|
Chapter 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. |
