2 Chronicles 29

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1Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother's name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah.

2He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done.

3In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the Lord and repaired them.

4He brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east side

5and said: “Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the Lord, the God of your fathers. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary.

6Our fathers were unfaithful; they did evil in the eyes of the Lord our God and forsook him. They turned their faces away from the Lord's dwelling place and turned their backs on him.

7They also shut the doors of the portico and put out the lamps. They did not burn incense or present any burnt offerings at the sanctuary to the God of Israel.

8Therefore, the anger of the Lord has fallen on Judah and Jerusalem; he has made them an object of dread and horror and scorn, as you can see with your own eyes.

9This is why our fathers have fallen by the sword and why our sons and daughters and our wives are in captivity.

10Now I intend to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us.

11My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before him and serve him, to minister before him and to burn incense.”

12Then these Levites set to work: 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;

13from the descendants of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeiel; from the descendants of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah;

14from the descendants of Heman, Jehiel and Shimei; from the descendants of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.

15When they had assembled their brothers and consecrated themselves, they went in to purify the temple of the Lord, as the king had ordered, following the word of the Lord.

16The priests went into the sanctuary of the Lord to purify it. They brought out to the courtyard of the Lord's temple everything unclean that they found in the temple of the Lord. The Levites took it and carried it out to the Kidron Valley.

17They began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and by the eighth day of the month they reached the portico of the Lord. For eight more days they consecrated the temple of the Lord itself, finishing on the sixteenth day of the first month.

18Then they went in to King Hezekiah and reported: “We have purified the entire temple of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the table for setting out the consecrated bread, with all its articles.

19We have prepared and consecrated all the articles that King Ahaz removed in his unfaithfulness while he was king. They are now in front of the Lord's altar.”

20Early the next morning King Hezekiah gathered the city officials together and went up to the temple of the Lord.

21They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven male lambs and seven male goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary and for Judah. The king commanded the priests, the descendants of Aaron, to offer these on the altar of the Lord.

22So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and sprinkled it on the altar; next they slaughtered the rams and sprinkled their blood on the altar; then they slaughtered the lambs and sprinkled their blood on the altar.

23The goats for the sin offering were brought before the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands on them.

24The priests then slaughtered the goats and presented their blood on the altar for a sin offering to atone for all Israel, because the king had ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.

25He stationed the Levites in the temple of the Lord with cymbals, harps and lyres in the way prescribed by David and Gad the king's seer and Nathan the prophet; this was commanded by the Lord through his prophets.

26So the Levites stood ready with David's instruments, and the priests with their trumpets.

27Hezekiah gave the order to sacrifice the burnt offering on the altar. As the offering began, singing to the Lord began also, accompanied by trumpets and the instruments of David king of Israel.

28The whole assembly bowed in worship, while the singers sang and the trumpeters played. All this continued until the sacrifice of the burnt offering was completed.

29When the offerings were finished, the king and everyone present with him knelt down and worshiped.

30King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to praise the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness and bowed their heads and worshiped.

31Then Hezekiah said, “You have now dedicated yourselves to the Lord. Come and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the temple of the Lord.” So the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all whose hearts were willing brought burnt offerings.

32The number of burnt offerings the assembly brought was seventy bulls, a hundred rams and two hundred male lambs–all of them for burnt offerings to the Lord.

33The animals consecrated as sacrifices amounted to six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep and goats.

34The priests, however, were too few to skin all the burnt offerings; so their kinsmen the Levites helped them until the task was finished and until other priests had been consecrated, for the Levites had been more conscientious in consecrating themselves than the priests had been.

35There were burnt offerings in abundance, together with the fat of the fellowship offerings and the drink offerings that accompanied the burnt offerings. So the service of the temple of the Lord was reestablished.

36Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had brought about for his people, because it was done so quickly.

