2 Chronicles 29 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old, and he ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. His mother's name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah.

He did what was right in Yahweh's eyes, exactly the way his ancestor David had done.

In the very first month of the first year of his reign, he reopened the doors of Yahweh's house and repaired them.

He brought in the priests and the Levites and gathered them in the open square on the east side.

He told them, "Listen to me, Levites! Set yourselves apart now. Set apart the house of Yahweh, the God of your ancestors. Carry the filth out of this sacred place."

"Because our fathers were unfaithful. They did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh our God. They abandoned him. They turned their faces away from where Yahweh lives and turned their backs on him."

"They even shut the doors of the entrance hall, put out the lamps, stopped burning incense, and stopped offering burnt offerings in the sacred place to the God of Israel."

"So Yahweh's fury came down on Judah and Jerusalem. He made them something that horrified people, something that shocked them, something people mocked — as you can see with your own eyes."

"And look — our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons, our daughters, and our wives have been taken captive because of all this."

"Now I intend to make a binding agreement with Yahweh, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us."

"My sons, don't be careless now. Yahweh has chosen you to stand in his presence, to serve him, to be his ministers and to burn incense to him."

Then the Levites got to work: Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah from the Kohathites; from the Merarites, Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel; from the Gershonites, Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah;

from the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeiel; from the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah;

from the sons of Heman, Jehiel and Shimei; and from the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.

They gathered their brothers, set themselves apart, and came to clean Yahweh's house, just as the king had ordered — following what Yahweh had said.

The priests went inside Yahweh's house to clean it out. They brought out into the courtyard of Yahweh's house every unclean thing they found in the main hall. Then the Levites took it all and carried it out to the Kidron Valley.

They started the setting-apart process on the first day of the first month, and by the eighth day of the month they had reached the entrance hall of Yahweh's house. Then they spent eight more days setting apart Yahweh's house itself. They finished on the sixteenth day of the first month.

Then they went in to King Hezekiah and reported: "We've cleaned out the entire house of Yahweh — the burnt offering altar with all its equipment, and the table for the stacked bread with all its equipment."

"And all the equipment that King Ahaz threw out during his reign when he was being unfaithful — we've restored and set it apart. It's all there in front of Yahweh's altar."

King Hezekiah got up early, gathered the city officials, and went up to Yahweh's house.

They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats as a failure offering for the kingdom, for the sacred place, and for Judah. He told the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on Yahweh's altar.

So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests caught the blood and splashed it on the altar. Then they slaughtered the rams and splashed the blood on the altar. Then they slaughtered the lambs and splashed the blood on the altar.

Then they brought the goats for the failure offering right up to the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands on them.

The priests slaughtered them and used their blood as a purification offering on the altar to make things right for all Israel. Because the king had ordered the burnt offering and the failure offering for all Israel.

He stationed the Levites in Yahweh's house with cymbals, harps, and lyres, following the instructions of David, of Gad the king's seer, and of Nathan the prophet. Because the instructions had come from Yahweh through his prophets.

The Levites stood with David's instruments, and the priests with the trumpets.

Then Hezekiah gave the order to offer the burnt offering on the altar. And the moment the burnt offering began, Yahweh's song began too — along with the trumpets and the instruments of King David of Israel.

The entire assembly bowed down in worship while the song was sung and the trumpets blew — all of this continuing until the burnt offering was finished.

When the offering was complete, the king and everyone with him knelt down and bowed in worship.

Then King Hezekiah and the officials told the Levites to praise Yahweh using the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they praised him with great joy, then bowed their heads and worshiped.

Then Hezekiah said, "Now that you've dedicated yourselves to Yahweh, come forward. Bring your sacrifices and thank offerings to Yahweh's house." So the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and everyone whose heart moved them brought burnt offerings too.

The number of burnt offerings the assembly brought was seventy bulls, a hundred rams, and two hundred lambs — all of these as a burnt offering to Yahweh.

The dedicated offerings totaled six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep.

But the priests were too few — they couldn't skin all the burnt offerings. So their relatives, the Levites, helped them until the work was done and until the rest of the priests had set themselves apart. The Levites had been more conscientious about setting themselves apart than the priests had been.

And on top of all the burnt offerings, there was the fat from the peace offerings and the drink offerings that went with each burnt offering. So the service of Yahweh's house was reestablished.

Hezekiah and all the people celebrated over what God had set in motion for them — because it had all happened so quickly.