1 Hezekiah was twenty-five when he became king, and he ruled twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother was Abijah daughter of Zechariah.
2 He did what was right in the LORD's eyes, just as his father David had done.
3 In the first month of the first year of his reign he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them.
4 He brought in the priests and Levites, assembled them in the open square on the east side,
5 and told them, "Listen to me, you Levites! Sanctify yourselves now and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers. Remove the impurity from the holy place.
6 Our fathers were unfaithful and did what was evil in the sight of the LORD our God. They abandoned him, turned their faces away from the LORD's dwelling, and turned their backs on it.
7 They even closed the doors of the porch, put out the lamps, and stopped burning incense and offering burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel.
8 That is why the LORD's wrath fell on Judah and Jerusalem, and he has made them something to tremble at, to be appalled at, and to hiss at, as you can see for yourselves.
9 That is why our fathers fell by the sword, and our sons, daughters, and wives are in captivity.
10 Now I have it in mind to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, so that his burning anger will turn away from us.
11 My sons, do not be careless now, for the LORD has chosen you to stand in his presence, to serve him, to be his ministers, and to burn incense."
12 Then the Levites set to work: from the Kohathites, Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah; from the sons of Merari, Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel; from the Gershonites, Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah;
13 of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeiel; of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah;
14 of the sons of Heman, Jehiel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.
15 They gathered their brothers, sanctified themselves, and went in as the king had ordered, following the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD.
16 The priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD to cleanse it and brought out to the court of the house of the LORD every unclean thing they found in the LORD's temple. The Levites took it and carried it outside to the Kidron Valley.
17 They started the sanctifying on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they reached the porch of the LORD. For eight more days they sanctified the house of the LORD, finishing on the sixteenth day of the first month.
18 Then they went in to King Hezekiah and reported, "We have cleansed the whole house of the LORD, the altar of burnt offering and all its vessels, and the table of the bread set in rows and all its vessels.
19 We have also restored and sanctified all the vessels King Ahaz threw aside in his unfaithfulness while he was king. They are now in front of the LORD's altar."
20 Early the next morning King Hezekiah gathered the city officials and went up to the house of the LORD.
21 They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, the sanctuary, and Judah. He ordered the priests, Aaron's descendants, to offer them on the LORD's altar.
22 They slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and splashed it on the altar; next they slaughtered the rams and splashed their blood on the altar; then they slaughtered the lambs and splashed their blood on the altar.
23 The male goats for the sin offering were brought before the king and the assembly, who laid their hands on them.
24 Then the priests slaughtered them and presented their blood on the altar as a sin offering to make atonement for all Israel, since the king had ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.
25 He stationed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, harps, and lyres, as David, Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet had commanded; for the command came from the LORD through his prophets.
26 The Levites took their places with David's instruments and the priests with the trumpets.
27 Hezekiah gave the order to offer the burnt offering on the altar. As the burnt offering began, the song to the LORD began too, with the trumpets and the instruments of David king of Israel.
28 The whole assembly bowed in worship while the singers sang and the trumpeters played, and all this went on until the burnt offering was completed.
29 When the offering was completed, the king and everyone with him knelt down and worshiped.
30 King Hezekiah and the officials told the Levites to praise the LORD in the words of David and of Asaph the seer. They sang praises joyfully, bowed down, and worshiped.
31 Hezekiah then said, "Now you have consecrated yourselves to the LORD. Come and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the LORD." So the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all whose hearts were willing brought burnt offerings.
32 The assembly brought seventy bulls, a hundred rams, and two hundred lambs as burnt offerings; all these were for a burnt offering to the LORD.
33 The animals consecrated as offerings came to six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep.
34 But there were too few priests to skin all the burnt offerings, so their brothers the Levites helped them until the task was done and until the priests had sanctified themselves, because the Levites had been more conscientious than the priests about sanctifying themselves.
35 There were burnt offerings in great quantity, together with the fat of the peace offerings and the drink offerings for the burnt offerings. Thus the service of the house of the LORD was restored.
36 Hezekiah and all the people were glad at what God had done for the people, because it had happened so quickly.