Commentary

Chapter 29 We are here entering upon a pleasant scene, the good and glorious reign of Hezekiah, in which we shall find more of God and religion than perhaps in any of the good reigns we have yet met with; for he was a very zealous, devout, good man, none like him. In this chapter we have an account of the work of reformation which he set about with vigour immediately after his accession to the crown. Here is, I. His exhortation to the priests and Levites, when he put them in possession of the house of God again (v. 1–11). II. The care and pains which the Levites took to cleanse the temple, and put things in order there (v. 12–19). III. A solemn revival of God’s ordinances that had been neglected, in which atonement was made for the sins of the last reign, and the wheels were set a-going again, to the great satisfaction of king and people (v. 20–36).Verses 1-11 Here is, I. Hezekiah’s age when he came to the crown. He was twenty-five years old. Joash, who came to the crown after two bad reigns, was but seven years old; Josiah, who came after two bad reigns, was but eight, which occasioned the delay of the reformation; but Hezekiah had come to years, and so applied himself immediately to it. We may well think with what a sorrowful heart he beheld his father’s idolatry and profaneness, how it troubled him to see the doors of the temple shut, though, while his father lived, he durst not open them. His soul no doubt wept in secret for it, and he vowed that when he should receive the congregation he would redress these grievances, which made him do it with more readiness and resolution.II. His general character. He did that which was right like David, v. 2. Of several of his predecessors it had been said that they did that which was right, but not like David, not with David’s integrity and zeal. But here was one that had as hearty an affection for the ark and law of God as ever David had.III. His speedy application to the great work of restoring religion. The first thing he did was to open the doors of the house of the Lord, v. 3. We are willing to hope his father had not quite suppressed the temple service; for then the holy fire on the altar must have gone out, and we do not read of the re-kindling of it; but he had hindered the people from attending it, and the priests, except such of them as were of his own party, 2 Ki. 16:15. But Hezekiah immediately threw the church doors open, and brought in the priests and Levites. He found Judah low and naked, yet did not make it his first business to revive the civil interests of his kingdom, but to restore religion to its good posture again. Those that begin with God begin at the right end of their work, and it will prosper accordingly.IV. His speech to the priests and Levites. It was well known, no doubt, that he had a real kindness for religion and was disaffected to the corruptions of the last reign; yet we do not find the priests and Levites making application to him for the restoration of the temple service but he calls upon them, which, I doubt, bespeaks their coldness as much as his zeal; and perhaps, if they had done their part with vigour, things would not have been brought into so very bad a posture as Hezekiah found them in. Hezekiah’s exhortation to the Levites is very pathetic.1. He laid before them the desolations of religion and the deplorable state to which it was brought among them (v. 6, 7): Our fathers have trespassed. He said not "My father," because it became him, as a son, to be as tender as might be of his father’s name, and because his father would not have done all this if their fathers had not neglected their duty. Urijah the priest had joined with Ahaz in setting up an idolatrous altar. He complained, (1.) That the house of God had been deserted: They have forsaken God, and turned their backs upon his habitation. Note, Those that turn their backs upon God’s ordinances may truly be said to forsake God himself. (2.) That the instituted worship of God there had been let fall. The lamps were not lighted, and incense was not burnt. There are still such neglects as these, and they are no less culpable, when the word is not duly read and opened (for that was signified by the lighting of the lamps) and when prayers and praises are not duly offered up, for that was signified by the burning of incense.2. He showed the sad consequences of the neglect and decay of religion among them, v. 8. 9. This was the cause of all the calamities they had lain under. God had in anger delivered them to trouble, to the sword, and to captivity. When we are under the rebukes of God’s providence it is good for us to enquire whether we have not neglected God’s ordinances and whether the controversy he has with us may not be traced to this neglect.3. He declared his own full purpose and resolution to revive religion and make it his business to promote it (v. 10): "It is in my heart (that is, I am fully resolved) to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel (that is, to worship him only, and in that way which he has appointed); for I am sure that, otherwise, his fierce anger will not turn away from us." This covenant he would not only make himself, but bring his people into the bond of.4. He engaged and excited the Levites and priests to do their duty on this occasion. This he begins with (v. 5); this he ends with, v. 11. He called them Levites to remind them of their obligation to God, called them his sons to remind them of the relation to himself, that he expected that, as a son with the father, they should serve with him in the reformation of the land. (1.

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Translations8 · 5

AMHEVG ሕዝቅያስም የሀያ አምስት ዓመት ጕልማሳ በነበረ ጊዜ መንገሥ ጀመረ፥ በኢየሩሳሌም ሀያ ዘጠኝ ዓመት ነገሠ፤ እናቱም የዘካርያስ ልጅ አቡ ትባል ነበር። አማርኛ BCV ሕዝቅያስ ክነግስ እንተሎ ወዲ ዕስራን ሓሙሽተን ዓመት ነበረ። ኣብ ኢየሩሳሌም ኮይኑ ኸዓ ዕስራን ትሽዓተን ዓመት ገዝአ። እኖኡ ኣቡ እትበሃል ጓል ዘካርያስ ነበረት። ትግርኛ GAZBIB Hisqiyaas yommuu mootii ta'e nama waggaa digdamii shanii ture; inni Yerusaalem keessa taa'ee waggaa digdamii sagal mo'e… Afaan Oromoo BCV GIZ ከዊኖ ወልደ ዕሥራ ወኀምስቱ ዓመት ወዕሥራ ወተስዐተ ዓመተ ነግሠ በኢየሩሳሌም፤ ወስመ እሙ አባኡት ወለተ ዘካርያስ። giz GAZGAZ Hisqiyaas yommuu mootii ta'e nama waggaa digdamii shanii ture; inni Yerusaalem keessa taa'ee waggaa digdamii sagal mo'e… Afaan Oromoo BCV aksum ሕዝቅያስ ክነግስ እንተሎ ወዲ ዕስራን ሓሙሽተን ዓመት ነበረ። ኣብ ኢየሩሳሌም ኮይኑ ኸዓ ዕስራን ትሽዓተን ዓመት ገዝአ። እኖኡ ኣቡ እትበሃል ጓል ዘካርያስ ነበረት። ትግርኛ AMHNIV ሕዝቅያስ በነገሠ ጊዜ ዕድሜው ሃያ አምስት ዓመት ነበር፤ በኢየሩሳሌም ተቀምጦም ሃያ ዘጠኝ ዓመት ገዛ። እናቱም አቡ የተባለች፤ የዘካርያስ ልጅ ነበረች። አማርኛ SWAHSUV Hezekia alikuwa na umri wa miaka ishirini na mitano alipoanza kutawala; akatawala katika Yerusalemu miaka ishirini na k… Kiswahili