II Chronicles 29

¹Therfor Ezechie bigan to regne, whanne he was of fyue and twenti yeer, and he regnede in Jerusalem nyne and twenti yeer; the name of his modir was Abia, the douytir of Zacharie.

²And he dide that, that was pleasaunt in the siyt of the Lord, bi alle thingis whiche Dauid, his fadir, hadde do.

³In that yeer and the firste monethe of his rewme he openyde the yatis of the hows of the Lord, and restoride tho;

⁴and he brouyte the preestis and dekenes, and gaderide hem in to the eest strete,

⁵and seide to hem, Sones of Leuy, here ye me, and be ye halewid; clense ye the hows of the Lord God of youre fadris; do ye awei al vnclennesse fro the seyntuarie.

⁶Oure fadris synneden, and diden yuel in the siyt of `oure Lord God, and forsoken hym; thei turneden awei her faces fro the tabernacle of `oure Lord God, and yauen the bak.

⁷Thei closiden the doris that weren in the porche, and quenchiden the lanternes; and thei brenten not encense, and thei offriden not brent sacrifices in the seyntuarie of God of Israel.

⁸Therfor the stronge veniaunce of the Lord was reisid on Juda and Jerusalem; and he yaf hem in to stiryng, and in to perischyng, and in to `hisshing, ether scornyng, as ye seen with youre iyen.

⁹Lo! oure fadris felden doun bi swerdis; oure sones, and oure douytris, and wyues ben led prisouneris for this greet trespas.

¹⁰Now therfor it plesith me, that we make a boond of pees with the Lord God of Israel, and that he turne fro vs the stronge veniaunce of his ire.

¹¹My sones, nyle ye be reccheles; the Lord hath chose you, that ye stonde bifor hym, and serue hym, that ye herie hym, and brenne encense to hym.

¹²Therfor the dekenes risiden, Mahat, the sone of Amasie, and Johel, the sone of Azarie, of the sones of Caath; sotheli of the sones of Merarye, Cys, the sone of Abdai, and Azarie, the sone of Jelaleel; forsothe of the sones of Jerson, Joha, the sone of Zemma, and Hedem, the sone of Johaa;

¹³and sotheli of the sones of Elisaphan, Samri, and Jahiel; and of the sones of Asaph, Zacharie, and Mathanye;

¹⁴also of the sones of Heman, Jahiel, and Semei; but also of the sones of Iditum, Semei, and Oziel.

¹⁵And thei gaderiden to gidere her britheren, and weren halewid; and thei entriden bi comaundement of the kyng, and bi comaundement of the Lord, for to clense the hows of the Lord.

¹⁶Also preestis entriden in to the temple of the Lord, for to halewe it, and thei baren out al vnclennesse, which thei founden ther ynne in the porche, `ethir large place, of the hows of the Lord; which vnclennesse the dekenes token, and baren out to the stronde of Cedron with outforth.

¹⁷Sotheli thei bigunnen to clense in the firste dai of the firste monethe, and in the eiyte dai of the same monethe thei entriden in to the porche of the hows of the Lord, and thei clensiden the temple eiyte daies; and in the sixtenthe dai of the same monethe thei filliden that, that thei hadden bigunne.

¹⁸And thei entriden to Ezechie, the king, and seiden to hym, We han halewid al the hows of the Lord, and the auter of brent sacrifice therof, and the vessels therof, also and the boord of settyngforth with alle hise vessels,

¹⁹and al the purtenaunce of the temple, `which purtenaunce king Achaz hadde defoulid in his rewme, aftir that he brak the lawe; and lo! alle thingis ben set forth bifor the auter of the Lord.

²⁰And Ezechie, the kyng, roos in the morwetid, and gaderide togidere alle the princes of the citee, and stiede in to the hows of the Lord;

²¹and thei offriden togidere seuene bolis, and seuene rammes, seuene lambren, and seuene buckis of geet, for synne, for the rewme, for the seyntuarye, and for Juda. And he seide to preestis, the sones of Aaron, that thei schulden offre on the auter of the Lord.

