29:1 Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. 1 His mother was Abijah, 2 the daughter of Zechariah. 29:2 He did what the Lord approved, just as his ancestor David had done. 3
29:3 In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the Lord’s temple and repaired them. 29:4 He brought in the priests and Levites and assembled them in the square on the east side. 29:5 He said to them: “Listen to me, you Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, so you can consecrate the temple of the Lord God of your ancestors! 4 Remove from the sanctuary what is ceremonially unclean! 29:6 For our fathers were unfaithful; they did what is evil in the sight of 5 the Lord our God and abandoned him! They turned 6 away from the Lord’s dwelling place and rejected him. 7 29:7 They closed the doors of the temple porch and put out the lamps; they did not offer incense or burnt sacrifices in the sanctuary of the God of Israel. 29:8 The Lord was angry at Judah and Jerusalem and made them an appalling object of horror at which people hiss out their scorn, 8 as you can see with your own eyes. 29:9 Look, our fathers died violently 9 and our sons, daughters, and wives were carried off 10 because of this. 29:10 Now I intend 11 to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, so that he may relent from his raging anger. 12 29:11 My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to serve in his presence and offer sacrifices.” 13
29:12 The following Levites prepared to carry out the king’s orders: 14
From the Kohathites: Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah;
from the Merarites: Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel;
from the Gershonites: Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah;
29:13 from the descendants of Elizaphan: Shimri and Jeiel;
from the descendants of Asaph: Zechariah and Mattaniah;
29:14 from the descendants of Heman: Jehiel and Shimei;
from the descendants of Jeduthun: Shemaiah and Uzziel.
29:15 They assembled their brothers and consecrated themselves. Then they went in to purify the Lord’s temple, just as the king had ordered, in accordance with the word 15 of the Lord. 29:16 The priests then entered the Lord’s temple to purify it; they brought out to the courtyard of the Lord’s temple every ceremonially unclean thing they discovered inside. 16 The Levites took them out to the Kidron Valley. 29:17 On the first day of the first month they began consecrating; by the eighth day of the month they reached the porch of the Lord’s temple. 17 For eight more days they consecrated the Lord’s temple. On the sixteenth day of the first month they were finished. 29:18 They went to King Hezekiah and said: “We have purified the entire temple of the Lord, including the altar of burnt sacrifice and all its equipment, and the table for the Bread of the Presence and all its equipment. 29:19 We have prepared and consecrated all the items that King Ahaz removed during his reign when he acted unfaithfully. They are in front of the altar of the Lord.”
29:20 Early the next morning King Hezekiah assembled the city officials and went up to the Lord’s temple. 29:21 They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, the sanctuary, and Judah. 18 The king 19 told the priests, the descendants of Aaron, to offer burnt sacrifices on the altar of the Lord. 29:22 They slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and splashed it on the altar. Then they slaughtered the rams and splashed the blood on the altar; next they slaughtered the lambs and splashed the blood on the altar. 29:23 Finally they brought the goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and they placed their hands on them. 29:24 Then the priests slaughtered them. They offered their blood as a sin offering on the altar to make atonement for all Israel, because the king had decreed 20 that the burnt sacrifice and sin offering were for all Israel.
29:25 King Hezekiah 21 stationed the Levites in the Lord’s temple with cymbals and stringed instruments, just as David, Gad the king’s prophet, 22 and Nathan the prophet had ordered. (The Lord had actually given these orders through his prophets.) 29:26 The Levites had 23 David’s musical instruments and the priests had trumpets. 29:27 Hezekiah ordered the burnt sacrifice to be offered on the altar. As they began to offer the sacrifice, they also began to sing to the Lord, accompanied by the trumpets and the musical instruments of King David of Israel.
1 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
2 tn The parallel passage in 2 Kgs 18:2 has “Abi.”
3 tn Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the
4 tn Heb “fathers.”
5 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
6 tn Heb “turned their faces.”
7 tn Heb “and turned the back.”
8 tn Heb “and he made them [an object] of dread and devastation and hissing.”
9 tn Heb “fell by the sword.”
10 tn Heb “are in captivity.”
11 tn Heb “now it is with my heart.”
12 tn Heb “so that the rage of his anger might turn from us.” The jussive with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding statement of intention.
13 tn Heb “to stand before him to serve him and to be his servants and sacrificers.”
14 tn Heb “and the Levites arose.”
15 tn Heb “words” (plural).
16 tn Heb “in the temple of the
17 tn Heb “porch of the
18 sn Perhaps these terms refer metonymically to the royal court, the priests and Levites, and the people, respectively.
19 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
20 tn Heb “said.”
21 tn Heb “he”; the referent (King Hezekiah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
22 tn Or “seer.”
23 tn Heb “stood with” (i.e., stood holding).