2 Chronicles 29

And Ezekias began to reign when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Abba, daughter of Zacharias.

And he did what was right before the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.

And it came to pass, when he was established over his kingdom, in the first month he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them.

And he brought in the priests and the Levites and stationed them on the side toward the east.

And he said to them, 'Hear, O Levites! Now purify yourselves, and purify the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and cast out the uncleanness from the holy places.

'For our fathers fell away and did what was evil before the Lord and forsook him, and turned their face away from the tent of the Lord, and gave it their neck.

'And they shut the doors of the temple and put out the lamps, and burned no incense, and offered no whole burnt offerings in the sanctuary to the God of Israel.

'And the Lord was angry with wrath against Iouda and against Jerusalem, and gave them over to consternation and to desolation and to hissing, as you see with your own eyes.

'And behold, your fathers have been struck down by the sword, and your sons and your daughters and your wives are in captivity in a land not their own — which is so even now.

'For these things it is now upon my heart to make a covenant of the Lord, the God of Israel, that he may turn away the wrath of his anger from us.

'And now do not be slack, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before him to minister, and to be those who minister to him and burn incense.'

And the Levites rose up: Maath son of Amasi and Ioel son of Azarias, from the sons of Kaath; and from the sons of Merari, Kis son of Abdi and Azarias son of Ialleleel; and from the sons of Gedsoni, Ioa son of Zemmath and Iodan son of Ioacha;

and of the sons of Elisaphan, Sambri and Iiel; and of the sons of Asaph, Zacharias and Maththanias;

and of the sons of Aiman, Iiel and Semei; and of the sons of Idithon, Samaias and Oziel.

And they gathered their brothers and purified themselves according to the command of the king, by the ordinance of the Lord, to cleanse the house of the Lord.

And the priests went inside into the house of the Lord to purify it, and they cast out all the uncleanness that was found in the house of the Lord, and into the court of the house of the Lord; and the Levites received it to carry it out to the brook Kedron outside.

And they began on the first day, the new moon of the first month, to purify; and on the eighth day of the month they entered into the temple of the Lord, and they purified the house of the Lord in eight days; and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.

And they went inside to Ezekias the king and said, 'We have purified all that is in the house of the Lord: the altar of whole burnt offering and its vessels, and the table of the presentation and its vessels,

'and all the vessels that Achaz the king defiled in his reign, in his apostasy, we have made ready and purified; behold, they are before the altar of the Lord.'

And Ezekias the king rose early and gathered the rulers of the city and went up to the house of the Lord.

And he brought up seven calves, seven rams, seven lambs, seven he-goats of the goats for sin, for the kingdom and for the holy things and for Israel; and he told the sons of Aaron, the priests, to go up to the altar of the Lord.

And they slaughtered the calves, and the priests received the blood and poured it upon the altar; and they slaughtered the rams and poured the blood upon the altar; and they slaughtered the lambs and poured the blood around the altar.

And they brought the he-goats for sin before the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands upon them.

And the priests slaughtered them and made atonement with their blood at the altar, and made atonement for all Israel; for the king had said that the whole burnt offering and the things for sin were for all Israel.

And he stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals and with harps and with lyres, according to the command of David the king and of Gad the king's seer and of Nathan the prophet; for the ordinance was by the commandment of the Lord through the hand of the prophets.

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

And Ezekias commanded that the whole burnt offering be brought up upon the altar; and when the bringing up of the whole burnt offering began, they began to sing to the Lord, and the trumpets sounded along with the instruments of David king of Israel.

And all the assembly worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpets sounded, until the whole burnt offering was completed.

And when they had finished bringing the offerings, the king and all who were present bowed down and worshipped.

And Ezekias the king and the rulers told the Levites to sing praise to the Lord in the words of David and of Asaph the prophet; and they sang praise with gladness, and they fell down and worshipped.

And Ezekias answered and said, 'Now you have filled your hands to the Lord; draw near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the Lord.' And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the Lord, and everyone willing in heart brought whole burnt offerings.

And the number of the whole burnt offering that the assembly brought was seventy calves, a hundred rams, two hundred lambs — all these for a whole burnt offering to the Lord.

And the consecrated ones were six hundred calves and three thousand sheep.

But the priests were few, and they could not flay the whole burnt offerings; so their brothers the Levites helped them until the work was completed and until the priests had purified themselves; for the Levites purified themselves more readily than the priests.

And the whole burnt offering was abundant, with the fat of the consecration of the offering of salvation and the drink offerings of the whole burnt offering; and the service in the house of the Lord was set in order.

And Ezekias and all the people rejoiced because God had made it ready for the people; for the thing came about suddenly.