Apr 15 - 2 Chronicles 29-31
2 Chronicles
1And so Hezekiah began to reign when he was twenty-five years old. And he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah2And he did what was pleasing in the sight of the Lord, in accord with all that his father David had done3In the first year and month of his reign, he opened the double doors of the house of the Lord, and he repaired them4And he brought together the priests and Levites. And he gathered them in the wide eastern street5And he said to them: "Listen to me, O Levites, and be sanctified. Cleanse the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and take away every uncleanness from the sanctuary6Our fathers sinned and did evil in the sight of the Lord our God, abandoning him. They turned their faces away from the tabernacle of the Lord, and they presented their backs7They closed up the doors which were in the portico, and they extinguished the lamps. And they did not burn incense, and they did not offer holocausts, in the sanctuary of the God of Israel8And so the fury of the Lord was stirred up against Judah and Jerusalem, and he handed them over to turmoil, and to destruction, and to hissing, just as you discern with your own eyes9Lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword. Our sons, and our daughters and wives have been led away as captives because of this wickedness10Now therefore, it is pleasing to me that we should enter into a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel. And he will turn away the fury of his indignation from us11My sons, do not choose to be negligent. The Lord has chosen you so that you would stand before him, and minister to him, and worship him, and burn incense to him.12Therefore, the Levites rose up, Mahath, the son of Amasai, and Joel, the son of Azariah, from the sons of Kohath; then, from the sons of Merari, Kish, the son of Abdi, and Azariah, the son of Jehallelel; and from the sons of Gershon, Joah, the son of Zimmah, and Eden, the son of Joah13and truly, from the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel; also, from the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah14indeed also, from the sons of Heman, Jehuel and Shimei; then too, from the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel15And they gathered together their brothers. And they were sanctified. And they entered in accord with the command of the king and the order of the Lord, so that they might expiate the house of God16And the priests, entering the temple of the Lord so that they might sanctify it, took every uncleanness, which they had found inside, out to the vestibule of the house of the Lord; and the Levites took it away and transported it outside, to the torrent Kidron17Now they began to cleanse on the first day of the first month. And on the eighth day of the same month, they entered the portico of the temple of the Lord. And then they expiated the temple over eight days. And on the sixteenth day of the same month, they finished what they had begun18Also, they entered to king Hezekiah, and they said to him: "We have sanctified the entire house of the Lord, and the altar of holocaust, and its vessels, indeed also the table of the presence, with all its vessels19and all the equipment of the temple, which king Ahaz, during his reign, had polluted after his transgression. And behold, these have all been set forth before the altar of the Lord.20And rising up at first light, king Hezekiah joined as one all the leaders of the city, and they ascended to the house of the Lord21And together they offered seven bulls and seven rams, seven lambs and seven he-goats, for sin, for the kingdom, for the Sanctuary, for Judah. And he spoke to the priests, the sons of Aaron, so that they would offer these upon the altar of the Lord22And so they slaughtered the bulls. And the priests took up the blood, and they poured it upon the altar. Then they also slaughtered the rams, and they poured their blood upon the altar. And they immolated the lambs, and they poured the blood upon the altar23They brought the he-goats for sin before the king and the entire multitude. And they laid their hands upon them24And the priests immolated them, and they sprinkled their blood before the altar, for the expiation of all Israel. For certainly the king had instructed that the holocaust and the sin offering should be made on behalf of all Israel25Also, he situated the Levites in the house of the Lord, with cymbals, and psalteries, and harps, according to the disposition of king David, and of the seer Gad, and of the prophet Nathan. For indeed, this was the precept of the Lord, by the hand of his prophets26And the Levites stood, holding the musical instruments of David, and the priests held the trumpets27And Hezekiah ordered that they should offer holocausts upon the altar. And when the holocausts were being offered, they began to sing praises to the Lord, and to sound the trumpets, and to play various musical instruments, which David, the king of Israel, had prepared28Then the entire crowd was adoring, and the singers and those who were holding the trumpeters were exercising their office, until the holocaust was completed29And when the oblation was finished, the king, and all who were with him, bowed down and adored30And Hezekiah and the rulers instructed the Levites to praise the Lord with the words of David, and of Asaph, the seer. And