2 Chronicles 29:16

16 The priests started from the inside and worked out; they emptied the place of the accumulation of defiling junk - pagan rubbish that had no business in that holy place - and the Levites hauled it off to the Kidron Valley.

2 Chronicles 29:16 Meaning and Commentary

2 Chronicles 29:16

And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the
Lord, to cleanse it
Into the holy place, where the candlesticks and shewbread tables stood, into which none but priests might enter, but not into the most holy place, the innermost of all; for none but the high priest might go into that, and only on the day of atonement; though in case of necessity, as for repairs, others might go into it, and so perhaps now to cleanse it, if any pollution was there: and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of
the Lord into the court of the house of the Lord;
into the court of the priests, where the Levites might be, and were: and the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron;
which ran through the valley of the son of Hinnom, into which all unclean things, and the filth of the temple and sacrifices, were usually carried and cast, see ( 2 Kings 18:12 ) .

2 Chronicles 29:16 In-Context

14 Jehiel and Shimei of the family of Heman; Shemaiah and Uzziel of the family of Jeduthun.
15 They presented themselves and their brothers, consecrated themselves, and set to work cleaning up The Temple of God as the king had directed - as God directed!
16 The priests started from the inside and worked out; they emptied the place of the accumulation of defiling junk - pagan rubbish that had no business in that holy place - and the Levites hauled it off to the Kidron Valley.
17 They began the Temple cleaning on the first day of the first month and by the eighth day they had worked their way out to the porch - eight days it took them to clean and consecrate The Temple itself, and in eight more days they had finished with the entire Temple complex.
18 Then they reported to Hezekiah the king, "We have cleaned up the entire Temple of God, including the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering and the Table of the Bread of the Presence with their furnishings.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.