²²Therfor thei killiden bolis, and `the preestis tooken the blood, and schedden it on the auter; also thei killiden rammes, and `the preestis schedden the blood of tho on the auter; thei offriden lambren, and `the preestis schedden the blood on the auter.

²³And thei brouyten buckis of geet `for synne bifor the kyng and al the multitude, and thei settiden her hondis on tho;

²⁴and the preestis offriden tho, and spreynten the blood of tho bifor the auter, for the clensyng of al Israel. For the king comaundide, that brent sacrifice shulde be made for al Israel, and for synne.

²⁵Also he ordeynede dekenes in the hows of the Lord, with cymbalis, and sawtrees, and harpis, bi the ordenaunce of `Dauid the kyng, and of Gad, the profete, and of Nathan, the profete; for it was the comaundement of the Lord bi the hond of hise prophetis.

²⁶And the dekenes stoden, and helden the orguns of Dauid; and preestis helden trumpis.

²⁷And Ezechie comaundide, that thei schulden offre brent sacrifices on the auter; and whanne brent sacrifices weren offrid, thei bigunnen to synge preisyngis to the Lord, and to sowne with trumpis, and in dyuerse orguns, whiche Dauid, the kyng of Israel, hadde maad redi for to sowne.

²⁸Forsothe whanne al the cumpenye worschipide, syngeris and thei that helden trumpis weren in her office, til the brent sacrifice was fillid.

²⁹And whanne the offryng was endid, the kyng was bowid, and alle that weren with hym, and thei worschipiden God.

³⁰And Ezechie and the princes comaundiden to the dekenes, that thei schulden preise the Lord with the wordis of Dauith, and of Asaph, the profete; whiche preisiden hym with greet gladnesse, and kneliden, and worschipiden.

³¹Sothely Ezechie addide also these thingis, Ye han fillid youre hondis to the Lord; neiye ye, and offre sacrifices and preisyngis in the hows of the Lord.

³²Therfor al the multitude offride with deuoute soule sacrifices, and preisyngis, and brent sacrifices. Sotheli this was the noumbre of brent sacrifices, whiche the multitude offride; seuenti bolis, and an hundrid rammes, two hundrid lambren.

³³Also thei halewiden to the Lord sixe hundrid oxis, and thre thousynde sheep.

³⁴Forsothe the preestis weren fewe, and myyten not suffice for to `drawe awei the skynnes of brent sacrifices; wherfor and the dekenes her britheren helpiden hem, til the werk was fillid, and the preestis weren halewid; for the dekenes ben halewid bi liytere custom than the preestis.

³⁵Therfor there weren ful many brent sacrifices, ynnere fatnessis of pesible sacrifices, and the moyste sacrifices of brent sacrifices, and the worschip, `ethir ournyng, of the `Lordis hows was fillid.

³⁶And Ezechie was glad, and al the puple, for the seruyce of the Lord was fillid; for it pleside, that this was doon sodeynly.

II Chronicles 29

¹Hezekiah 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.

²And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.

³He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them.

⁴And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street,

⁵And 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.

⁶For 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.

⁷Also 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.

⁸Wherefore 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.

⁹For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.

¹⁰Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us.

¹¹My 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.

¹²Then 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:

¹³And of the sons of Elizaphan; Shimri, and Jeiel: and of the sons of Asaph; Zechariah, and Mattaniah:

¹⁴And of the sons of Heman; Jehiel, and Shimei: and of the sons of Jeduthun; Shemaiah, and Uzziel.

¹⁵And 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.

¹⁶And 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.

¹⁷Now 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.

¹⁸Then 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.

¹⁹Moreover 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.

²⁰Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord.

²¹And 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.

²²So 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.

²³And they brought forth the he goats for the sin offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them:

²⁴And 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.

²⁵And 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.

²⁶And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.

²⁷And 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.

²⁸And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.

²⁹And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves, and worshipped.

³⁰Moreover 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.

³¹Then 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.

³²And 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.

³³And the consecrated things were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep.

³⁴But 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.

³⁵And 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.

³⁶And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people: for the thing was done suddenly.