HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 777
2 CHR ONICL ES 30
page 407
offering with all its utensils, and the table of the
Bread of the Presence with all its utensils. 19 We
have also recovered all the items discarded by
King Ahaz when he was unfaithful and closed
the Temple. They are now in front of the altar of
the Lord, purified and ready for use.”
20 Early the next morning King Hezekiah gathered the city officials and went to the Temple
of the Lord. 21 They brought seven bulls, seven
rams, and seven male lambs as a burnt offering,
together with seven male goats as a sin offering
for the kingdom, for the Temple, and for Judah.
The king commanded the priests, who were descendants of Aaron, to sacrifice the animals on
the altar of the Lord.
22 So they killed the bulls, and the priests took
the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. Next
they killed the rams and sprinkled their blood
on the altar. And finally, they did the same with
the male lambs. 23 The male goats for the sin offering were then brought before the king and
the assembly of people, who laid their hands
on them. 24 The priests then killed the goats as
a sin offering and sprinkled their blood on the
altar to make atonement for the sins of all Israel.
The king had specifically commanded that this
burnt offering and sin offering should be made
for all Israel.
25 King Hezekiah then stationed the Levites
at the Temple of the Lord with cymbals, lyres,
and harps. He obeyed all the commands that the
Lord had given to King David through Gad, the
king’s seer, and the prophet Nathan. 26 The Levites then took their positions around the Temple
with the instruments of David, and the priests
took their positions with the trumpets.
27 Then Hezekiah ordered that the burnt offering be placed on the altar. As the burnt offering
was presented, songs of praise to the Lord were
begun, accompanied by the trumpets and other
instruments of David, the former king of Israel.
28 The entire assembly worshiped the Lord as
the singers sang and the trumpets blew, until
all the burnt offerings were finished. 29 Then
the king and everyone with him bowed down
in worship. 30 King Hezekiah and the officials
ordered the Levites to praise the Lord with the
psalms written by David and by Asaph the seer.
So they offered joyous praise and bowed down
in worship.
31 Then Hezekiah declared, “Now that you
have consecrated yourselves to the Lord, bring
your sacrifices and thanksgiving offerings to
the Temple of the Lord.” So the people brought
their sacrifices and thanksgiving offerings, and
all whose hearts were willing brought burnt offerings, too. 32 The people brought to the Lord
70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 male lambs for
30:2 Hebrew in the second month. Passover was normally
observed in the first month (of the ancient Hebrew lunar
calendar). 30:6 Israel is the name that God gave to Jacob.
burnt offerings. 33 They also brought 600 cattle
and 3,000 sheep and goats as sacred offerings.
34 But there were too few priests to prepare all
the burnt offerings. So their relatives the Levites
helped them until the work was finished and
more priests had been purified, for the Levites
had been more conscientious about purifying
themselves than the priests had been. 35 There
was an abundance of burnt offerings, along
with the usual liquid offerings, and a great deal
of fat from the many peace offerings.
So the Temple of the Lord was restored to service. 36 And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced
because of what God had done for the people, for
everything had been accomplished so quickly.
Preparations for Passover
King Hezekiah now sent word to all Israel and Judah, and he wrote letters of
invitation to the people of Ephraim and Manasseh. He asked everyone to come to the Temple of
the Lord at Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover
of the Lord, the God of Israel. 2 The king, his officials, and all the community of Jerusalem decided to celebrate Passover a month later than
usual.* 3 They were unable to celebrate it at the
prescribed time because not enough priests
could be purified by then, and the people had
not yet assembled at Jerusalem.
4 This plan for keeping the Passover seemed
right to the king and all the people. 5 So they
sent a proclamation throughout all Israel, from
Beersheba in the south to Dan in the north,
inviting everyone to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover of the Lord, the God of Israel. The people had not been celebrating it in
great numbers as required in the Law.
6 At the king’s command, runners were sent
throughout Israel and Judah. They carried letters that said:
30
“O people of Israel, return to the Lord,
the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel,*
so that he will return to the few of us who
have survived the conquest of the Assyrian
kings. 7 Do not be like your ancestors and
relatives who abandoned the Lord, the God
of their ancestors, and became an object
of derision, as you yourselves can see. 8 Do
not be stubborn, as they were, but submit
yourselves to the Lord. Come to his Temple,
which he has set apart as holy forever.
Worship the Lord your God so that his
fierce anger will turn away from you.
9 “For if you return to the Lord, your
relatives and your children will be treated
mercifully by their captors, and they will
be able to return to this land. For the Lord
your God is gracious and merciful. If you
return to him, he will not continue to turn
his face from you.”