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.
29:2 And he did [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD,
according to all that David his father had done.
29:3 He, in the first year of his reign, in the first month,
opened the doors of the house of the LORD, and repaired them.
29:4 And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and
assembled them in the east street,
29:5 And said to 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].
29:6 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.
29:7 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] to the God of Israel.
29:8 Wherefore the wrath of the LORD hath been upon Judah and
Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to
astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes.
29:9 For lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons
and our daughters and our wives [are] in captivity for this.
29:10 Now [it is] in my heart to make a covenant with the LORD
God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us.
29:11 My sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD hath chosen
you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should
minister to him, and burn incense.
29:12 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:
29:13 And of the sons of Elizaphan; Shimri, and Jeiel: and of
the sons of Asaph; Zechariah, and Mattaniah:
29:14 And of the sons of Heman; Jehiel, and Shimei: and of the
sons of Jeduthun; Shemaiah, and Uzziel.
29:15 And they assembled 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.
29:16 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.
29:17 Now they began 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: so they sanctified the house of the LORD in
eight days; and on the sixteenth day of the first month they
made an end.
29:18 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 its vessels, and the show-bread table,
with all its vessels.
29:19 Moreover all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign
cast away in his transgression, have we prepared and
sanctified, and behold, they [are] before the altar of the
LORD.
29:20 Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and convened the rulers
of the city, and went up to the house of the LORD.
29:21 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.
29:22 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.
29:23 And they brought forth the he-goats [for] the sin-offering
before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands
upon them:
29:24 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.
29:25 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.
29:26 And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and
the priests with the trumpets.
29:27 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.
29:28 And all the congregation worshiped, and the singers sang,
and the trumpeters sounded: [and] all [this continued] until
the burnt-offering was finished.
29:29 And when they had made an end of offering, the king and
all that were present with him bowed themselves, and worshiped.
29:30 Moreover, Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the
Levites to sing praise to the LORD, with the words of David,
and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and
they bowed their heads and worshiped.
29:31 Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated
yourselves to 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.
29:32 And the number of the burnt-offerings, which the
congregation brought, was seventy bullocks, a hundred rams:
[and] two hundred lambs: all these [were] for a burnt-offering
to the LORD.
29:33 And the consecrated things [were] six hundred oxen and
three thousand sheep.
29:34 But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay
all the burnt-offerings: wherefore their brethren the Levites
helped 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.
29:35 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.
29:36 And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had
prepared the people: for the thing was [done] suddenly.
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