ሕዝቅያስ ቤተ መቅደሱን አነጻ
29፥1-2 ተጓ ምብ – 1ነገ 18፥2-3
1ሕዝቅያስ በነገሠ ጊዜ፣ ዕድሜው ሃያ አምስት ዓመት ነበር፤ በኢየሩሳሌም ተቀምጦም ሃያ ዘጠኝ ዓመት ገዛ። እናቱም አቡ የተባለች፤ የዘካርያስ ልጅ ነበረች። 2አባቱ ዳዊት እንዳደረገው ሁሉ፣ እርሱም በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ቅን ነገር አደረገ።
3በዘመነ መንግሥቱ በመጀመሪያው ዓመት፣ በመጀመሪያው ወር የእግዚአብሔርን ቤተ መቅደስ በሮች ከፈተ፤ አደሳቸው። 4ካህናቱንና ሌዋውያኑን አስገብቶ በምሥራቅ በኩል ባለው አደባባይ ላይ በመሰብሰብ፣ 5እንዲህ አላቸው፤ “እናንት ሌዋውያን፤ ስሙኝ! ራሳችሁን አሁኑኑ ቀድሱ፤ የአባቶቻችሁን አምላክ የእግዚአብሔርንም ቤተ መቅደስ ቀድሱ። ርኩስ ነገርንም ሁሉ ከመቅደሱ አስወግዱ። 6አባቶቻችን ታማኞች አልነበሩም፣ በአምላካችን በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ክፉ ድርጊት ፈጸሙ፤ ተዉትም። ከእግዚአብሔር ማደሪያ ፊታቸውን መለሱ፤ ጀርባቸውንም አዞሩበት። 7የሰበሰቡንም በሮች ዘጉ፤ መብራቶቹንም አጠፉ። ለእስራኤል አምላክ ለእግዚአብሔር ዕጣን አላጠኑም፤ በመቅደሱም የሚቃጠል መሥዋዕት አላቀረቡም። 8ስለዚህ የእግዚአብሔር ቍጣ በይሁዳና በኢየሩሳሌም ላይ ወርዷል፤ እናንተ በገዛ ዐይናችሁ እንደምታዩት ለድንጋጤ፣ ለመደነቂያና ለመዘበቻ አሳልፎ ሰጣቸው። 9በዚህ ምክንያት አባቶቻችን በሰይፍ ወደቁ፣ ወንዶችና ሴቶች ልጆቻችን፣ ሚስቶቻችንም ተማረኩ። 10አሁንም አስፈሪ ቍጣው ከእኛ እንዲመለስ፣ ከእስራኤል አምላክ ከእግዚአብሔር ጋር ቃል ኪዳን ለመግባት አስቤአለሁ። 11ልጆቼ ሆይ፤ እንግዲህ ቸል አትበሉ፤ በፊቱ እንድትቆሙና እንድታገለግሉት፣ በፊቱም አገልጋዮቹ እንድትሆኑና ዕጣን እንድታጥኑለት እግዚአብሔር መርጧችኋልና።”
12ከዚያም እነዚሁ ሌዋውያን በሥራው ላይ ተሰማሩ፤
ከቀዓት ዘሮች የአማሢ ልጅ መሐትና የዓዛርያስ ልጅ ኢዮኤል፤
ከሜራሪ ዘሮች፣
የአብዲ ልጅ ቂስና የይሃሌልኤል ልጅ ዓዛርያስ፤
ከጌድሶን ዘሮች፣
የዛማት ልጅ ዮአክና የዮአክ ልጅ ዔድን፤
13ከኤሊጻፋን ዘሮች፣
ሺምሪና ይዒኤል፤
ከአሳፍ ዘሮች፣
ዘካርያስና መታንያ፤
14ከኤማን ዘሮች፣
ይሒኤልና ሰሜኢ፣
ከኤዶታም ዘሮች፣
ሸማያና ዑዝኤል።
