)Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. ³³ You serpents, ^(O)you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to ^(P)hell? ^34 (Q)Therefore ^(R)I send you ^(S)prophets and wise men and ^(T)scribes, ^(U)some of whom you will kill and crucify, and ^(V)some you will ^(W)flog in your synagogues and ^(X)persecute from town to town, ³⁵ so that on you may come all ^(Y)the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous ^(Z)Abel to the blood of ^(AA)Zechariah the son of Barachiah,^[a] whom you murdered between ^(AB)the sanctuary and ^(AC)the altar. ³⁶ Truly, I say to you, ^(AD)all these things will come upon this generation.

¹² For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again ^(A)the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need ^(B)milk, not solid food,

²² And Hezekiah spoke ^(A)encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good skill in the service of the Lord. So they ate the food of the festival for seven days, sacrificing ^(B)peace offerings and giving thanks to the Lord, the God of their fathers.

¹⁵ They gathered their brothers and ^(A)consecrated themselves and went in as the king had commanded, ^(B)by the words of the Lord, ^(C)to cleanse the house of the Lord. ¹⁶ The priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and they brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the Lord into the court of the house of the Lord. And the Levites took it and carried it out to ^(D)the brook Kidron. ¹⁷ They began to consecrate ^(E)on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule of the Lord. Then for eight days they consecrated the house of the Lord, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished. ¹⁸ Then they went in to Hezekiah the king and said, “We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the table for the showbread and all its utensils. ¹⁹ All the utensils ^(F)that King Ahaz discarded in his reign when he was faithless, we have made ready and consecrated, and behold, they are before the altar of the Lord.”

Hezekiah Restores Temple Worship

²⁰ Then Hezekiah the king rose early and gathered the officials of the city and went up to the house of the Lord. ²¹ And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats ^(G)for a sin offering for the kingdom and for the sanctuary and for Judah. And he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord. ²² So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests received the blood ^(H)and threw it against the altar. And they slaughtered the rams, and their blood was thrown against the altar. And they slaughtered the lambs, and their blood was thrown against the altar. ²³ Then the goats for the sin offering were brought to the king and the assembly, ^(I)and they laid their hands on them, ²⁴ and the priests slaughtered them and made a sin offering with their blood on the altar, ^(J)to make atonement for all Israel. For the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.

^25 (K)And he stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, harps, and lyres, ^(L)according to the commandment of David and of Gad ^(M)the king's seer and of ^(N)Nathan the prophet, for the commandment was from the Lord through his prophets. ²⁶ The Levites stood with ^(O)the instruments of David, ^(P)and the priests with the trumpets. ²⁷ Then Hezekiah commanded that the burnt offering be offered on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, ^(Q)the song to the Lord began also, and the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel. ²⁸ The whole assembly worshiped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded. All this continued until the burnt offering was finished. ²⁹ When the offering was finished, ^(R)the king and all who were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped. ³⁰ And Hezekiah the king and the officials commanded the Levites to sing praises to the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed down and worshiped.

³¹ Then Hezekiah said, ^(S)“You have now consecrated yourselves to^[a] the Lord. Come near; bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the Lord.” And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all who were ^(T)of a willing heart brought burnt offerings. ³² The number of the burnt offerings that the assembly brought was 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord. ³³ And the consecrated offerings were 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep. ³⁴ But the priests were too few and could not flay all the burnt offerings, so until other priests had consecrated themselves, ^(U)their brothers the Levites helped them, until the work was finished—^(V)for the Levites were more upright in heart than the priests in consecrating themselves. ³⁵ Besides the great number of burnt offerings, there was ^(W)the fat of the peace offerings, and there were ^(X)the drink offerings for the burnt offerings. Thus the service of the house of the Lord was restored. ³⁶ And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because God had provided for the people, for the thing came about suddenly.