1Hezekiah became king when five and twenty years old, and twenty and nine years did he reign in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Abiyah, the daughter of Zecharyahu.
2And he did what is right in the eyes of the Lord, in accordance with all that David his father had done.
3He it was that in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them.
4And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the open place at the east;
5And he said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify yourselves now, and sanctity the house of the Lord the God of your fathers, and carry forth the unclean thing out of the sanctuary.
6For our fathers have dealt faithlessly, and have done what is evil in the eyes of the Lord our God, and have forsaken him; and they have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord, and turned their backs.
7They had also locked up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and incense have they not burnt, and the burnt-offerings have they not offered in the sanctuary, unto the God of Israel.
8Wherefore the wrath of the Lord is upon Judah and Jerusalem. and he hath rendered them to be a horror, an astonishment, and a hissing, as ye see with your eyes.
9And, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons, and our daughters, and our wives are in captivity because of this.
10Now it is in my heart to make a covenant for the Lord the God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us.
11My sons, be not negligent now; for of you hath the Lord made choice to stand before him, to minister unto him, and that ye might be unto him ministers and those that burn incense.
12Then arose the Levites, Machath the son of 'Amassai, and Joel the son of 'Azaryahu, of the sons of the Kehathites; and of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of 'Abdi, and 'Azaryahu the son of Jehallelel; and of the Gershunites, Joach the son of Zimmah, and 'Eden the son of Joach:
13And of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri, and Je'iel; and of the sons of Assaph, Zecharyahu and Matthanyahu;
14And of the sons of Heman, Jechiel and Shim'i; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shema'yah and 'Uzziel;
15And they gathered together their brethren, and they sanctified themselves, and came, according to the command of the king, by the words of the Lord, to cleanse the house of the Lord.
16And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord, to cleanse it; and they brought out every thing unclean which they found in the temple of the Lord into the court of the house of the Lord; and the Levites received it, to carry it out abroad unto the brook Kidron.
17And they commenced on the first day of the first month to sanctify; 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 on the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end.
18Then went they in the inner part of the palace to king Hezekiah, and said, We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, and the altar of burnt-offering, and all its vessels, and the table of shewbread, and all its vessels.
19Moreover all the vessels, which king Achaz had cast aside during his reign in his faithlessness, have we put in order and sanctified: and, behold, they are before the altar of the Lord.
20Then arose king Hezekiah early, and gathered together the princes of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord.
21And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven sheep, and seven he-goats, as a sin-offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And he ordered the sons of Aaron the priests to offer them on the altar of the Lord.
22So they slaughtered the bullocks, and the priests received the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar; and they slaughtered the rams, and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar; they also slaughtered the sheep, and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar.
23And they brought near the he-goats of the sin-offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them:
24And the priests slaughtered them, and they made an expiation with their blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all Israel; because for all the people, said the king, should be the burnt-offering and the sin-offering.
25And he stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the command of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: because from the Lord was this commandment by means of his prophets.
26And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.
27And Hezekiah ordered to offer the burnt-offering on the altar. And when the burnt-offering began, the song of the Lord began also with the trumpets, and with the instruments of David the king of Israel.
28And all the assembly prostrated themselves, and the song sounded, and the trumpeters blew; all this continued until the burnt-offering was completed.
29And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him kneeled down and prostrated themselves.
30And king Hezekiah and the princes then said to the Levites to sing praises unto the Lord with the words of David, and of Assaph the seer. And they sang praises with great joy, and they bowed their heads and prostrated themselves.
31Then commenced Hezekiah, and said, Now have ye consecrated yourselves unto the Lord: come near and bring sacrifices and thanksgiving-offerings unto the house of the Lord. And the assembly brought in sacrifices and thanksgiving-offerings, and every one who was liberal of heart, burnt-offerings.
32And the number of the burnt-offerings, which the assembly brought, was seventy bullocks, one hundred rams, and two hundred sheep: as a burnt-offering unto the Lord were all these.
33And the hallowed sacrifices were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep.
34Only the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt-offerings: wherefore their brethren the Levites assisted them, till the work was ended, and until the other priests could sanctify themselves, for the Levites were of upright heart to sanctify themselves more than the priests.
35But there were also burnt-offerings in abundance, with the fat of the peace-offerings, and the drink-offerings for the burnt-offerings. So was again established the service of the house of the Lord.
36And Hezekiah rejoiced, with all the people, over that which God had prepared for the people; because the thing occurred suddenly.