15ወንድሞቻቸውን ከሰበሰቡና ራሳቸውን ከቀደሱ በኋላ፣ ንጉሡ የእግዚአብሔርን ቃል ተከትሎ ባዘዘው መሠረት የእግዚአብሔርን ቤተ መቅደስ ለማንጻት ገቡ። 16ካህናቱ የእግዚአብሔርን መቅደስ ለማንጻት ወደ ውስጡ ገቡ። በእግዚአብሔር ቤተ መቅደስ ውስጥ ያገኙትንም ማናቸውንም የረከሰ ነገር ወደ እግዚአብሔር ቤተ መቅደስ አደባባይ አወጡት። ሌዋውያኑም ተሸክመው በመውሰድ በቄድሮን ሸለቆ ውስጥ ጣሉት። 17ማንጻቱንም በመጀመሪያው ወር፣ በመጀመሪያው ቀን ጀምረው በዚያኑ ወር በስምንተኛው ቀን እስከ መቅደስ ሰበሰብ ደረሱ፤ በሚቀጥሉትም ስምንት ቀናት የእግዚአብሔርን ቤተ መቅደስ ቀደሱ፤ የመቀደሱም ሥራ በመጀመሪያው ወር በዐሥራ ስድስተኛው ቀን ተጠናቀቀ።
18ከዚያም ወደ ንጉሡ ወደ ሕዝቅያስ ገብተው እንዲህ አሉ፤ “የእግዚአብሔርን ቤተ መቅደስ በሙሉ፣ የሚቃጠል መሥዋዕት የሚቀርብበትን መሠዊያ ከነዕቃዎቹ ሁሉ፣ ገጸ ኅብስቱ የሚቀመጥበትን ጠረጴዛ፣ ከነዕቃዎቹ አንጽተናል። 19ንጉሥ አካዝ ነግሦ ሳለ ታማኝነቱን ትቶ፣ ከቦታቸው ያነሣቸውን ዕቃዎች ሁሉ አዘጋጅተን ቀድሰናቸዋል፤ እነሆ፤ ዕቃዎቹ በእግዚአብሔር ቤተ መቅደስ መሠዊያ ፊት ለፊት ናቸው።”
20በማግስቱም ጧት በማለዳ፣ ንጉሥ ሕዝቅያስ የከተማዪቱን ሹማምት በአንድነት ሰብስቦ፣ ወደ እግዚአብሔር ቤተ መቅደስ ወጣ፤ 21እነርሱም ስለ መንግሥቱ፣ ስለ መቅደሱና ስለ ይሁዳ ሰባት ወይፈኖች፣ ሰባት አውራ በጎች፣ ሰባት ተባዕት የበግ ጠቦቶችና ሰባት ተባዕት የፍየል ጠቦቶች ለኀጢአት መሥዋዕት አቀረቧቸው፤ ንጉሡም እነዚህን በእግዚአብሔር መሠዊያ ላይ እንዲያቀርቡ የአሮንን ዘሮች ካህናቱን አዘዘ። 22ካህናቱም ወይፈኖቹን ዐርደው ደሙን በመውሰድ በመሠዊያው ላይ ረጩት፤ አውራ በጎቹንም ዐርደው ደሙን በመሠዊያው ላይ ረጩት፤ እንደዚሁም ጠቦቶቹን ዐርደው ደሙን በመሠዊያው ላይ ረጩት። 23ለኀጢአት መሥዋዕት የሚሆኑትን ፍየሎች በንጉሡና በጉባኤው ፊት አቀረቡ፤ እነርሱም እጆቻቸውን ጫኑባቸው። 24ንጉሡ የሚቃጠል መሥዋዕትና የኀጢአት መሥዋዕት ስለ እስራኤል ሁሉ እንዲቀርብ አዝዞ ስለ ነበር፣ ካህናቱ ፍየሎቹን ዐርደው ስለ እስራኤል ሁሉ ማስተስረያ እንዲሆን የኀጢአት መሥዋዕት በማድረግ ደሙን በመሠዊያው ላይ አቀረቡ።
25ንጉሥ ሕዝቅያስም በዳዊት፣ በንጉሡ ባለ ራእይ በጋድና በነቢዩ በናታን በተሰጠው መመሪያ መሠረት ሌዋውያኑን ጸናጽል፣ በገናና መሰንቆ አስይዞ በእግዚአብሔር ቤተ መቅደስ መደባቸው፤ ይህም በነቢያት አማካይነት ከእግዚአብሔር የተሰጠ ትእዛዝ ነበር። 26ስለዚህ ሌዋውያኑ የዳዊትን የዜማ ዕቃዎች፣ ካህናቱም መለከቶቻቸውን ይዘው ዝግጁ በመሆን ቆሙ።
