2 Chronicles 29

Hezekiah Reigns in Judah

1 ¹Hezekiah began to reign when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abijah^[a] the daughter of ²Zechariah.

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

Hezekiah Cleanses the Temple

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

4 He brought in the priests and the Levites and assembled them in the square on the east

5 and said to them, "Hear me, Levites! Now ⁴consecrate yourselves, and consecrate the house of the LORD, the God of your fathers, and carry out the filth from the Holy Place.

6 For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done what was evil in the sight of the LORD our God. They have forsaken him and ⁵have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD and turned their backs.

7 They also ⁶shut the doors of the vestibule and put out the lamps and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the Holy Place to the God of Israel.

8 Therefore ⁷the wrath of the LORD came on Judah and Jerusalem, and he has made them ⁸an object of horror, of astonishment, ⁹and of hissing, as you see with your own eyes.

9 For behold, ¹⁰our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.

10 Now ¹¹it is in my heart ¹²to make a covenant with the LORD, the God of Israel, in order that his fierce anger may turn away from us.

11 My sons, do not now be negligent, ¹³for the LORD has chosen you to stand in his presence, to minister to him and to be his ministers and make offerings to him."

12 Then the Levites arose, ¹⁴Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of ¹⁵the Kohathites; and of the sons of ¹⁶Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; and of the ¹⁷Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah;

13 and of the sons of ¹⁸Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel; and of the sons of ¹⁹Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah;

14 and of the sons of ²⁰Heman, Jehuel and Shimei; and of the sons of ²¹Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.

15 They gathered their brothers and ²²consecrated themselves and went in as the king had commanded, ²³by the words of the LORD, ²⁴to cleanse the house of the LORD.

16 The priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD to cleanse it, and they 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 and carried it out to ²⁵the brook Kidron.

17 They began to consecrate ²⁶on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule of the LORD. Then for eight days they consecrated the house of the LORD, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.

18 Then they went in to Hezekiah the king and said, "We have cleansed all the house of the LORD, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the table for the showbread and all its utensils.

19 All the utensils ²⁷that King Ahaz discarded in his reign when he was faithless, we have made ready and consecrated, and behold, they are before the altar of the LORD."

Hezekiah Restores Temple Worship

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

21 And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats ²⁸for 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.

22 So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests received the blood ²⁹and threw it against the altar. And they slaughtered the rams, and their blood was thrown against the altar. And they slaughtered the lambs, and their blood was thrown against the altar.

23 Then the goats for the sin offering were brought to the king and the assembly, ³⁰and they laid their hands on them,

24 and the priests slaughtered them and made a sin offering with their blood on the altar, ³¹to make atonement for all Israel. For the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.

25 ³²And he stationed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, harps, and lyres, ³³according to the commandment of David and of Gad ³⁴the king's seer and of ³⁵Nathan the prophet, for the commandment was from the LORD through his prophets.

26 The Levites stood with ³⁶the instruments of David, ³⁷and the priests with the trumpets.

27 Then Hezekiah commanded that the burnt offering be offered on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, ³⁸the song to the LORD began also, and the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel.

28 The whole assembly worshiped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded. All this continued until the burnt offering was finished.

29 When the offering was finished, ³⁹the king and all who were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped.

30 And Hezekiah the king and the officials commanded the Levites to sing praises to the LORD with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed down and worshiped.

31 Then Hezekiah said, ⁴⁰"You have now consecrated yourselves to^[b] the LORD. Come near; bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the LORD." And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all who were ⁴¹of a willing heart brought burnt offerings.

32 The number of the burnt offerings that the assembly brought was 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the LORD.

33 And the consecrated offerings were 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep.

34 But the priests were too few and could not flay all the burnt offerings, so until other priests had consecrated themselves, ⁴²their brothers the Levites helped them, until the work was finished--⁴³for the Levites were more upright in heart than the priests in consecrating themselves.

35 Besides the great number of burnt offerings, there was ⁴⁴the fat of the peace offerings, and there were ⁴⁵the drink offerings for the burnt offerings. Thus the service of the house of the LORD was restored.

36 And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because God had prepared for the people, for the thing came about suddenly.

