1Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old, and he ruled for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.
2He did what was right in the sight of the LORD, just as David his father had done.
3In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them.
4He brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together in the open square on the east side.
5He said to them, "Listen to me, you Levites. Make yourselves holy now, and make the house of the LORD God of your fathers holy. Carry the filth out of the holy place."
6"For our fathers were unfaithful and did what was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God. They left him. They turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the LORD, and turned their backs on it."
7"They also shut the doors of the porch and put out the lamps. They did not burn incense or offer burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel."
8"So the anger of the LORD came on Judah and Jerusalem. He has handed them over to trouble, to horror, and to scorn, as you see with your own eyes."
9"Look, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are prisoners because of this."
10"Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, so that his fierce anger may turn away from us."
11"My sons, do not be careless now. For the LORD has chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, to be his ministers, and to burn incense."
12Then the Levites got up: 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;
13and of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeiel; and of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah;
14and of the sons of Heman, Jehiel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.
15They gathered their brothers and made themselves holy. Then they came, as the king had commanded by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD.
16The priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD to cleanse it. They brought out into the court of the house of the LORD all the unclean things they found in the temple of the LORD. The Levites took them and carried them out to the brook Kidron.
17They began to make things holy on the first day of the first month. On the eighth day of the month they came to the porch of the LORD. So they made the house of the LORD holy in eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.
18Then 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 table for the showbread with all its vessels."
19"Also all the vessels that king Ahaz threw away in his unfaithfulness while he was king, we have made ready and holy. Look, they are in front of the altar of the LORD."
20Then Hezekiah the king rose early, gathered the leaders of the city, and went up to the house of the LORD.
21They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs and seven male goats, as a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. He commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the LORD.
22So they killed the bulls, and the priests took the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. In the same way, when they had killed the rams, they sprinkled the blood on the altar. They killed the lambs too, and sprinkled the blood on the altar.
23They brought the male goats for the sin offering in front of the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands on them.
24The priests killed them and made reconciliation with their blood on the altar, to make atonement for all Israel. For the king had commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.
25He placed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with lutes and with harps, as David had commanded, and Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet. For this was the command of the LORD through his prophets.
26The Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.
27Hezekiah commanded that the burnt offering be offered on the altar. When the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD began also, with the trumpets and with the instruments of David king of Israel.
28All the assembly worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded. All this went on until the burnt offering was finished.
29When they had finished the offering, the king and all who were there with him bowed down and worshipped.
30Hezekiah the king and the leaders also commanded the Levites to sing praise to the LORD with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped.
31Then Hezekiah said, "Now you have set yourselves apart to the LORD. Come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the LORD." So the assembly brought in sacrifices and thank offerings, and all who were willing in heart brought burnt offerings.
32The number of the burnt offerings that the assembly brought was seventy bulls, a hundred rams and two hundred lambs. All these were for a burnt offering to the LORD.
33And the consecrated things were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep.
34But there were too few priests, so they could not skin all the burnt offerings. So their brothers the Levites helped them until the work was done, and until the other priests had made themselves holy. For the Levites were more upright in heart to make themselves holy than the priests were.
35There were also many burnt offerings, 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.
36Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people with him, because God had made the people ready. For the thing was done suddenly.