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.
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.”