they praised him with great joy, and kneeling down, they adored31And now Hezekiah also added: "You have filled your hands for the Lord. Draw near, and offer victims and praises in the house of the Lord." Therefore, the entire multitude offered victims and praises and holocausts, with devout intention32Now the number of the holocausts that the multitude offered was seventy bulls, one hundred rams, two hundred lambs33And they sanctified to the Lord six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep34Truly, the priests were few; neither were they sufficient to remove the pelts from the holocausts. Therefore, the Levites, their brothers, also assisted them, until the work was completed, and the priests, who were of higher rank, were sanctified. For indeed, the Levites are sanctified with an easier ritual than the priests35Thus, there were very numerous holocausts, with the fat of the peace offerings and the libations of the holocausts. And the service of the house of the Lord was completed36And Hezekiah and all the people were joyful because the ministry of the Lord was accomplished. For certainly, it had pleased them to do this suddenly
1Also, Hezekiah sent to all of Israel and Judah. And he wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, so that they would come to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, and so that they would keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel2Therefore, having taken counsel, the king and the rulers, and the entire assembly of Jerusalem, resolved that they would keep the Passover, in the second month3For they had not been able to keep it at its proper time. For the priests, who were unable to suffice, had not been sanctified. And the people had not yet been gathered together in Jerusalem4And the word was pleasing to the king, and to the entire multitude5And they resolved that they would send messengers to all of Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, so that they might come and keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem. For many had not kept it, just as it was prescribed by the law6And carriers traveled with the letters, by order of the king and his rulers, to all of Israel and Judah, proclaiming, in accord with what the king had ordered: "O sons of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Israel. And he will return to the remnant who escaped from the hand of the king of the Assyrians7Do not choose to be like your fathers and brothers, who withdrew from the Lord, the God of their fathers. And so he delivered them over to destruction, as you yourselves discern8Do not choose to harden your necks, as your fathers did. Surrender to the hands of the Lord. And go to his Sanctuary, which he has sanctified unto eternity. Serve the Lord, the God of your fathers, and the fury of his wrath will be turned away from you9For if you will return to the Lord, your brothers and sons will find mercy before their masters, who led them away as captives, and they will be returned to this land. For the Lord your God is compassionate and lenient, and he will not avert his face from you, if you will return to him.10And so, the carriers were traveling quickly from city to city, throughout the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulun, though they were ridiculing and mocking them11Even so, certain men from Asher, and from Manasseh, and from Zebulun, acquiescing to this counsel, went to Jerusalem12Truly, the hand of God was working in Judah, to give them one heart, so that they would accomplish the word of the Lord, according to the precept of the king and of the rulers13And many people gathered together in Jerusalem, so that they could keep the solemnity of unleavened bread, in the second month14And rising up, they destroyed the altars which were in Jerusalem, and all the things in which incense was burned to idols. Overturning these things, they cast them into the torrent Kidron15Then they immolated the Passover on the fourteenth day of the second month. Also, the priests and Levites, at length having been sanctified, offered the holocausts in the house of the Lord16And they stood in their order, according to the disposition and law of Moses, the man of God. Yet truly, the priests took up the blood, which was to be poured out, from the hands of the Levites17because a great number were not sanctified. And therefore, the Levites immolated the Passover for those who had not been sanctified to the Lord in time18And now a great portion of the people from Ephraim, and Manasseh, and Issachar, and Zebulun, who had not been sanctified, ate the Passover, which is not in accord with what was written. And Hezekiah prayed for them, saying: "The good Lord will be forgivin19to all who, with their whole heart, seek the Lord, the God of their fathers. And he will not impute it to them, though they have not been sanctified.20And the Lord heeded him, and was reconciled to the people21And the sons of Israel who were found at Jerusalem kept the solemnity of unleavened bread for seven days with great rejoicing, praising the Lord throughout each day, with the Levites and the priests, accompanied by the musical instruments corresponding to their office22And Hezekiah spoke to the heart of all the Levites, who had a good understanding concerning the Lord. And they ate during the seven days of the solemnity, immolating victims of peace offerings, and