2 Chronicles 29:1-36 Re-Opening the House of the Lord God of Israel

Re-Opening the House of the Lord God of Israel

2 Chronicles 29:1-36                    2 Chronicles in [Smaller Chunks]

Hezekiah began to [rule] when he was 25 years old, & he [ruled] 29 years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abijah, [Zechariah’s] daughter. And [Hezekiah] did [what] was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David, his [forefather] had done.

In the 1st year [of] the 1st month, [Hezekiah ruled,] [he] opened [the shut] doors of the house of the Lord, & repaired them. And he brought in the priests, & Levites, & gathered them together into the East Street.

And [Hezekiah] said to them, You, Levites, hear me, & sanctify yourselves now, & sanctify the house of the Lord God of your [forefathers,] & carry the filthiness out of [this] Holy Place. For our [forefathers] have [sinned,] & have done [what] was evil in the eyes of the Lord our God, & have [abandoned] Him.

[They] have turned their faces away from [where] the Lord [resides,] & turned their backs [on Him.]

[Isaiah 1:4 Ah, sinful nation, a people [weighed down] with [sin.] A seed of evil-doers, children, [a.k.a. people, who corrupt others.] They have [abandoned] the Lord. They have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger. They [have turned their backs, & have gone away.]

Also, they have shut up the doors of the [covered] porch [of the Lord’s house,] & have put out the [continual] lamps. And [they] haven’t burned incense, nor offered burnt offerings in the Holy Place to the God of Israel. [For this reason,] the [anger] of the Lord was upon Judah & Jerusalem.

And [the Lord God has] delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, & to [being] [hissed] [at,] as you see with your eyes.

[2 Chronicles 24:18 And they left the house of the Lord God of their [forefathers.] & served groves, & idols: and [fury] came upon Judah & Jerusalem for [these sins of theirs.]

For [look,] our fathers have fallen by the sword, & our wives & our [children] are in captivity for this. Now, it’s [within my] heart to make a covenant, [a.k.a. contract,] with the Lord God of Israel, [so] that His fierce [fury] may turn away from us.

My sons, don't be negligent, [a.k.a. don’t neglect what needs to be done,] now: for the Lord [has] chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, & that you should minister to Him, & burn incense.

Then, the Levites arose: Mahath, [Amasai’s] son; Joel, [Azariah’s] son, [from the descendants] of the Kohathites. And [from the descendants] of Merari, Kish, [Abdi’s] son; Azariah, [Jehalelel’s] son. And [from] [the descendants] of the Gershonites: Joah, [Zimmah’s] son; & Eden, [Joah’s] son.

And [from] the [descendants] of Elizaphan: Shimri, & Jeiel. And of the [descendants] of Asaph: Zechariah, & Mattaniah. And [from] the [descendants] of Heman: Jehiel, & Shimei. And [from] the [descendants] of Jeduthun: Shemaiah, & Uzziel. They gathered their [relatives,] & sanctified themselves.

And [they] came, according to the [command] of king [Hezekiah] by the Words of the Lord, to cleanse the [Lord’s] house. And the priests went into the inner part of the [Lord’s] house, to cleanse it.

And [they] brought out into the [courtyard] of the Lord’s] house, [anything unclean] that they found in the temple of the Lord. And the Levites took it, to carry it [outside to] the Brook Kidron.

Now, they began on the 1st day of the 1st month to sanctify [the Lord's house,] & on the 8th day of the month, they came to the [covered] porch of the Lord. So, they sanctified the [Lord’s] house in 8 days. And [on] the 16th day of the 1st month, they [finished.]

Then, they went in to king Hezekiah, & said, We have cleansed all [of] the [Lord’s] house, & the altar of burnt offering, with all [its] vessels, & the shewbread table, with all [its] vessels.

[Also,] we have prepared, & sanctified, all the vessels [that] king Ahaz, [had] cast away in his transgression, [when] [he ruled.] [Look,] they are [in front of] the altar of the Lord.

[2 Chronicles 28:24 And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God, & cut [into] pieces the vessels of [God’s] house, & shut up the doors of the [Lord’s] house, & [Ahaz] made [himself] altars in every corner of Jerusalem.]

Then, king Hezekiah rose early, & gathered the rulers of the city, & went up to the [Lord’s] house. And they brought: 7 [bulls,] 7 rams, 7 lambs, & 7 [male] goats, for a sin offering: for the kingdom; for the sanctuary; & for Judah.

And [Hezekiah] commanded the priests, [Aaron’s descendants,] to offer them on the altar of the Lord. So, [when] they killed the [bulls,] the priests received the blood, & sprinkled it on the altar. [Also,] when they had killed the rams, they sprinkled the blood upon the altar.

They also killed the lambs, & they sprinkled the blood upon the altar. And they laid their hands upon [the male] goats that were brought for the sin offering, before the king, & the congregation. And the priests killed them. And with their blood, [the priests] made reconciliation upon the altar, to make an atonement for all [of] Israel.

For the king commanded that the burnt offering & the sin offering should be made for all [of] Israel. And [Hezekiah put] the Levites in the [Lord’s] house with: cymbals, [lyres,] & harps, according to the [command] of [king] David, & [from] Gad, the king’s Seer, & Nathan the prophet.

[1 Samuel 9:9 (Before [this] time in Israel, when a man went to [inquire from] God, he [said this,] Come, & let’s go to the Seer. For he, [who] is now call a Prophet, was [before this time] called a Seer.)]

The Lord [commanded this through] His prophets. And the Levites stood with the instruments David [made,] & the priests with the trumpets. And Hezekiah commanded [them] to offer the burnt offering upon the altar.

And when the burnt offering began, the [songs to] the Lord also began with: the trumpets, & the instruments [appointed] by king David of Israel. And all the congregation worshiped, the singers sang, & the trumpeters sounded. And all this continued until the burned offering was finished.

And when they had [ended the] offering, king [Hezekiah,] & all [who] were present with him, bowed themselves, & worshiped. [Also,] king Hezekiah, & the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise to the Lord with the words of David, & Asaph, the Seer.

And they sang praises with gladness, & they bowed their heads, & worshiped. Then, Hezekiah said, Now [that] you have consecrated yourselves to the Lord, come near & bring sacrifices, & thank offerings to the [Lord’s] house. And the congregation brought in sacrifices & thank offerings.

And as many of [those with a willing] heart, [brought] burnt offerings. And the number of the burnt offerings, [that] the congregation brought [were:] 70 [bulls,] 100 rams, & 200 lambs, all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord. And [there] were 600 oxen, & 3,000 sheep, [as] the consecrated things. [There weren’t enough] priests [to skin & to] [fillet] all the burnt offerings.

[For this reason,] their brethren, the Levites, [helped] them [until] the work was [done,] & until the other priests had sanctified themselves. For the Levites [had been] more [responsible] than the priests, [by sanctifying] themselves.

And also [there] were [an] abundance of burnt offerings, with the fat [for] the Peace Offerings, & the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So, the service [for] the [Lord’s] house, was [put] in order. And [king] Hezekiah, & all the people rejoiced, that God had prepared the people. For [this] thing was done suddenly.