2 Chronicles 29
- 1
- Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty
years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother's
name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.
- 2
- And he did that which was right in the sight of the
LORD, according to all that David his father had done.
- 3
- He in the first year of his reign, in the first month,
opened the doors of the house of the LORD, and repaired them.
- 4
- And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and
gathered them together into the east street,
- 5
- And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now
yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry
forth the filthiness out of the holy place.
- 6
- For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was
evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned
away their faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned their backs.
- 7
- Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put
out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the
holy place unto the God of Israel.
- 8
- Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and
Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to
hissing, as ye see with your eyes.
- 9
- For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our
sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.
- 10
- Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the LORD
God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us.
- 11
- My sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD hath chosen
you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him,
and burn incense.
- 12
- Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and
Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites: and of the sons of
Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehalelel: and of the
Gershonites; Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah:
- 13
- And of the sons of Elizaphan; Shimri, and Jeiel: and of
the sons of Asaph; Zechariah, and Mattaniah:
- 14
- And of the sons of Heman; Jehiel, and Shimei: and of the
sons of Jeduthun; Shemaiah, and Uzziel.
- 15
- And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified
themselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king, by the words
of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD.
- 16
- And the priests went into the inner part of the house of
the LORD, to cleanse it, and 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, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron.
- 17
- Now they began on the first day of the first month to
sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the
LORD: so they sanctified the house of the LORD in eight days; and in the
sixteenth day of the first month they made an end.
- 18
- Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We
have cleansed all the house of the LORD, and the altar of burnt offering, with
all the vessels thereof, and the shewbread table, with all the vessels
thereof.
- 19
- Moreover all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign
did cast away in his transgression, have we prepared and sanctified, and,
behold, they are before the altar of the LORD.
- 20
- Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the
rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the LORD.
- 21
- And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and
seven lambs, and seven he goats, 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 killed the bullocks, and the priests received
the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar: likewise, when they had killed the
rams, they sprinkled the blood upon the altar: they killed also the lambs, and
they sprinkled the blood upon the altar.
- 23
- And they brought forth the he goats for the sin offering
before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them:
- 24
- And the priests killed them, and they made
reconciliation with their blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all
Israel: for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering
should be made for all Israel.
- 25
- And he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with
cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of
David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the
commandment of the LORD by his prophets.
- 26
- And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and
the priests with the trumpets.
- 27
- And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon
the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD began also
with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel.
- 28
- And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers
sang, and the trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the burnt
offering was finished.
- 29
- And when they had made an end of offering, the king and
all that were present with him bowed themselves, and worshipped.
- 30
- Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the
Levites to sing praise unto the LORD with the words of David, and of Asaph the
seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and
worshipped.
- 31
- Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated
yourselves unto the LORD, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings
into the house of the LORD. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and
thank offerings; and as many as were of a free heart burnt offerings.
- 32
- And the number of the burnt offerings, which the
congregation brought, was threescore and ten bullocks, an hundred rams, and
two hundred lambs: all these were for a burnt offering to the LORD.
- 33
- And the consecrated things were six hundred oxen and
three thousand sheep.
- 34
- But the priests were too few, so that they could not
flay all the burnt offerings: wherefore their brethren the Levites did help
them, till the work was ended, and until the other priests had sanctified
themselves: for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves
than the priests.
- 35
- And also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the
fat of the peace offerings, and the drink offerings for every burnt offering.
So the service of the house of the LORD was set in order.
- 36
- And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had
prepared the people: for the thing was done suddenly.
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