6.6 KiB
Hezekiah Reigns over Judah
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Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.
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And he did what was right in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that David his father had done.
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In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of Yahweh and repaired them.
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And he brought in the priests and the Levites and gathered them into the square on the east.
Hezekiah Sets the House of God as Holy
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Then he said to them, "Listen to me, O Levites. Set yourselves apart now as holy, and set apart as holy the house of Yahweh, the God of your fathers, and bring out the impurity from the holy place.
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For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done what is evil in the sight of Yahweh our God, and have forsaken Him and turned their faces away from the dwelling place of Yahweh, and have turned their backs.
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They have also shut 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.
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Therefore the wrath of Yahweh was against Judah and Jerusalem, and He has made them an object of terror, of horror, and of hissing, as you see with your own eyes.
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And behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.
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Now it is in my heart to cut a covenant with Yahweh, the God of Israel, that His burning anger may turn away from us.
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My sons, do not be at ease now, for Yahweh has chosen you to stand before Him, to minister to Him, and to be His ministers and offer offerings up in smoke."
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Then the Levites arose: Mahath, the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, from the sons of the Kohathites; and from the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; and from the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah and Eden the son of Joah;
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and from the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeiel; and from the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah;
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and from the sons of Heman, Jehiel and Shimei; and from the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.
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And they gathered their brothers, set themselves apart as holy, and went in to cleanse the house of Yahweh, according to the commandment of the king by the words of Yahweh.
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So the priests went in to the inner part of the house of Yahweh to cleanse it, and every unclean thing which they found in the temple of Yahweh they brought out to the court of the house of Yahweh. Then the Levites received it to bring out to the Kidron valley, to an outer area.
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Then they began to set it apart as holy on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they entered the porch of Yahweh. Then they set apart the house of Yahweh as holy in eight days, and completed it on the sixteenth day of the first month.
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Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said, "We have cleansed the whole house of Yahweh, the altar of burnt offering with all of its utensils, and the table of showbread with all of its utensils.
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Moreover, all the utensils which King Ahaz had rejected during his reign in his unfaithfulness, we have prepared and set apart as holy; and behold, they are before the altar of Yahweh."
Hezekiah Brings an Offering
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Then King Hezekiah arose early and gathered the princes of the city and went up to the house of Yahweh.
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And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats for a sin offering for the kingdom, the sanctuary, and Judah. And he ordered the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of Yahweh.
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So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and splashed it on the altar. They also slaughtered the rams and splashed the blood on the altar; they slaughtered the lambs also and splashed the blood on the altar.
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Then they had the male goats of the sin offering approach before the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands on them.
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And the priests slaughtered them and purged the altar with their blood to atone for all Israel, for the king ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.
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He then caused the Levites to stand in the house of Yahweh with cymbals, with harps, and with lyres, according to the command of David and of Gad the king's seer, and of Nathan the prophet; for the command was from Yahweh by the hand of His prophets.
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And the Levites stood with the musical instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.
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Then Hezekiah said to offer the burnt offering on the altar. When the burnt offering began, the song to Yahweh also began with the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David, king of Israel.
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While the whole assembly worshiped, the singers also sang and the trumpets sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was completed.
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Now at the completion of the burnt offerings, the king and all who were present with him bowed down and worshiped.
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Moreover, King Hezekiah and the officials ordered the Levites to sing praises to Yahweh with the words of David and Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness, and bowed down and worshiped.
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Then Hezekiah answered and said, "Now that you have become ordained to Yahweh, approach and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of Yahweh." And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all those who were willing of heart brought burnt offerings.
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And the number of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to Yahweh.
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And the holy things were 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep.
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But the priests were too few, so that they were unable to skin all the burnt offerings; therefore their brothers the Levites helped them until the work was completed and until the other priests had set themselves apart as holy. For the Levites were more upright of heart to set themselves apart as holy than the priests.
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There were also many burnt offerings with the fat of the peace offerings and with the drink offerings for the burnt offerings. Thus the service of the house of Yahweh was established again.
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Then Hezekiah and all the people were glad over what God had prepared for the people, because the thing came about suddenly.