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Hezekiahbecameking when he was twenty-five*yearsold; and he reignedtwenty-nine*years in Jerusalem. And his mother'sname was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.
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Then he said to them, "Listen to me, O Levites. Consecrate yourselves now, and consecrate the house of the LORD, the God of your fathers, and carry the uncleanness out from the holy place.
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"For our fathers have beenunfaithful and have doneevil in the sight of the LORD our God, and have forsaken Him and turned their facesaway from the dwellingplace of the LORD, and have turned their backs.
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"They have alsoshut the doors of the porch and put out the lamps, and have not burnedincense or offeredburntofferings in the holy place to the God of Israel.
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"Therefore the wrath of the LORD was againstJudah and Jerusalem, and He has made them an object of terror, of horror, and of hissing, as you see with your own eyes.
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Then the Levitesarose: Mahath, the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, from the sons of the Kohathites; and from the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; and from the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah and Eden the son of Joah;
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They assembled their brothers, consecrated themselves, and went in to cleanse the house of the LORD, according to the commandment of the king by the words of the LORD.
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So the priestswent in to the innerpart of the house of the LORD to cleanse it, and everyuncleanthingwhich they found in the temple of the LORD they brought out to the court of the house of the LORD. Then the Levitesreceived it to carry out to the Kidronvalley.
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Now they began the consecration on the first day of the firstmonth, and on the eighthday of the month they entered the porch of the LORD. Then they consecrated the house of the LORD in eightdays, and finished on the sixteenth*day of the firstmonth.
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Then they went in to KingHezekiah and said, "We have cleansed the wholehouse of the LORD, the altar of burntoffering with all of its utensils, and the table of showbread with all of its utensils.
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"Moreover, all the utensilswhichKingAhaz had discarded during his reign in his unfaithfulness, we have prepared and consecrated; and behold, they are before the altar of the LORD."
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They broughtsevenbulls, sevenrams, sevenlambs and sevenmalegoats for a sinoffering for the kingdom, the sanctuary, and Judah. And he ordered the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the LORD.
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So they slaughtered the bulls, and the prieststook the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. They also slaughtered the rams and sprinkled the blood on the altar; they slaughtered the lambs also and sprinkled the blood on the altar.
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The priestsslaughtered them and purged the altar with their blood to atone for allIsrael, for the kingordered the burntoffering and the sinoffering for allIsrael.
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He then stationed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with harps and with lyres, according to the command of David and of Gad the king'sseer, and of Nathan the prophet; for the command was from the LORDthrough His prophets.
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Then Hezekiahgave the order to offer the burntoffering on the altar. When the burntofferingbegan, the song to the LORD also began with the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David, king of Israel.
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Moreover, KingHezekiah and the officialsordered the Levites to singpraises to the LORD with the words of David and Asaph the seer. So they sangpraises with joy, and boweddown and worshiped.
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Then Hezekiahsaid, "Now that you have consecrated*yourselves to the LORD, comenear and bringsacrifices and thankofferings to the house of the LORD." And the assemblybroughtsacrifices and thankofferings, and all those who were willing brought burntofferings.
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The consecratedthings were 600*bulls and 3,000*sheep.
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But the priests were too few, so that they were unable* to skinall the burntofferings; therefore their brothers the Leviteshelped them until the work was completed and until the other priests had consecrated themselves. For the Levites were moreconscientious* to consecrate themselves than the priests.
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There were alsomanyburntofferings with the fat of the peaceofferings and with the libations for the burntofferings. Thus the service of the house of the LORD was established again.