Hezekiah Reigns in Judah
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1Hezekiah began to reign when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abijaha the daughter of 2Zechariah.
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And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done.
Hezekiah Cleanses the Temple
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In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he 3opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them.
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He brought in the priests and the Levites and assembled them in the square on the east
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and said to them, "Hear me, Levites! Now 4consecrate yourselves, and consecrate the house of the LORD, the God of your fathers, and carry out the filth from the Holy Place.
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For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done what was evil in the sight of the LORD our God. They have forsaken him and 5have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD and turned their backs.
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They also 6shut the doors of the vestibule and put out the lamps and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the Holy Place to the God of Israel.
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Therefore 7the wrath of the LORD came on Judah and Jerusalem, and he has made them 8an object of horror, of astonishment, 9and of hissing, as you see with your own eyes.
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For behold, 10our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.
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Now 11it is in my heart 12to make a covenant with the LORD, the God of Israel, in order that his fierce anger may turn away from us.
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My sons, do not now be negligent, 13for the LORD has chosen you to stand in his presence, to minister to him and to be his ministers and make offerings to him."
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Then the Levites arose, 14Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of 15the Kohathites; and of the sons of 16Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; and of the 17Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah;
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and of the sons of 18Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel; and of the sons of 19Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah;
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and of the sons of 20Heman, Jehuel and Shimei; and of the sons of 21Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.
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They gathered their brothers and 22consecrated themselves and went in as the king had commanded, 23by the words of the LORD, 24to cleanse the house of the LORD.
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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 25the brook Kidron.
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They began to consecrate 26on 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.
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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.
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All the utensils 27that 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
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Then Hezekiah the king rose early and gathered the officials of the city and went up to the house of the LORD.
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And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats 28for 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.
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So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests received the blood 29and 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.
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Then the goats for the sin offering were brought to the king and the assembly, 30and they laid their hands on them,
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and the priests slaughtered them and made a sin offering with their blood on the altar, 31to make atonement for all Israel. For the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.
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32And he stationed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, harps, and lyres, 33according to the commandment of David and of Gad 34the king's seer and of 35Nathan the prophet, for the commandment was from the LORD through his prophets.
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Then Hezekiah commanded that the burnt offering be offered on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, 38the song to the LORD began also, and the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel.
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The whole assembly worshiped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded. All this continued until the burnt offering was finished.
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When the offering was finished, 39the king and all who were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped.
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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.
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Then Hezekiah said, 40"You have now consecrated yourselves tob 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 41of a willing heart brought burnt offerings.
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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.
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And the consecrated offerings were 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep.
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But the priests were too few and could not flay all the burnt offerings, so until other priests had consecrated themselves, 42their brothers the Levites helped them, until the work was finished--43for the Levites were more upright in heart than the priests in consecrating themselves.
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Besides the great number of burnt offerings, there was 44the fat of the peace offerings, and there were 45the drink offerings for the burnt offerings. Thus the service of the house of the LORD was restored.
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And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because God had prepared for the people, for the thing came about suddenly.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)