1 ¶ Hezekiah began to reign when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.

2 A nd he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David, his father, had done.

3 I n the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them.

4 A nd he brought in the priests and the Levites and gathered them together into the east plaza

5 a nd said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and ye shall sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers and carry forth the filthiness out of the sanctuary.

6 F or our fathers have rebelled and done that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, for they have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD and turned their backs.

7 T hey even shut up the doors of the porch and put out the lamps and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the sanctuary unto the God of Israel.

8 T herefore, the wrath of the LORD has come upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he has delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes.

9 F or, behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.

10 N ow it is in my heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel that his fierce wrath may turn away from us.

11 M y sons, do not deceive yourselves, for the LORD has chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should be his ministers and burn incense unto him.

12 ¶ Then the Levites arose, Mahath, the son of Amasai, and Joel, the son of Azariah, of the sons of Kohath; and of the sons of Merari, Kish, the son of Abdi, and Azariah, the son of Jehalelel; and of the sons of Gershon; Joah, the son of Zimmah, and Eden, the son of Joah;

13 a nd of the sons of Elizaphan; Shimri and Jeiel; and of the sons of Asaph; Zechariah and Mattaniah;

14 a nd of the sons of Heman; Jehiel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun; Shemaiah and Uzziel.

15 A nd they gathered their brethren and sanctified themselves and entered in, according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD.

16 A nd 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 N ow they began to sanctify on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the porch of the LORD; and they sanctified the house of the LORD in eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.

18 T hen 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 its vessels, and the showbread table with all its vessels.

19 L ikewise we have prepared and sanctified all the vessels, which King Ahaz in his reign cast away in his transgression, 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 A nd they offered seven bullocks and seven rams and seven lambs and seven he goats, for the sin of the kingdom and of the sanctuary and of Judah. And he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the LORD.

22 S o 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 also killed the lambs, and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar.

23 A nd they brought forth the he goats of the sin before the king and the congregation, and they laid their hands upon them;

24 a nd the priests killed them, and they removed the sin with their blood upon the altar, to reconcile all Israel, for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the atonement for sin should be offered for all Israel.

25 A nd 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 of Nathan, the prophet, for that commandment was by the hand of the LORD, by the hand of his prophets.

26 A nd the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.

27 T hen 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 of David, king of Israel.

28 A nd all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpets sounded; and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.

29 A nd when they had finished offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves and worshipped.

30 M oreover, 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 down and worshipped.

31 T hen Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the LORD, come near and bring sacrifices and praises in the house of the LORD. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and praises, and as many as were of a free heart burnt offerings.

32 A nd the number of the burnt offerings, which the congregation brought, was seventy bullocks, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs; all these were for the burnt offering of the LORD.

33 A nd the consecrated things were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep.

34 B ut the priests were too few so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings; therefore, their brethren, the Levites, helped them until 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 A nd 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 A nd Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people, for the thing was done suddenly.