27ከዚህ በኋላ ሕዝቅያስ የሚቃጠለው መሥዋዕት በመሠዊያው ላይ እንዲቀርብ አዘዘ። መሥዋዕቱ ማረግ በጀመረ ጊዜም፣ በእስራኤል ንጉሥ በዳዊት የዜማ ዕቃዎችና በመለከት የታጀበ ዝማሬ ለእግዚአብሔር ማቅረብ ጀመረ። 28መዘምራኑ በሚዘምሩበትና መለከተኞቹም በሚነፉበት ጊዜም መላው ጉባኤ አጐንብሰው ሰገዱ፤ የሚቃጠለው መሥዋዕት እስኪጠናቀቅ ድረስም ይህ ሁሉ ቀጠለ።
29መሥዋዕቱ ሁሉ ቀርቦ ካበቃ በኋላ፣ ንጉሡና አብረውት የነበሩት ሁሉ ተንበርክከው ሰገዱ። 30ንጉሥ ሕዝቅያስና ሹማምቱ፣ ሌዋውያኑ በዳዊትና በባለ ራእዩ በአሳፍ ቃል እግዚአብሔርን እንዲያመሰግኑ አዘዙ። እነርሱም ውዳሴውን በደስታ ዘመሩ፤ ራሳቸውንም አጐንብሰው ሰገዱ።
31ከዚያም ሕዝቅያስ፣ “እነሆ፤ ራሳችሁን ለእግዚአብሔር ቀድሳችኋል፤ አሁንም ቅረቡ፤ መሥዋዕትና የምስጋና ስጦታ ወደ እግዚአብሔር ቤተ መቅደስ አምጡ” አላቸው። ስለዚህ ጉባኤው መሥዋዕትና የምስጋና ስጦታ አመጡ፤ ልባቸው የፈቀደ ሁሉም የሚቃጠል መሥዋዕት አመጡ።
32ጉባኤውም ያመጣው የሚቃጠለው መሥዋዕት ብዛት ሰባ ወይፈኖች፣ መቶ አውራ በጎችና ሁለት መቶ ተባዕት የበግ ጠቦቶች ናቸው፤ ሁሉም የሚቃጠል መሥዋዕት ሆነው ለእግዚአብሔር የሚቀርቡ ነበሩ። 33ለመሥዋዕት የተቀደሱት እንስሳት በአጠቃላይ ስድስት መቶ ወይፈን፣ ሦስት ሺሕ በጎችና ፍየሎች ነበሩ። 34ይሁን እንጂ ካህናቱ የሚቃጠለውን መሥዋዕት ቈዳ ሁሉ ለመግፈፍ ቍጥራቸው እጅግ ጥቂት ነበር፤ ስለዚህ ወገኖቻቸው የሆኑት ሌዋውያን ሥራው እስኪያልቅና ሌሎች ካህናት እስኪቀደሱ ድረስ ረዷቸው፤ ሌዋውያኑም ራሳቸውን ለመቀደስ ከካህናቱ ይልቅ ጠንቃቆች ነበሩና። 35ከሚቃጠለው መሥዋዕት ጋር የሚቀርበውን የኅብረት መሥዋዕት29፥35 በትውፊት የሰላም መሥዋዕት ይባላል። ስብና የመጠጡን ቍርባን ጨምሮ የሚቃጠለው መሥዋዕት እጅግ ብዙ ነበር። በዚህ ሁኔታም የእግዚአብሔር ቤት አገልግሎት እንደ ገና ተደራጀ። 36ሕዝቅያስና ሕዝቡ፣ ነገሩ ሁሉ እንዲህ በተፋጠነ ሁኔታ እንዲከናወን እግዚአብሔር ስለ ረዳቸው ሐሴት አደረጉ።
Hezekiah purifies the temple
1Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. 2He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done.