2 Chronicles 29 Commentary

Chapter 29

Hezekiah's good reign in Judah. (1-19) Hezekiah's sacrifice of atonement. (20-36)

Verses 1-19 When Hezekiah came to the crown, he applied at once to work reform. Those who begin with God, begin at the right end of their work, and it will prosper accordingly. Those that turn their backs upon God's ordinances, may truly be said to forsake God himself. There are still such neglects, if the word be not duly read and opened, for that was signified by the lighting the lamps, and also if prayers and praise be not offered up, for that was signified by the burning incense. Neglect of God's worship was the cause of the calamities they had lain under. The Lord alone can prepare the heart of man for vital godliness: when much good is done in a little time, the glory must be ascribed to him; and all who love him or the souls of men, will rejoice therein. Let those that do good work, learn to do it well.

Verses 20-36 As soon as Hezekiah heard that the temple was ready, he lost no time. Atonement must be made for the sins of the last reign. It was not enough to lament and forsake those sins; they brought a sin-offering. Our repentance and reformation will not obtain pardon but in and through Christ, who was made sin, that is, a sin-offering for us. While the offerings were on the altar, the Levites sang. Sorrow for sin must not prevent us from praising God. The king and the congregation gave their consent to all that was done. It is not enough for us to be where God is worshipped, if we do not ourselves worship with the heart. And we should offer up our spiritual sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, and devote ourselves and all we have, as sacrifices, acceptable to the Father only through the Redeemer.

Cross References

• 1. For ver. 1, 2, see 2 Kings 18:1-3
• 2. [2 Chronicles 26:5]
• 3. [ver. 7; 2 Chronicles 28:24]
• 4. ver. 15, 34; 2 Chronicles 35:6; 1 Chronicles 15:12; Ezra 6:20
• 5. Jeremiah 2:27; Ezekiel 8:16
• 6. 2 Chronicles 28:24
• 7. See 2 Chronicles 24:18
• 8. Deuteronomy 28:25
• 9. Jeremiah 19:8; Jeremiah 25:9, 18; Jeremiah 29:18; Micah 6:16
• 10. 2 Chronicles 28:5, 6, 8, 17
• 11. See 1 Chronicles 22:7
• 12. See 2 Chronicles 15:12
• 13. Numbers 3:6; Numbers 8:14; Numbers 18:2, 6
• 14. 2 Chronicles 31:13
• 15. Numbers 3:17
• 16. Numbers 3:17
• 17. Numbers 3:17
• 18. 1 Chronicles 15:8
• 19. 1 Chronicles 6:39
• 20. 1 Chronicles 6:33
• 21. 1 Chronicles 9:16
• 22. See ver. 5
• 23. 2 Chronicles 30:12
• 24. [Nehemiah 13:9]
• 25. See 2 Samuel 15:23
• 26. ver. 3
• 27. [2 Chronicles 28:24]
• 28. [Leviticus 4:14]
• 29. Lev. 8:15, 19, 24; Hebrews 9:21; [2 Chronicles 35:11]
• 30. Leviticus 4:15
• 31. Leviticus 4:26
• 32. 1 Chronicles 16:4; 1 Chronicles 25:6; [1 Chronicles 15:16]
• 33. 2 Chronicles 8:14; 1 Chronicles 23:5; 1 Chronicles 25:1
• 34. See 1 Samuel 9:9
• 35. 2 Samuel 12:1
• 36. 1 Chronicles 23:5; [Amos 6:5]
• 37. See 1 Chronicles 15:24
• 38. [2 Chronicles 23:18]
• 39. [2 Chronicles 20:18]
• 40. 2 Chronicles 13:9; [Exodus 28:41]
• 41. Exodus 35:5, 22
• 42. [2 Chronicles 35:11]
• 43. [2 Chronicles 30:3]
• 44. Leviticus 3:1, 16
• 45. Num. 15:5, 7, 10

Footnotes

• [a]. Spelled Abi in 2 Kings 18:2
• [b]. Hebrew filled your hand for

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 29

This chapter begins with the good reign of Hezekiah, who upon his accession to the throne opened the doors of the temple, 2Ch 29:1-3, summoned the priests and Levites, and exhorted them to purge the temple, and restore the worship of it, 2Ch 29:4-11, who accordingly set about the work immediately, and cleansed the temple, and, when they had done, reported it to the king, 2Ch 29:12-19 upon which he, with the princes, went into the temple and offered sacrifices, 2Ch 29:20-24 and ordered singers to sing at the offering of burnt offerings, 2Ch 29:25-30 when he and his people offered burnt offerings and peace offerings in great abundance, 2Ch 29:31-36.

\\see Gill on "2Ki 18:2"\\, \\see Gill on "2Ki 18:3"\\. 19751-950128-1017-2Ch29.2