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.”