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.
Keezeekiya Atukuza Yeekaalu
129:1 1By 3:13Keezeekiya yali wa myaka amakumi abiri mu etaano bwe yalya obwakabaka; n’afugira emyaka amakumi abiri mu mwenda mu Yerusaalemi. Nnyina ye yali Abiya muwala wa Zekkaliya. 229:2 2By 28:1; 34:2Keezeekiya n’akola ebirungi mu maaso ga Mukama, nga jjajjaawe Dawudi bwe yakola.
329:3 2By 28:24Mu mwaka gwe ogwasooka, mu mwezi ogw’olubereberye, n’aggulawo enzigi za yeekaalu ya Mukama, n’aziddaabiriza. 4N’ayingiza bakabona n’Abaleevi, n’abakuŋŋaanyiza mu luggya olugazi ku luuyi olw’ebuvanjuba, 529:5 2By 35:6n’abagamba nti, “Mumpulirize Abaleevi, kaakano mwetukuze, ate mutukuze ne yeekaalu ya Mukama Katonda wa bajjajjammwe, muggye buli kitali kirongoofu mu watukuvu. 629:6 a Zab 106:6-47; Yer 2:27 b 1By 5:25; Ez 8:16Bajjajjaffe baayonoona, ne bakola ebitali birungi mu maaso ga Mukama Katonda waffe ne bamuvaako. Baggya amaaso gaabwe ku kifo Mukama gy’abeera, ne bamukuba amabega. 7Baggalawo n’enzigi ez’ekisasi ne bazikiza n’ettabaaza, so tebootereza bubaane wadde okuwaayo ebiweebwayo ebyokebwa mu watukuvu eri Katonda wa Isirayiri. 829:8 a Ma 28:25; 2By 24:18 b Yer 18:16; 19:8; 25:9, 18Obusungu bwa Mukama kyebwava bukka ku Yuda ne ku Yerusaalemi, era abafudde ekikangabwa, n’ekisekererwa era ekinyoomebwa, nga bwe mulaba n’amaaso gammwe. 929:9 2By 28:5-8, 17Bajjajjaffe kyebaava bagwa n’ekitala, ate batabani baffe, ne bawala baffe ne bakyala baffe bo ne batwalibwa mu busibe. 1029:10 2By 15:12; 23:16Kaakano mmaliridde mu mutima gwange okukola endagaano ne Mukama, Katonda wa Isirayiri obusungu bwe obw’amaanyi butuveeko. 1129:11 a Kbl 3:6; 8:6, 14 b 1By 15:2Batabani bange temuddangayo kulagajjala nate, kubanga Mukama abalonze okuyimiriranga mu maaso ge okumuweerezanga, n’okumwoterezanga obubaane.”
1229:12 a Kbl 3:17-20 b 2By 31:15Awo Abaleevi ne batandika okukola era baali:
Makasi mutabani wa Amasayi,
ne Yoweeri mutabani wa Azaliya ab’omu lulyo lwa Bakokasi,
ne Kiisi mutabani wa Abudi,
ne Azaliya mutabani wa Yekalereri ab’omu lulyo lwa Merali,
ne Yowa mutabani wa Zimma,
ne Adeni mutabani wa Yowa ab’omu lulyo lwa Bagerusoni,
1329:13 1By 6:39ne Simuli ne Yeyeri
bazzukulu ba Erizafani,
ne Zekkaliya ne Mattaniya,
bazzukulu ba Asafu,
14ne Yekweri ne Simeeyi,
bazzukulu ba Kemani,
ne Semaaya ne Wuziyeeri
bazzukulu ba Yedusuni.
1529:15 nny 5; 1By 23:28; 2By 30:12Ne bakuŋŋaanya baganda baabwe, ne beetukuza bo bennyini, n’oluvannyuma ne bayingira okutukuza yeekaalu ya Mukama nga kabaka bwe yali alagidde, ng’agoberera ebigambo bya Mukama. 1629:16 2Sa 15:23Bakabona ne bayingira mu watukuvu wa Mukama ne batukuzaamu. Ne bafulumya ebitaali birongoofu byonna ebyasangibwa mu yeekaalu ya Mukama ne babiteeka mu luggya lwa yeekaalu ya Mukama, Abaleevi ne babitwala ebweru mu Kiwonvu Kiduloni. 17Okutukuza ne kutandika ku lunaku olusooka mu mwezi ogw’olubereberye; ku lunaku olw’omunaana mu mwezi ogwo ne batuuka ku kisasi kya Mukama. Ne bamala ennaku munaana nga batukuza yeekaalu ya Mukama; ku lunaku olw’ekkumi n’omukaaga olw’omwezi ogw’olubereberye ne bamaliriza.
18Awo ne bagenda eri kabaka Keezeekiya ne bamutegeeza nti, “Tutukuzizza yeekaalu ya Mukama yonna, ekyoto eky’okuweerayo ebiweebwayo ebyokebwa n’ebintu byakwo byonna, n’emmeeza ey’emigaati egy’okulaga n’ebintu byakwo byonna. 1929:19 2By 28:24N’ebintu byonna kabaka Akazi bye yaggyamu olw’obutali bwesigwa bwe, tubiteeseteese ne tubitukuza, era laba biri mu maaso g’ekyoto kya Mukama.”
