1 ¶ Hezekiah began to reign when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.

2 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done.

3 During the first month, of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD, and repaired them.

4 And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together in the square on the east,

5 And said to them, Hear me, you Levites, sanctify yourselves now, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and remove the filth from the holy place.

6 For our fathers have trespassed, and done what was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned their faces away from the house of the LORD, and turned their backs.

7 They have also closed the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel.

8 Therefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he made them an object of terror, horror, and hissing, as you see with your eyes.

9 For our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity because of this.

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.

11 My sons, do not now be negligent: for the LORD has chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, to be his ministers, and burn incense.

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:

13 And of the sons of Elizaphan; Shimri, and Jeiel: and of the sons of Asaph; Zechariah, and Mattaniah:

14 And of the sons of Heman; Jehiel, and Shimei: and of the sons of Jeduthun; Shemaiah, and Uzziel.

15 And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and went in, as the king had commanded, by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD.

16 And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD, to cleanse it, and brought all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the LORD out into the court of the house of the LORD. And the Levites took it, and carried it out to the brook Kidron.

17 Now they began to sanctify on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they went into the LORD’s porch: and sanctified the LORD’s temple for eight days; and they finished on the sixteenth day of the first month.

18 Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have cleansed the entire house of the LORD, and the altar of burnt offering, with all of its utensils, and the showbread table, with all its utensils.

19 Moreover we have restored and sanctified all the vessels, that king Ahaz threw out when he was king and unfaithful, and, behold, they are before the altar of the LORD.

20 ¶ Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the LORD.

21 And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he goats, as 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.

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 on the altar: they also killed the lambs, and they sprinkled the blood on the altar.

23 Then the he goats we brought out for the sin offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them:

24 And the priests killed them, and made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar, to make atonement for all Israel: for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.

25 And he stationed 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 that was the commandment of the LORD by his prophets.

26 And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.

27 And Hezekiah ordered the sacrificing of the burnt offering upon the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD began accompanied with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel.

28 And the whole congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.

29 And when they had finished the offering, the king and all who were present with him bowed themselves, and worshipped.

30 Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise to the LORD with the words of David, and Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and bowed their heads and worshipped.

31 Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now you 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 willing heart brought burnt offerings.

32 And the number of the burnt offerings, that the congregation brought, was sixty and ten bullocks, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs: all these were for a burnt offering to the LORD.

33 And the consecrated things were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep.

34 But the priests were too few, and could not skin all the burnt offerings: so their brethren the Levites helped them, until the work was finished, and until the other priests had sanctified themselves: for the Levites had a better attitude about sanctifying themselves than the priests.

35 There were also plenty of burnt offerings, besides the fat of the peace offerings, and the drink offerings included with every burnt offering. So the service of the house of the LORD was set in order.

36 And Hezekiah, and all the people, rejoiced because of what God had prepared for the people: for it all happened quite suddenly.