3In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the Lord and repaired them. 4He brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east side 5and said, ‘Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary. 6Our parents were unfaithful; they did evil in the eyes of the Lord our God and forsook him. They turned their faces away from the Lord’s dwelling-place and turned their backs on him. 7They also shut the doors of the portico and put out the lamps. They did not burn incense or present any burnt offerings at the sanctuary to the God of Israel. 8Therefore, the anger of the Lord has fallen on Judah and Jerusalem; he has made them an object of dread and horror and scorn, as you can see with your own eyes. 9This is why our fathers have fallen by the sword and why our sons and daughters and our wives are in captivity. 10Now I intend to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us. 11My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before him and serve him, to minister before him and to burn incense.’
12Then these Levites set to work:
from the Kohathites:
Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah;
from the Merarites:
Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel;
from the Gershonites:
Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah;
13from the descendants of Elizaphan:
Shimri and Jeiel;
from the descendants of Asaph:
Zechariah and Mattaniah;
14from the descendants of Heman:
Jehiel and Shimei;
from the descendants of Jeduthun:
Shemaiah and Uzziel.
15When they had assembled their fellow Levites and consecrated themselves, they went in to purify the temple of the Lord, as the king had ordered, following the word of the Lord. 16The priests went into the sanctuary of the Lord to purify it. They brought out to the courtyard of the Lord’s temple everything unclean that they found in the temple of the Lord. The Levites took it and carried it out to the Kidron Valley. 17They began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and by the eighth day of the month they reached the portico of the Lord. For eight more days they consecrated the temple of the Lord itself, finishing on the sixteenth day of the first month.
18Then they went in to King Hezekiah and reported: ‘We have purified the entire temple of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the table for setting out the consecrated bread, with all its articles. 19We have prepared and consecrated all the articles that King Ahaz removed in his unfaithfulness while he was king. They are now in front of the Lord’s altar.’
20Early the next morning King Hezekiah gathered the city officials together and went up to the temple of the Lord. 21They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven male lambs and seven male goats as a sin offering29:21 Or purification offering; also in verses 23 and 24 for the kingdom, for the sanctuary and for Judah. The king commanded the priests, the descendants of Aaron, to offer these on the altar of the Lord. 22So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and splashed it against the altar; next they slaughtered the rams and splashed their blood against the altar; then they slaughtered the lambs and splashed their blood against the altar. 23The goats for the sin offering were brought before the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands on them. 24The priests then slaughtered the goats and presented their blood on the altar for a sin offering to atone for all Israel, because the king had ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.
25He stationed the Levites in the temple of the Lord with cymbals, harps and lyres in the way prescribed by David and Gad the king’s seer and Nathan the prophet; this was commanded by the Lord through his prophets. 26So the Levites stood ready with David’s instruments, and the priests with their trumpets.
27Hezekiah gave the order to sacrifice the burnt offering on the altar. As the offering began, singing to the Lord began also, accompanied by trumpets and the instruments of David king of Israel. 28The whole assembly bowed in worship, while the musicians played and the trumpets sounded. All this continued until the sacrifice of the burnt offering was completed.
29When the offerings were finished, the king and everyone present with him knelt down and worshipped. 30King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to praise the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness and bowed down and worshipped.
31Then Hezekiah said, ‘You have now dedicated yourselves to the Lord. Come and bring sacrifices and thank-offerings to the temple of the Lord.’ So the assembly brought sacrifices and thank-offerings, and all whose hearts were willing brought burnt offerings.
32The number of burnt offerings the assembly brought was seventy bulls, a hundred rams and two hundred male lambs – all of them for burnt offerings to the Lord. 33The animals consecrated as sacrifices amounted to six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep and goats. 34The priests, however, were too few to skin all the burnt offerings; so their relatives the Levites helped them until the task was finished and until other priests had been consecrated, for the Levites had been more conscientious in consecrating themselves than the priests had been. 35There were burnt offerings in abundance, together with the fat of the fellowship offerings and the drink offerings that accompanied the burnt offerings.
So the service of the temple of the Lord was re-established. 36Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had brought about for his people, because it was done so quickly.
