The One Year Bible for Men - Flipbook - Page 100
July 31
the God of your ancestors. Remove all the de
filed things from the sanctuary. 6 Our ancestors
were unfaithful and did what was evil in the
sight of the Lord our God. They abandoned
the Lord and his dwelling place; they turned
their backs on him. 7 They also shut the doors
to the Temple’s entry room, and they snuffed
out the lamps. They stopped burning incense
and presenting burnt offerings at the sanctu
ary of the God of Israel.
8 “That is why the Lord’s anger has fallen
upon Judah and Jerusalem. He has made them
an object of dread, horror, and ridicule, as you
can see with your own eyes. 9 Because of this,
our fathers have been killed in battle, and our
sons and daughters and wives have been cap
tured. 10 But now I will make a covenant with
the Lord, the God of Israel, so that his fierce
anger will turn away from us. 11 My sons, do
not neglect your duties any longer! The Lord
has chosen you to stand in his presence, to
minister to him, and to lead the people in wor
ship and p
resent offerings to him.”
12 Then these Levites got right to work:
13
14
From the clan of Kohath: Mahath son of
Amasai and Joel son of Azariah.
From the clan of Merari: Kish son of Abdi
and Azariah son of Jehallelel.
From the clan of Gershon: Joah son of
Zimmah and Eden son of Joah.
From the family of Elizaphan: Shimri and
Jeiel.
From the family of Asaph: Zechariah and
Mattaniah.
From the family of Heman: Jehiel and
Shimei.
From the family of Jeduthun: Shemaiah
and Uzziel.
15 These men called together their fellow Le
vites, and they all purified themselves. Then
they began to cleanse the Temple of the Lord,
just as the king had commanded. They were
careful to follow all the Lord’s instructions in
their work. 16 The priests went into the sanctu
ary of the Temple of the Lord to cleanse it, and
they took out to the Temple courtyard all the
defiled things they found. From there the Le
vites carted it all out to the Kidron Valley.
17 They began the work in early spring, on
the first day of the new year,* and in eight
days they had reached the entry room of the
Lord’s Temple. Then they purified the Temple
of the Lord itself, which took another eight
days. So the entire task was completed in six
teen days.
18 Then the Levites went to King Hezekiah
and gave him this report: “We have cleansed
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the entire Temple of the Lord, the altar of
burnt 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 Hez
ekiah
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 Hez
ekiah ordered that the burnt
offering be placed on the altar. As the burnt
offering was p
resented, 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 Hez
ekiah and the officials ordered the Levites to
praise the Lord with the psalms written by
David and by A
saph the seer. So they offered
joyous praise and bowed down in worship.
31 Then Hez
ekiah 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,
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