29 Hizkiyah was twenty-five when he became king, and he reigned from Yerushalem for twenty-nine years. His mother was Zekaryah’s daughter Aviyah. 2 He did what pleased Yahweh, like his ancestor King David had done.

3 In the very first month of his reign, he unlocked the temple doors and repaired them. 4 Then he summoned the priests and the Levites, and assembled them in the eastern temple courtyard 5 and told them, “Now you Levites, listen to me. You need to consecrate yourselves now, and consecrate the residence of Yahweh, the god of your ancestors, and remove any defilement from the sacred place, 6 because our fathers were unfaithful and disobeyed our god Yahweh. Then they abandoned him and had no more interest in this temple and turned their back on it all. 7 They had extinguished the lamps and locked the temple up. After that, they didn’t burn any incense or offer any burnt sacrifices in the sacred place of Yisrael’s god. 8 That’s why Yahweh was angry at Yerushalem and all Yehudah, and allowed us to become a place of terror and horror and scorn as you’ve all seen with your own eyes. 9 As a result, our fathers fell in battle, and our wives and children have been captured and taken to other countries.

10 Now I sincerely want to make an agreement with Yisrael’s god Yahweh, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us. 11 So lads, don’t mess around because Yahweh has chosen you all to stand in his presence to serve him, and to be ministering and burning incense.

12 Then these Levites took action:

• from the Kohatites: Mahat (Amasai’s son) and Yoel (Azaryah’s son),
• from the descendants of Merari: Kish (Avdi’s son) and Azaryah (Yehallelel’s son),
• from the Gereshonites: Yoah (Zimmah’s son) and Eden (Yoah’s son),
• 13 from Elitsafan’s descendants: Shimri and Yeiel,
• from Asaf’s descendants: Zekaryah and Mattanyah,
• 14 from Heyman’s descendants: Yehiel and Shimei, and
• from Yedutun’s descendants: Shemayah and Uzziel.

15 They assembled their relatives and consecrated themselves, then they entered the temple to purify it as the king had ordered as a result of Yahweh’s message. 16 The priests entered the inner part of the temple to purify it, and they brought out everything they found that shouldn’t be in there to the temple courtyard, and then the Levites took it all out to be burnt down in the Kidron valley.

17 They began the purification at the beginning of March and worked outwards to the porch by the eighth, and then eight more days for the courtyard, so they finished on the sixteenth.

18 Then they reported to King Hizkiyah, “We’ve purified all of Yahweh’s temple, including the altar for burnt offerings and all its utensils, and the bread display table and all its utensils. 19 We’ve prepared and consecrated all the items which King Ahaz had rejected in his reign of unfaithfulness, and they’re back in front of Yahweh’s altar.”

Temple sacrifices restored

20 Early the next morning, King Hizkiyah assembled the city officials, and went to Yahweh’s residence, 21 taking seven bulls, seven rams, seven male lambs, and seven male goats to be a sin offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Yehudah. He instructed the priests (Aharon’s descendants) to sacrifice the animals to Yahweh on the altar. 22 So they slaughtered the bulls and took the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. Then they did the same for the rams, and then the lambs. 23 Finally, they brought the goats for the sin offering to the front, and the king and the people placed their hands on them 24 before the priests slaughtered them and splashed their blood on the altar so Yahweh would forgive the disobedience of all Yisrael. (The king had ordered the burnt offerings and the sin offering be for all Yisrael.)

25 Then he told the Levites to stand in the temple with cymbals, harps, and lyres—obeying what David and his prophets Gad and Natan had commanded. (Yahweh had actually given those orders through his prophets.) 26 The Levites stood with David’s instruments, and the priests with their trumpets, 27 then Hizkiyah said to offer the burnt offering on the altar. When they started to slaughter the animals, the people sang and praised Yahweh as the trumpets were blown and the other instruments played. 28 The entire assembly were bowing down and worshipping as the singers sang and the trumpeters played, until the burnt offering was completed, 29 then the king and everyone with him bowed down and worshipped. 30 Then King Hizkiyah and his officials ordered the Levites to sing praises to Yahweh using compositions of David and the prophet Asaf, so they cheerfully sang praises and bowed down and worshipped.

31 Then Hizkiyah responded, “You’ve all consecrated yourselves to Yahweh, so come near and bring your sacrifices and thanksgivings in to the house of Yahweh.” So the assembly brought in their sacrifices and thanksgiving gifts, plus those who wanted to, brought their sacrifices to be burnt.

32 Altogether they brought seventy bulls, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs to be completed burnt on the altar, 33 as well as six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep as dedicated offerings. 34 There weren’t enough priests to skin all the burnt offerings, so their relatives the Levites helped them until the work was finished and until all the priests had consecrated themselves, because the Levites hard worked quicker to consecrate themselves than the priests had. 35 In addition to the burnt offernings, there was the fat from the peace offerings, and there were drink offerings.

So the service of Yahweh’s temple was reinstituted 36 and Hizkiyah and all the people celebrated about what God had prepared for the people, because it had all happened fairly quickly.