2 Chronicles

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.

1Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king. He ruled twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother 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.

2He did what was right in God's eyes. He lived the way David, his ancestor, had lived.

Note"David his father" means David his ancestor. David lived hundreds of years before Hezekiah.

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

3In the first month of his first year as king, Hezekiah opened the doors of God's house. He also fixed them.

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

4Then he brought in the priests and the Levites. Priests led the worship at God's house, and Levites helped them. He gathered them all in the open square on the east side.

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.

5He said, "Listen to me, Levites. Make yourselves clean and ready for God. Make God's house clean and ready too. It belongs to the God your fathers worshiped. Carry every dirty thing 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.

6Our fathers were not faithful to God. They did what was evil in his eyes. They walked away from him. They turned their faces away from the place where he lived among us. They turned their backs on him.

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.

7They also shut the doors of the front porch of God's house. They let the lamps go out. They did not burn incense there, and incense is sweet-smelling smoke. They did not bring burnt offerings, which are animals burned as gifts to God.

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.

8So the LORD was angry with Judah and Jerusalem. He let hard and frightening things happen to them. Now other people stare at them and make fun of them. You can see all of this with your own eyes.

NoteThe old wording says people "hiss" at them. That means people jeer and make fun.

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

9That is why our fathers were killed in battle. That is why our sons, daughters, and wives were taken away as prisoners.

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.

10Now I want to make an agreement with the LORD, the God of Israel. Then maybe his hot anger will 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.

11My sons, do not be lazy now. The LORD picked you to stand in front of him and serve him. He picked you to do his work and to 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:

12Then the Levites got to work. From the family of Kohath came Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah. From the family of Merari came Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehalelel. From the family of Gershon came Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah.

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

13From the family of Elizaphan came Shimri and Jeiel. From the family of Asaph came Zechariah and Mattaniah.

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

14From the family of Heman came Jehiel and Shimei. From the family of Jeduthun came 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.

15They called their relatives together and made themselves ready for God. Then they went to clean God's house. They did what the king had told them, and his order came from God's own words.

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.

16The priests went inside God's house to clean it. They carried out every unclean thing they found there. They put it all in the courtyard outside. Then the Levites took it away to the Kidron Valley.

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.

17They started this work on the first day of the first month. On the eighth day they reached the porch of God's house. They spent eight more days on the house itself. They finished on the sixteenth day of the first month.

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.

18Then they went to King Hezekiah and told him the news. "We have cleaned all of God's house," they said. "We cleaned the altar for burnt offerings and all its tools. We cleaned the table for the special bread and all its dishes.

NoteThe "shewbread" was special bread. It was kept on a table inside God's house.

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.

19King Ahaz threw some of the temple things away while he was king, because he was not faithful to God. We have fixed those things and made them ready again. They are now sitting in front of the LORD's altar."

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

20Early the next morning King Hezekiah called the leaders of the city together. They went up to God's house.

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.

21They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats. These were a sin offering, a gift to God to make wrong things right. It was for the kingdom, for God's house, and for Judah. The king told the priests, who came from Aaron's family, to offer them on the altar.

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.

22So they killed the bulls. The priests took the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. Then they killed the rams and sprinkled that blood on the altar. Then they killed the lambs and sprinkled that blood on the altar too.

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

23Then they brought the male goats for the sin offering. They brought them in front of the king and all the people. The people laid their hands on the goats.

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.

24The priests killed the goats and put the blood on the altar. This was to make things right between God and all Israel. The king had said these offerings 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.

25The king had the Levites stand in God's house with cymbals, harps, and lyres. These are all music instruments. David had given this order long before, along with Gad the king's seer and Nathan the prophet. A seer and a prophet both told people what God said. This order came from the LORD through them.

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

26The Levites stood there with the instruments David had made. The priests stood there 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.

27Hezekiah gave the word to offer the burnt offering on the altar. When it began, the song to the LORD began too. The trumpets played, and so did the instruments of 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.

28All the people worshiped. The singers sang. The trumpet players played. This went on 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.

29When the offerings were done, the king bowed down low. Everyone with him bowed down and worshiped too.

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.

30King Hezekiah and his leaders told the Levites to sing praise to the LORD. They used the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang with joy. They bowed their heads and worshiped.

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.

31Then Hezekiah said, "You have given yourselves to the LORD. Come near now. Bring your gifts and thank-you offerings to God's house." So the people brought gifts and thank-you offerings. Everyone who wanted to also brought 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.

32The people brought seventy bulls, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs. All of these were burnt offerings for the LORD.

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

33The animals set apart for God were six hundred bulls 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.

34But there were not enough priests to take the skins off all the animals. So their Levite relatives helped them until the work was done. They helped until more priests had made themselves ready. The Levites had worked harder than the priests at getting themselves ready.

NoteThe old wording says the priests could not "flay" the animals. That means take the skins off.

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.

35There were many burnt offerings. There was also fat from the peace offerings and wine poured out with each burnt offering. So the work of God's house was set up in good order again.

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

36Hezekiah and all the people were glad. God had made the people ready for this. It had all happened very fast.