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2 Chronicles 29

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Hezekiah Begins His Righteous Reign 1–2

1
Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. ​
2
And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. ​

Hezekiah Commands Temple Cleansing 3–11

3
He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the LORD, and repaired them. ​
4
And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street,
5
And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place. ​
6
For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned their backs. ​
7
Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel.
8
Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes. ​
9
For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.
10
Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us. ​
11
My sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and burn incense. ​

The Levites Sanctify Themselves and the Temple 12–19

12
Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites: and of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehalelel: and of the Gershonites; Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah:
13
And of the sons of Elizaphan; Shimri, and Jeiel: and of the sons of Asaph; Zechariah, and Mattaniah:
14
And of the sons of Heman; Jehiel, and Shimei: and of the sons of Jeduthun; Shemaiah, and Uzziel.
15
And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD. ​
16
And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the LORD into the court of the house of the LORD. And the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron. ​
17
Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the LORD: so they sanctified the house of the LORD in eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end. ​
18
Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have cleansed all the house of the LORD, and the altar of burnt offering, with all the vessels thereof, and the shewbread table, with all the vessels thereof.
19
Moreover all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression, have we prepared and sanctified, and, behold, they are before the altar of the LORD.

The Atonement Ceremony for Judah 20–30

20
Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the LORD.
21
And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on the altar of the LORD. ​
22
So they killed the bullocks, and the priests received the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar: likewise, when they had killed the rams, they sprinkled the blood upon the altar: they killed also the lambs, and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar.
23
And they brought forth the he goats for the sin offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them:
24
And the priests killed them, and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all Israel: for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel. ​
25
And he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the LORD by his prophets. ​
26
And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.
27
And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD began also with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel.
28
And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.
29
And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves, and worshipped.
30
Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the LORD with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped.

The People Bring Voluntary Offerings 31–36

31
Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the LORD, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the LORD. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings; and as many as were of a free heart burnt offerings. ​
32
And the number of the burnt offerings, which the congregation brought, was threescore and ten bullocks, an hundred rams, and two hundred lambs: all these were for a burnt offering to the LORD.
33
And the consecrated things were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep.
34
But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings: wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them, till the work was ended, and until the other priests had sanctified themselves: for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests. ​
35
And also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace offerings, and the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So the service of the house of the LORD was set in order.
36
And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people: for the thing was done suddenly. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for 2 Chronicles 29

Verse 1

five and twenty years old — Hezekiah's name means 'strengthened of Jah'. He took the throne from Ahaz (2 Chr 28) at the age given in 2 Kings 18:2, where his mother is 'Abi, the daughter of Zachariah', here Abijah. Matthew names him 'Ezekias' in the line of Christ (Matt 1:9).

Verse 2

right in the sight of the LORD — Yashar, straight, is the measure the Chronicles apply to a king. The standard is 'David his father', the one Ahaz missed: 'he did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD, like David his father' (2 Chr 28:1). Josiah receives the same verdict (2 Chr 34:2).

Verse 3

opened the doors — Ahaz had 'shut up the doors of the house of the LORD' (2 Chr 28:24), and Hezekiah reverses it in the first month of his first year. 'Repaired' is chazaq, to make strong. The first month is the one in which 'the LORD'S passover' fell (Lev 23:5).

Verse 5

sanctify now yourselves — Qadash, to set apart, is used twice: the Levites are to be set apart first, and then the house. 'Filthiness' is niddah, impurity, to be carried out of the holy place. The same call, 'sanctify yourselves, and prepare your brethren', is given again at Josiah's Passover (2 Chr 35:6).

Verse 6

our fathers have trespassed — Ma'al is to act treacherously, to break faith with the LORD. Hezekiah says 'our fathers' and 'our God', reckoning himself with the nation. 'Turned their backs' matches Jer 2:27, 'they have turned their back unto me, and not their face'; the 'habitation' (mishkan) is the LORD'S dwelling-place.

Verse 8

trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing — Three words, za'avah, shammah and sheriqah: agitation, consternation and derision. They recall the warning 'thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword' (Deut 28:37). 'As ye see with your eyes' refers to the defeats under Syria and Israel (2 Chr 28:5).

Verse 10

in mine heart to make a covenant — 'Make' is karath, literally to cut, the verb of covenant-making. The aim is that the LORD'S 'fierce wrath' may turn away. Asa's people entered a covenant 'to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart' (2 Chr 15:12), and Josiah later 'made a covenant before the LORD' (2 Chr 34:31).

Verse 11

be not now negligent — Hezekiah calls the Levites 'My sons'. Shalah, here 'negligent', means to be slack. He reminds them what they were chosen for: 'to stand before the LORD to minister unto him' (Deut 10:8), the service that had been neglected while the doors stood shut (v.7).

Verse 15

by the words of the LORD — The Levites gathered their brethren, sanctified themselves as asked in v.5, and came at the king's commandment, which the verse says was 'by the words of the LORD'. A near phrase marks Judah's unity in 2 Chr 30:12, 'by the word of the LORD'. 'Cleanse' is taher, to make clean.

Verse 16

the brook Kidron — Only the priests went into 'the inner part' (penimah) of the house. They brought the uncleanness out to the court, and the Levites carried it 'abroad' to the Kidron. Asa burnt Maachah's idol 'at the brook Kidron' (2 Chr 15:16), and Josiah burned the vessels made for Baal 'in the fields of Kidron' (2 Kgs 23:4).

Verse 17

the sixteenth day — The cleansing began on the first day of the first month, reached the porch on the eighth, and ended on the sixteenth. The Passover fell on the fourteenth (Lev 23:5), so it passed while the work was unfinished; the priests 'had not sanctified themselves sufficiently' (2 Chr 30:3), and it was kept in the second month (2 Chr 30:2).

Verse 21

seven bullocks, and seven rams — Four kinds of animal, seven of each, 'for a sin offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah'. The Law gives a bullock for the sin of the congregation (Lev 4:14) and a male kid of the goats for a ruler's (Lev 4:22–23). The priests, 'the sons of Aaron', offer them on the altar.

Verse 24

made reconciliation with their blood — Chata, whose root means to sin, is here the verb for cleansing from sin; 'atonement' is kaphar, to cover. The king commanded the offering 'for all Israel', not Judah only. Hebrews names the same work of Christ: 'to make reconciliation for the sins of the people' (Heb 2:17).

Verse 25

Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet — The Levites stand 'with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps', the three instruments listed for the house of the LORD in 1 Chr 25:6. Gad is called 'David's seer' (1 Chr 21:9). The verse says David's order was 'the commandment of the LORD by his prophets'.

Verse 31

a free heart — Nadib, willing or generous, is the word for those who brought offerings for the tabernacle, 'willing hearted' (Ex 35:22). 'Consecrated yourselves' is literally 'filled your hand', the expression used of installing the priests (Ex 29:9). Those 'of a free heart' brought burnt offerings, in addition to the sacrifices and thank offerings of the congregation.

Verse 34

more upright in heart — Yashar, upright, is the word translated 'right' in v.2. The priests were too few to flay all the burnt offerings, so the Levites helped 'till the work was ended'. In the Law the offerer himself flays the burnt offering (Lev 1:6); at the Passover the Levites again took the charge for those not clean (2 Chr 30:17).

Verse 36

God had prepared the people — Kun is to set up or establish; the LORD is said to 'prepare' the heart in Ps 10:17, 'thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear'. 'Suddenly' is pith'om, in an instant. The thing done so suddenly is the whole restoration of the house and its worship in vv.3–35.