Hezekiah Consecrates the Temple
1Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.
2He did what the
3In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the
4He brought in the priests and Levites and assembled them in the square on the east side.
5He said to them: “Listen to me, you Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, so you can consecrate the temple of the
6For our fathers were unfaithful; they did what is evil in the sight of the
7They closed the doors of the temple porch and put out the lamps; they did not offer incense or burnt sacrifices in the sanctuary of the God of Israel.
8The
9Look, our fathers died violently and our sons, daughters, and wives were carried off because of this.
10Now I intend to make a covenant with the
11My sons, do not be negligent now, for the
12The following Levites prepared to carry out the king’s orders:
From the Kohathites: Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah;
from the Merarites: Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel;
from the Gershonites: Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah;
13from the descendants of Elizaphan: Shimri and Jeiel;
from the descendants of Asaph: Zechariah and Mattaniah;
14from the descendants of Heman: Jehiel and Shimei;
from the descendants of Jeduthun: Shemaiah and Uzziel.
15They assembled their brothers and consecrated themselves. Then they went in to purify the
16The priests then entered the
17On the first day of the first month they began consecrating; by the eighth day of the month they reached the porch of the
18They went to King Hezekiah and said: “We have purified the entire temple of the
19We have prepared and consecrated all the items that King Ahaz removed during his reign when he acted unfaithfully. They are in front of the altar of the
20Early the next morning King Hezekiah assembled the city officials and went up to the
21They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, the sanctuary, and Judah. The king told the priests, the descendants of Aaron, to offer burnt sacrifices on the altar of the
22They slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and splashed it on the altar. Then they slaughtered the rams and splashed the blood on the altar; next they slaughtered the lambs and splashed the blood on the altar.
23Finally they brought the goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and they placed their hands on them.
24Then the priests slaughtered them. They offered their blood as a sin offering on the altar to make atonement for all Israel, because the king had decreed that the burnt sacrifice and sin offering were for all Israel.
25King Hezekiah stationed the Levites in the
26The Levites had David’s musical instruments and the priests had trumpets.
27Hezekiah ordered the burnt sacrifice to be offered on the altar. As they began to offer the sacrifice, they also began to sing to the
28The entire assembly worshiped, as the singers sang and the trumpeters played. They continued until the burnt sacrifice was completed.
29When the sacrifices were completed, the king and all who were with him bowed down and worshiped.
30King Hezekiah and the officials told the Levites to praise the
31Hezekiah said, “Now you have consecrated yourselves to the
32The assembly brought a total of 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 lambs as burnt sacrifices to the
33and 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep were consecrated.
34But there were not enough priests to skin all the animals, so their brothers, the Levites, helped them until the work was finished and the priests could consecrate themselves. (The Levites had been more conscientious about consecrating themselves than the priests.)
35There was a large number of burnt sacrifices, as well as fat from the peace offerings and drink offerings that accompanied the burnt sacrifices. So the service of the
36Hezekiah and all the people were happy about what God had done for them, for it had been done quickly.
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