praising the Lord, the God of their fathers23And it pleased the entire multitude that they should celebrate, even for another seven days. And they did this with enormous gladness24For Hezekiah, the king of Judah, had offered to the multitude one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep. Truly, the rulers had given the people one thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep. Then a great mulititude of priests was sanctified25And the whole multitude of Judah, as much the priests and Levites as the entire crowd that had arrived from Israel, and also the converts from the land of Israel, and those with a habitation in Judah, was overflowing with cheerfulness26And there was a great celebration in Jerusalem, to such an extent as had not been in that city since the days of Solomon, the son of David, the king of Israel27Then the priests and Levites rose up and blessed the people. And their voice was heeded. And their prayer reached the holy habitation of heaven
1And when these things had been celebrated according to ritual, all of Israel who had been found in the cities of Judah went forth, and they broke apart the idols and cut down the sacred groves. They demolished the high places and destroyed the altars, not only out of all Judah and Benjamin, but also out of Ephraim as well as Manasseh, until they utterly destroyed them. And all the sons of Israel returned to their possessions and cities2Then Hezekiah appointed the companies of the priests and Levites by their divisions, each man in his proper office, certainly as much for the priests as for the Levites, for the sake of holocausts and peace offerings, so that they might minister and confess and sing, at the gates of the camp of the Lord3Now the portion of the king, from his own substance, was such that they could offer a holocaust always, in morning and in evening, also on the Sabbaths, and the new moons, and the other solemnities, just as it was written in the law of Moses4And now he instructed the people living in Jerusalem that they were to give portions to the priests and Levites, so that they would be able to attend to the law of the Lord5And when this had reached the ears of the multitude, the sons of Israel brought an abundance of first-fruits of grain, wine, and oil, and also honey. And they offered a tenth part of all that the soil brings forth6Then too, the sons of Israel and Judah, who were living in the cities of Judah, brought tithes of oxen and sheep, and tithes of the holy things that they had vowed to the Lord their God. And carrying all these things, they made many stacks7In the third month, they began to lay out the foundations of the stacks. And in the seventh month, they finished them8And when Hezekiah and his rulers had entered, they saw the stacks, and they blessed the Lord and the people of Israel9And Hezekiah questioned the priests and Levites, as to why the stacks were laid out in this way10Azariah, the high priest from the stock of Zadok, answered him, saying: "Since the first-fruits began to be offered in the house of the Lord, we have eaten and been satisfied, and much remains. For the Lord has blessed his people. Then what was left over is this great abundance, which you see.11And so Hezekiah instructed that they should prepare storage places for the house of the Lord. And when they had done so12they faithfully brought in the first-fruits, as well as the tithes and all that they had vowed. Now the overseer of these things was Conaniah, a Levite; and his brother, Shimei, was second13And after him, there was Jehiel, and Azariah, and Nahath, and Asaahel, and Jerimoth, and also Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah, who were overseers under the hands of Conaniah, and his brother, Shimei, by the authority of Hezekiah, the king, and Azariah, the high priest of the house of God, to whom all these things belonged14Yet truly, Kore, the son of Imnah, a Levite and the porter of the eastern gate, was the overseer of the things that were being offered freely to the Lord, and of the first-fruits, and of the things consecrated for the Holy of Holies15And under his charge were Eden, and Benjamin, Jeshua, and Shemaiah, and also Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, so that they would distribute faithfully to their brothers, the small as well as the great, their portion16(except for the males from three years old and upward) for all who were entering the temple of the Lord, and for whatever was needed for the ministry, throughout each day, as well as for the observances according to their divisions17And so, for the priests, by their families, and for the Levites, from the twentieth year and upward, by their orders and companies18and for the entire multitude, as much for the wives as for their children of both sexes, provisions were offered faithfully from whatever had been sanctified19Then too, men were appointed of the sons of Aaron, throughout the fields and the suburbs of each city, who would distribute portions to all the males among the priests and Levites20Therefore, Hezekiah did all these things (which we have said) in all of Judah. And he worked what is good and upright and true before the Lord his God21for the whole service of the ministry of the house of the Lord, in accord with the law and the ceremonies, desiring to seek his God with his whole heart. And he did so, and he prospered