20Awo bwe bwakya, enkeera kabaka Keezeekiya n’akuŋŋaanya abakungu ab’omu kibuga, ne balaga mu yeekaalu ya Mukama. 2129:21 Lv 4:13-14Ne baleeta ente ennume musanvu, n’endiga ennume musanvu, n’endiga ento nga nnume musanvu, n’embuzi ennume musanvu okuba ebiweebwayo olw’ekibi ku lw’obwakabaka, ne ku lwa watukuvu, ne ku lwa Yuda. N’alyoka alagira bakabona, bazzukulu ba Alooni okubiweerayo ku kyoto kya Mukama. 2229:22 Lv 4:18Awo ne batta ente ennume, bakabona ne baddira omusaayi ne bagumansira ku kyoto, oluvannyuma ne batta endiga ennume ne bamansira omusaayi gwazo ku kyoto, n’oluvannyuma ne batta n’endiga ento ne bamansira omusaayi gwazo ku kyoto. 2329:23 Lv 4:15Embuzi ennume ezaali ez’ekiweebwayo ku lw’ekibi ne zireetebwa mu maaso ga kabaka n’ekibiina, ne bazisaako emikono gyabwe, 2429:24 Kuv 29:36; Lv 4:26n’oluvannyuma bakabona ne bazitta, ne bawaayo omusaayi gwazo ng’ekiweebwayo olw’ekibi ku kyoto, okutangiririra Isirayiri yenna, kubanga kabaka yali alagidde okuwaayo ekiweebwayo ekyokebwa n’ekiweebwayo olw’ekibi ku lwa Isirayiri yenna.
2529:25 a 1By 25:6; 2By 8:14 b 1Sa 22:5; 2Sa 24:11N’ateeka Abaleevi mu yeekaalu ya Mukama nga balina ebitaasa, entongooli, n’ennanga, ng’ekiragiro kya Dawudi, ne Gaadi omulabi wa kabaka ne Nasani nnabbi bwe kyali; kubanga ekiragiro ekyo kyava eri Mukama ng’ayita mu bannabbi be. 2629:26 a 1By 15:16 b 1By 15:24; 23:5; 2By 5:12Awo Abaleevi ne bayimirira nga bakutte ebivuga bya Dawudi, ne bakabona nga bakutte amakondeere.
2729:27 2By 23:18Keezeekiya n’alagira okuwaayo ssaddaaka ey’ekiweebwayo ekyokebwa ku kyoto. Era okuwaayo ekiweebwayo ekyokebwa bwe kwatandika, abayimbi nabo ne batandika okuyimbira Mukama, n’amakondeere n’ebivuga ebirala ebya Dawudi kabaka wa Isirayiri nabyo ne bivuga. 28Ekibiina kyonna ne basinza, abayimbi ne bayimba, n’abamakondeere ne bagafuuwa, era ebyo byonna ne byongerwa okukolebwa okutuusa okuwaayo ssaddaaka ey’ekiweebwayo ekyokebwa bwe kwaggwa.
2929:29 2By 20:18Awo okuwaayo ebiweebwayo bwe kwaggwa, kabaka n’abo bonna abaaliwo ne bavuunama ne basinza. 30Kabaka Keezeekiya n’abakungu ne balagira Abaleevi okuyimba nga batendereza Mukama mu bigambo bya Dawudi n’ebya Asafu omulabi. Ne bayimba nga batendereza n’essanyu, ne bavuunama ne basinza.
3129:31 a Beb 13:15-16 b Kuv 25:2; 35:22Awo Keezeekiya n’ayogera nti, “Kaakano mwetukuzizza eri Mukama, musembere, muleete ssaddaaka n’ebiweebwayo ebyokwebaza mu yeekaalu ya Mukama.” Ekibiina ne kireeta ssaddaaka n’ebiweebwayo eby’okwebaza, n’abo bonna abeesiimira ne baleeta ebiweebwayo ebyokebwa.
32Omuwendo gw’ebiweebwayo ebyokebwa ekibiina gwe kyaleeta gwali ente ennume nsanvu, n’endiga ennume kikumi, n’endiga ento nga nnume ebikumi bibiri, ng’ebyo byonna bye byali ebiweebwayo ebyokebwa eri Mukama. 33N’ensolo ezatukuzibwa okuba ssaddaaka zaali ente ennume lukaaga, n’endiga enkumi ssatu. 3429:34 a 2By 35:11 b 2By 30:3, 15Wabula bakabona ne baba batono ne batayinza kubaaga biweebwayo ebyokebwa byonna, baganda baabwe Abaleevi ne babayambako okutuusa bakabona abalala bwe beetukuza; omulimu ne guggwa, kubanga Abaleevi baali beegendereza nnyo mu kwetukuza okusinga bakabona. 3529:35 a Kuv 29:13; Lv 3:16 b Lv 7:11-21 c Kbl 15:5-10Ebiweebwayo ebyokebwa bingi, wamu n’amasavu ag’ebiweebwayo olw’emirembe, n’ebiweebwayo ebyokunywa ebyawerekerezebwa ku biweebwayo ebyokebwa.
Okuweereza mu yeekaalu ya Mukama ne kuzzibwawo. 36Awo Keezeekiya n’abantu bonna ne bajaguza olw’ekyo Katonda kye yali akoledde abantu be mu bbanga ettono ennyo.
