1
Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old and was king in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. His mother was Abijah daughter of Zechariah.
2
In God's opinion he was a good king; he kept to the standards of his ancestor David.
3
In the first month of the first year of his reign, Hezekiah, having first repaired the doors of The Temple of God, threw them open to the public.
4
He assembled the priests and Levites in the court on the east side
5
and said, "Levites, listen! Consecrate yourselves and consecrate The Temple of God - give this much-defiled place a good housecleaning.
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.