2 Chronicles

Covers Solomon's reign and the kingdom of Judah's history, emphasizing faithfulness to God.

Chapter 29

1 Hezekiah 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.

*Hezekiah became king at 25 years old and ruled for 9 years and 20 years in total in Jerusalem. His mom's name was Abijah, who was Zechariah's daughter.

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

*He did what was pleasing to God, just like how David, his father, had done it.

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

*In the first year as king, during the first month, he opened the doors of God's house and fixed them.

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

*He brought the priests and Levites together and gathered them on the east street.

5 And 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.

*"Listen to me, Levites," he said, "set yourselves apart and cleanse God's holy house, your ancestors' God, and remove the impurity from the sacred area."

6 For 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.

*Our ancestors did wrong things that displeased God, they left Him, and turned their faces away from His home, turning their backs on Him.

7 Also 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.

*They closed the porch doors, turned off the lamps, and didn't burn incense or give burnt offerings to God in the sacred area.

8 Wherefore 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.

*Because the LORD's anger was towards Judah and Jerusalem, he gave them over to suffering, shock, and mocking, just like you can witness with your own eyes.

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

*"Indeed, our ancestors were killed with swords, and now our children, sons and daughters, and wives are held captive because of this."

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

*Now, I want to make a promise with God, the powerful ruler of Israel, so that he stops being angry at us.

11 My 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.

*My children, don't be careless now: the Lord has picked you to be close to Him, to work for Him, and to help Him by offering incense.

12 Then 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:

*Then the Levites, including Mahath, son of Amasai, and Joel, son of Azariah, from the Kohathite group, and Kish, son of Abdi, and Azariah, son of Jehalelel, from the Merarite group, and Joah, son of Zimmah, and Eden, son of Joah, from the Gershonite group, stood up.

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

*And from Elizaphan's children: Shimri and Jeiel. From Asaph's children: Zechariah and Mattaniah.

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

*And from Heman's children, Jehiel and Shimei; and from Jeduthun's children, Shemaiah and Uzziel.

15 And 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.

*They collected their family, cleaned themselves, and followed the king's order using God's words to purify the Lord's house.

16 And 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.

*The priests entered the inner part of God's house to clean it and removed all the impurity they found in the temple. They brought it outside to the courtyard. The Levites then carried the impurity to the Brook Kidron.

17 Now 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.

*On the first day of the first month, they started to make the place holy. In eight days, they finished making the LORD's house holy. On the 16th day of the first month, they were done with the work.

18 Then 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.

*Then they told Hezekiah the king, "We cleaned the entire Lord's temple, including the altar for burning offerings, along with all its tools, and the special food table, plus all its tools too."

19 Moreover 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.

*Additionally, all the ships that King Ahaz got rid of during his rule due to his disobedience, we have fixed up and made holy. Now, they are in front of the LORD's altar.

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

*Then King Hezekiah woke up early, brought together the city's leaders, and went to God's house.

21 And 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.

*They brought seven bulls, seven sheep, and seven goats for a sin offering for the kingdom, sanctuary, and Judah. The priest sons of Aaron were told to offer them on the Lord's altar.

22 So 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.

*So they slaughtered the cows, and the priests got the blood, then they splashed it on the altar. Similarly, when they killed the sheep, they splashed the blood on the altar too. They also killed the little lambs, and they splashed their blood on the altar as well.

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

*They brought the male goats for the sin offering in front of the king and the people. They placed their hands on them.

24 And 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.

*The priests killed animals, using their blood to cleanse the altar for all of Israel. The king ordered this sacrifice to be done for everyone in the country, including both a burnt offering and a sin offering.

25 And 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.

*He placed the Levites in the temple, using cymbals, psalteries, and harps, following the instructions from David, Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet; this was what the Lord commanded through his prophets.

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

*The Levites held David's musical tools, and the priests had the trumpets.

27 And 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.

*Hezekiah ordered a special sacrifice on the altar. As this sacrifice started, the LORD's song was played with trumpets and other instruments, just like how David, the king of Israel, had set up.

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

*Everyone in the group worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpet players played their horns. This went on until the big sacrifice was completed.

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

*After they finished their offering, the king and everyone with him bent down and showed respect.

30 Moreover 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.

*Hezekiah, the king, and the leaders told the musicians to sing happily about God using words from David and Asaph. The musicians sang and worshipped with respect.

31 Then 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.

*Then Hezekiah said, "Now you have dedicated yourselves to God. So come closer and bring your sacrifices and thanksgiving gifts to God's house." The people did this, offering sacrifices and thanksgiving gifts. Those who wanted to gave extra special offerings too.

32 And 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.

*The number of sacrifices the people offered was 70 bullocks, 100 rams, and 200 lambs. They gave them all to God as a special kind of sacrifice called "burnt offerings."

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

*There were 600 holy oxen and 3,000 sacred sheep.

34 But 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.

*But there weren't enough priests to remove all the animal skins from the burnt offerings. So, their relatives, the Levites, helped them finish the job before the other priests became pure. The Levites were better at purifying themselves than the priests.

35 And 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.

*The burnt offerings were plentiful, along with peace offering fats and drink offerings for each burnt offering. This made the worship at God's house organized and complete.

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

*Hezekiah and the people were happy because God made it happen quickly and effectively.

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