God

Then Hizkiyahu the king and the leaders ordered the L'vi'im to sing praises to ADONAI, using the words of David and of Asaf the seer. They sang praises until they were filled with joy, and they bowed their heads and prostrated themselves.

Hizkiyahu responded by saying, "Now that you have consecrated yourselves to ADONAI, come close, and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of ADONAI. So the community brought in sacrifices and thank offerings, and as many as were willing volunteered burnt offerings.

In all, the burnt offerings brought by the congregation totaled 70 bulls, 100 rams and 200 lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to ADONAI.

Besides the abundance of burnt offerings, there was the fat of the peace offerings and drink offerings for each burnt offering. Thus the service of the house of ADONAI was restored.

Hizkiyahu and all the people rejoiced over what God had prepared for the people, since it had all happened so suddenly.

Then Hizkiyahu sent to all Isra'el and Y'hudah, and wrote letters also to Efrayim and M'nasheh, summoning them to the house of ADONAI in Yerushalayim, to keep the Pesach to ADONAI the God of Isra'el.

so they issued a decree that it should be proclaimed throughout all Isra'el, from Be'er-Sheva to Dan, that they should come to keep the Pesach to ADONAI the God of Isra'el at Yerushalayim; for only a few had been observing it as prescribed.

So runners went with the letters from the king and his officers throughout all Isra'el and Y'hudah. They conveyed the king's order: "People of Isra'el! Turn back to ADONAI, the God of Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya'akov! Then he will return to those of you who remain, who escaped capture by the kings of Ashur.

Don't be like your ancestors, or like your kinsmen who sinned against ADONAI the God of their ancestors, with the result that he allowed them to become an object of horror, as you see.

Don't be stiffnecked now, as your ancestors were. Instead, yield yourselves to ADONAI; enter his sanctuary, which he has made holy forever; and serve ADONAI your God; so that his fierce anger will turn away from you.

For if you turn back to ADONAI, your kinsmen and children will find that those who took them captive will have compassion on them, and they will come back to this land. ADONAI your God is compassionate and merciful; he will not turn his face away from you if you return to him."

Also in Y'hudah the hand of God was at work, uniting their hearts to do what the king and the leaders had ordered in accordance with the word of ADONAI.

Then they slaughtered the Pesach lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. Ashamed of themselves, the cohanim and L'vi'im had consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings into the house of ADONAI.

Now they stood at their stations, as prescribed in the Torah of Moshe the man of God; the cohanim splashed the blood given to them by the L'vi'im.

For there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves; therefore the L'vi'im were responsible for slaughtering the Pesach lambs and consecrating them to ADONAI on behalf of everyone who was not clean.

For a large number of the people, especially from Efrayim, M'nasheh, Yissakhar and Z'vulun, had not cleansed themselves but ate the Pesach lamb anyway, despite what is written. For Hizkiyahu had prayed for them, "May ADONAI, who is good, pardon

everyone who sets his heart on seeking God, ADONAI, the God of his ancestors, even if he hasn't undergone the purification prescribed in connection with holy things."

ADONAI heard Hizkiyahu and healed the people.

The people of Isra'el there in Yerushalayim observed the festival of Matzot for seven days with great joy; while every day the L'vi'im and cohanim praised ADONAI, singing to ADONAI with the accompaniment of loud instruments.

Hizkiyahu spoke encouragingly to all the L'vi'im who were well skilled in the service of ADONAI. Thus they ate throughout the festival for the seven days, offering sacrifices of peace offerings and giving thanks to ADONAI, the God of their ancestors.

Then the cohanim, who were L'vi'im, stood up and blessed the people; [ADONAI] heard their voice, and their prayer came up to the holy place where he lives, heaven.

Hizkiyahu re-established the divisions of the cohanim and L'vi'im in accordance with the way the divisions had been before, with each man assigned his task, both the cohanim and the L'vi'im, for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to serve, to give thanks and to praise at the gates of ADONAI's camp.

He determined a portion of the king's property to be given for the burnt offerings, that is, for the morning and evening burnt offerings and for burnt offerings on Shabbats, Rosh-Hodesh and the designated times, as prescribed by the Torah of ADONAI.

He also ordered the people living in Yerushalayim to contribute the portion meant for the cohanim and L'vi'im, so that they would be submitting themselves to the Torah of ADONAI.

The people of Isra'el and Y'hudah living in the cities of Y'hudah also brought the required tenth of oxen and sheep and the required tenth of consecrated gifts that had been dedicated to ADONAI their God, and piled them in heaps.