2 Chronicles Chapter 29

Hezekiah Rules Judah

¹ Hezekiah became king when he was 25 and ruled for 29 years in Jerusalem. ² He did what was right like David did.

Hezekiah Reopens the Temple

³ In the first month of his first year, he reopened the doors of Yahveh’s Temple and repaired them. ⁴ He brought in the priests and Levites and gathered them in the courtyard on the east. ⁵ He said,

“Listen, Levites. Consecrate yourselves and the Temple of Yahveh God of our ancestors. Remove ceremonial uncleanness from the Holy Place. ⁶ Our ancestors have been unfaithful and done what he forbids. They’ve turned their backs on where he lives. ⁷ They’ve shut the doors of the vestibule and put out the lamps. They haven’t burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the Holy Place. ⁸ So God’s wrath has been against Judah and Jerusalem. He’s made them something to abhor, be amazed at, hissed at, as you can see. ⁹ Our ancestors fell by the sword. Our sons, daughters, and wives are in captivity because of it. ¹⁰ I intend to renew the covenant with Yahveh God of Israel so his furious anger will turn away from us. ¹¹ Sons, don’t neglect your responsibilities any longer. Yahveh has chosen you to stand in his presence, perform service to him and his people, and burn incense.”        2 Ch 29:1-11

¹² The Levites got to work:

Mahath Ben-Amasai and Joel Ben-Azariah from the Kohathites;

Kish Ben-Abdi and Azariah Ben-Jehallelel from the descendants of Merari;

Joah Ben-Zimmah and Eden Ben-Joah from the Gershonites;

¹³ Shimri and Jeiel from the sons of Elizaphan;

 Zechariah and Mattaniah from the descendants of Asaph;

¹⁴ Jehiel and Shimei from the descendants of Heman; and

Shemaiah and Uzziel from the sons of Jeduthun.                                   2 Ch 29:12-14

¹⁵ They gathered their relatives, consecrated themselves, and went in to cleanse Yahveh’s Temple like the king said by Yahveh’s words. ¹⁶ The priests went into the inner part of the Temple to cleanse it. Everything unclean they found they brought out to the court, and the Levites carried it down to the Kidron valley. ¹⁷ They began the consecration on the first day, first month. On the eighth day, they went into the vestibule. They consecrated Yahveh’s Temple in eight days and finished on the sixteenth.

The Temple Rededicated

¹⁸ Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said,

“We’ve cleansed the whole Temple, the altar for burnt offering with its utensils, and the table for the showbread with its utensils. ¹⁹ We’ve prepared and consecrated the utensils King Ahaz discarded during his unfaithfulness. They’re in front of the altar.”                                                                                                                2 Ch 29:15-19

²⁰ Then King Hezekiah got up early and gathered the city officials and went up to Yahveh’s Temple. ²¹ They brought seven bulls, rams, lambs, and male goats for a sin offering for the kingdom, the sanctuary, and Judah. He told the priests, descendants of Aaron, to offer them on the altar. ²² They slaughtered the bulls, rams, and lambs and sprinkled the blood on the altar. ²³ They brought the male goats for the sin offering in the presence of the king and the assembly, and laid their hands on them. ²⁴ The priests slaughtered them and purged the altar with their blood to atone for Israel, because the king ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.

²⁵ Then he stationed the Levites in Yahveh’s Temple with cymbals, harps, and lyres like David, Gad the seer, and Nathan the prophet had commanded. The command came from Yahveh through his prophets. ²⁶ The Levites stood with David’s musical instruments and the priests with their trumpets. ²⁷ Hezekiah gave the order to offer the burnt offering on the altar. When the burnt offering began, the song to Yahveh also began with the trumpets accompanied by David’s instruments. ²⁸ While the whole assembly worshiped, the singers sang and the trumpets blew till the burnt offering finished. ²⁹ Then the king and everybody present with him bowed in worship. ³⁰ King Hezekiah and the officials directed the Levites to sing praises to Yahveh with the words of David and Asaph the seer. They sang praises with joy and bowed in worship.          2 Ch 29:20-30

³¹ Hezekiah said, “Now that you’ve consecrated yourselves, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to Yahveh’s Temple.” The assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and everybody that wanted to brought burnt offerings. ³² The assembly brought 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 lambs as burnt offerings. ³³ The consecrated things were 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep. ³⁴ There weren’t enough priests to skin all the burnt offerings. So their relatives the Levites helped them till they finished and more priests had consecrated themselves. The Levites were more conscientious about consecrating themselves than the priests were. ³⁵ Besides the large number of burnt offerings, there was the fat of the peace offerings and the liquid offerings for the burnt offerings. In that way, they restored the service in Yahveh’s Temple. ³⁶ Then Hezekiah and the people celebrated what God had prepared for them, because the thing had come about suddenly. 2 Ch 29:31-36