Hezekiahbegan to reignwhen he was five and twentyyears old, and he reignednine and twentyyears in Jerusalem. And his mother’sname was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.
And saiduntothem, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of yourfathers, and carryforth the filthiness out of the holyplace.
For our fathershavetrespassed, and donethatwhich was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, and haveforsaken him, and haveturnedawaytheirfacesfrom the habitation of the LORD, and turnedtheirbacks.
Alsotheyhaveshut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burnedincense nor offeredburntofferings in the holyplaceunto the God of Israel.
Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was uponJudah and Jerusalem, and he hathdeliveredthem to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see withyoureyes.
Then the Levitesarose, 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:
And theygatheredtheirbrethren, and sanctifiedthemselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD.
And the priestswentinto the innerpart of the house of the LORD, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleannessthattheyfound in the temple of the LORDinto the court of the house of the LORD. And the Levitestook it, to carry it out abroadinto the brookKidron.
Now theybegan on the first day of the firstmonth to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the monthcamethey to the porch of the LORD: so theysanctified the house of the LORD in eightdays; and in the sixteenth day of the firstmonththeymade an end.
Thentheywent in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We havecleansed all the house of the LORD, and the altar of burntoffering, with all the vesselsthereof, and the shewbreadtable, with all the vesselsthereof.
Moreover all the vessels, whichkingAhaz in his reign did castaway in his transgression, have we prepared and sanctified, and, behold, they are before the altar of the LORD.
And theybroughtsevenbullocks, and sevenrams, and sevenlambs, 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 offerthem on the altar of the LORD.
So theykilled the bullocks, and the priestsreceived the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar: likewise, whenthey had killed the rams, theysprinkled the bloodupon the altar: theykilledalso the lambs, and theysprinkled the bloodupon the altar.
And the priestskilledthem, and theymadereconciliationwiththeirbloodupon the altar, to make an atonement for all Israel: for the kingcommandedthat the burntoffering and the sin offeringshould be made for all Israel.
And he set the Levites in the house of the LORDwithcymbals, withpsalteries, and withharps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king’sseer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the LORD by his prophets.
And Hezekiahcommanded to offer the burntofferingupon the altar. And when the burntofferingbegan, the song of the LORDbeganalsowith the trumpets, and with the instrumentsordained by Davidking of Israel.
MoreoverHezekiah the king and the princescommanded the Levites to singpraiseunto the LORDwith the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And theysangpraiseswithgladness, and theybowedtheirheads and worshipped.
ThenHezekiahanswered and said, Now ye haveconsecratedyourselvesunto the LORD, comenear and bringsacrifices and thankofferingsinto the house of the LORD. And the congregationbrought in sacrifices and thankofferings; and as many as were of a freeheartburntofferings.
And the number of the burntofferings, which the congregationbrought, was threescore and ten bullocks, an hundredrams, and two hundredlambs: all thesewere for a burntoffering to the LORD.
But the priestswere too few, so thattheycould not flay all the burntofferings: whereforetheirbrethren the Levites did helpthem, till the work was ended, and until the otherpriests had sanctifiedthemselves: for the Levitesweremoreupright in heart to sanctifythemselvesthan the priests.
And also the burntofferingswere in abundance, with the fat of the peaceofferings, and the drinkofferings for everyburntoffering. So the service of the house of the LORD was set in order.