| New King James Version | NET Bible |
| 1Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah the daughter of Zechariah. | 1Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. |
| 2And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father David had done. | 2He did what the LORD approved, just as his ancestor David had done. |
| 3In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them. | 3In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the LORD's temple and repaired them. |
| 4Then he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them in the East Square, | 4He brought in the priests and Levites and assembled them in the square on the east side. |
| 5and said to them: “Hear me, Levites! Now sanctify yourselves, sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry out the rubbish from the holy place. | 5He said to them: "Listen to me, you Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, so you can consecrate the temple of the LORD God of your ancestors! Remove from the sanctuary what is ceremonially unclean! |
| 6For our fathers have trespassed and done evil in the eyes of the LORD our God; they have forsaken Him, have turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the LORD, and turned their backs on Him. | 6For our fathers were unfaithful; they did what is evil in the sight of the LORD our God and abandoned him! They turned away from the LORD's dwelling place and rejected him. |
| 7They have also shut up the doors of the vestibule, put out the lamps, and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel. | 7They 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. |
| 8Therefore the wrath of the LORD fell upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He has given them up to trouble, to desolation, and to jeering, as you see with your eyes. | 8The LORD was angry at Judah and Jerusalem and made them an appalling object of horror at which people hiss out their scorn, as you can see with your own eyes. |
| 9For indeed, because of this our fathers have fallen by the sword; and our sons, our daughters, and our wives are in captivity. | 9Look, our fathers died violently and our sons, daughters, and wives were carried off 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. | 10Now I intend to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, so that he may relent from his raging anger. |
| 11My sons, do not be negligent now, for the LORD has chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, and that you should minister to Him and burn incense.” | 11My sons, do not be negligent now, for the LORD has chosen you to serve in his presence and offer sacrifices." |
| 12Then these Levites arose: Mahath the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites; of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; of the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah and Eden the son of Joah; | 12The following Levites prepared to carry out the king's orders: 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; |
| 13of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeiel; of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah; | 13from the descendants of Elizaphan: Shimri and Jeiel; from the descendants of Asaph: Zechariah and Mattaniah; |
| 14of the sons of Heman, Jehiel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel. | 14from the descendants of Heman: Jehiel and Shimei; from the descendants of Jeduthun: Shemaiah and Uzziel. |
| 15And they gathered their brethren, sanctified themselves, and went according to the commandment of the king, at the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD. | 15They 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 of the LORD. |
| 16Then the priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD to cleanse it, and brought out all the debris that they found in the temple of the LORD to the court of the house of the LORD. And the Levites took it out and carried it to the Brook Kidron. | 16The 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. The Levites took them out to the Kidron Valley. |
| 17Now they began to sanctify on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule of the LORD. So they sanctified the house of the LORD in eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished. | 17On 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. For eight more days they consecrated the LORD's temple. On the sixteenth day of the first month they were finished. |
| 18Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed all the house of the LORD, the altar of burnt offerings with all its articles, and the table of the showbread with all its articles. | 18They 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. |
| 19Moreover all the articles which King Ahaz in his reign had cast aside in his transgression we have prepared and sanctified; and there they are, before the altar of the LORD.” | 19We 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." |
| 20Then King Hezekiah rose early, gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the LORD. | 20Early the next morning King Hezekiah assembled the city officials and went up to the LORD's temple. |
| 21And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats for a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. Then he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the LORD. | 21They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, the sanctuary, and Judah. The king told the priests, the descendants of Aaron, to offer burnt sacrifices on the altar of the LORD. |
| 22So they killed the bulls, and the priests received the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. Likewise they killed the rams and sprinkled the blood on the altar. They also killed the lambs and sprinkled the blood on the altar. | 22They 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. |
| 23Then they brought out the male goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands on them. | 23Finally they brought the goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and they placed their hands on them. |
| 24And the priests killed them; and they presented their blood on the altar as a sin offering to make an atonement for all Israel, for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering be made for all Israel. | 24Then 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 that the burnt sacrifice and sin offering were for all Israel. |
| 25And he stationed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with stringed instruments, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, of Gad the king’s seer, and of Nathan the prophet; for thus was the commandment of the LORD by His prophets. | 25King Hezekiah stationed the Levites in the LORD's temple with cymbals and stringed instruments, just as David, Gad the king's prophet, and Nathan the prophet had ordered. (The LORD had actually given these orders through his prophets.) |
| 26The Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. | 26The Levites had David's musical instruments and the priests had trumpets. |
| 27Then Hezekiah commanded them to offer the burnt offering on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD also began, with the trumpets and with the instruments of David king of Israel. | 27Hezekiah 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. |
| 28So all the assembly worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished. | 28The entire assembly worshiped, as the singers sang and the trumpeters played. They continued until the burnt sacrifice was completed. |
| 29And when they had finished offering, the king and all who were present with him bowed and worshiped. | 29When the sacrifices were completed, the king and all who were with him bowed down and worshiped. |
| 30Moreover King Hezekiah and the leaders commanded the Levites to sing praise to the LORD with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshiped. | 30King Hezekiah and the officials told the Levites to praise the LORD, using the psalms of David and Asaph the prophet. So they joyfully offered praise and bowed down and worshiped. |
| 31Then Hezekiah answered and said, “Now that you have consecrated yourselves to the LORD, come near, and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the LORD.” So the assembly brought in sacrifices and thank offerings, and as many as were of a willing heart brought burnt offerings. | 31Hezekiah said, "Now you have consecrated yourselves to the LORD. Come and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the LORD's temple." So the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and whoever desired to do so brought burnt sacrifices. |
| 32And the number of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was seventy bulls, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the LORD. | 32The assembly brought a total of 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 lambs as burnt sacrifices to the LORD, |
| 33The consecrated things were six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep. | 33and 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep were consecrated. |
| 34But the priests were too few, so that they could not skin all the burnt offerings; therefore their brethren the Levites helped them until the work was ended and until the other priests had sanctified themselves, for the Levites were more diligent in sanctifying themselves than the priests. | 34But there were not enough priests to skin all the animals, so their brothers, the Levites, helped them until the work was finished and the priests could consecrate themselves. (The Levites had been more conscientious about consecrating themselves than the priests.) |
| 35Also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace offerings and with the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So the service of the house of the LORD was set in order. | 35There was a large number of burnt sacrifices, as well as fat from the peace offerings and drink offerings that accompanied the burnt sacrifices. So the service of the LORD's temple was reinstituted. |
| 36Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced that God had prepared the people, since the events took place so suddenly. | 36Hezekiah and all the people were happy about what God had done for them, for it had been done quickly. |
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