Hezekiah Purifies the Temple
1Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem 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 worshiped. 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 worshiped.
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 reestablished. 36Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had brought about for his people, because it was done so quickly.
猶大王希西迦
1希西迦二十五歲登基，在耶路撒冷執政二十九年。他母親叫亞比雅，是撒迦利雅的女兒。 2希西迦事事效法他祖先大衛，做耶和華視為正的事。
潔淨聖殿
3希西迦元年一月，他開啟耶和華殿的門，重新修理。 4他把眾祭司和利未人召集在東邊的廣場， 5對他們說：「利未人啊，請聽我說！現在你們要潔淨自己，也要潔淨你們祖先的上帝耶和華的殿，除去聖所中的污穢之物。 6我們的祖先行事不忠，做我們的上帝耶和華視為惡的事，背棄祂，轉臉背向祂的居所。 7他們封鎖殿廊的門，吹滅燈火，不在聖所裡向以色列的上帝燒香、獻燔祭。 8因此，耶和華的烈怒臨到猶大和耶路撒冷，使他們的遭遇令人恐懼、震驚、嗤笑，正如你們親眼所見的。 9所以我們的祖先死在刀下，我們的妻兒也被擄去。 10現在我決心要與以色列的上帝耶和華立約，好使祂的烈怒轉離我們。 11我的孩子們啊，不要懈怠！因為耶和華揀選你們站在祂面前事奉祂，向祂燒香。」
12於是，利未人開始供職。其中哥轄宗族有亞瑪賽的兒子瑪哈和亞撒利雅的兒子約珥，米拉利宗族有亞伯底的兒子基士和耶哈利勒的兒子亞撒利雅，革順宗族有薪瑪的兒子約亞和約亞的兒子伊甸， 13以利撒反宗族有申利和耶利，亞薩宗族有撒迦利雅和瑪探雅， 14希幔宗族有耶歇和示每，耶杜頓宗族有示瑪雅和烏薛。 15他們召集其他利未人一起潔淨自己，並遵照王的吩咐和耶和華的命令，進去潔淨耶和華的殿。 16祭司們進去潔淨耶和華的殿，把所有污穢之物搬到耶和華殿的院子裡，然後再由利未人運到外面的汲淪溪丟掉。 17他們一月一日開始潔淨的工作，到一月八日已經潔淨到耶和華殿的走廊，又用八天潔淨耶和華的殿，一月十六日完成潔淨的工作。
重新奉獻聖殿
18然後，他們晉見希西迦王，說：「我們已經潔淨了整個耶和華的殿、燔祭壇以及壇上的一切器皿、供餅的桌子及桌子上的一切器皿。 19我們已備齊亞哈斯王對上帝不忠時所廢棄的器皿，並潔淨了它們，現在都放在耶和華的壇前。」
20希西迦王清早起來，召集城中官員一同上到耶和華的殿。 21他們牽來七頭公牛、七隻公綿羊、七隻羊羔和七隻公山羊，作國家、聖所和猶大人的贖罪祭。王吩咐做祭司的亞倫子孫把這些牲畜獻在耶和華的壇上。 22他們宰了公牛，祭司取過血來灑在壇上，然後宰了公綿羊並把血灑在壇上，又宰了羊羔並把血灑在壇上。 23有人把作贖罪祭的公山羊牽到王和會眾面前，他們就將手按在公山羊身上。 24祭司宰了公山羊，把血灑在壇上作贖罪祭，為所有以色列人贖罪，因為王吩咐要為所有以色列人獻上燔祭和贖罪祭。
25王又分派利未人在耶和華的殿裡敲鈸、鼓瑟、彈琴，正如大衛王、王的先見迦得和先知拿單的指示，就是耶和華藉先知所吩咐的。 26利未人拿著大衛的樂器侍立在那裡，祭司拿著號角侍立在那裡。 27希西迦下令在壇上獻燔祭。開始獻燔祭時，伴隨著號角聲和以色列王大衛的樂器聲，響起了頌讚耶和華的歌聲。 28全體會眾伴著歌聲和號角聲俯伏敬拜，直到獻完燔祭。 29獻完燔祭後，王和所有在場的人都俯伏敬拜。 30希西迦王與眾官員又吩咐利未人用大衛和亞薩先見的詩詞頌讚耶和華。他們歡然歌唱，並低頭敬拜。
31希西迦說：「你們既然已經把自己獻給了耶和華，現在就把祭物和感恩祭帶到耶和華的殿裡來吧。」於是，會眾就把祭物和感恩祭送來，有些人甘心樂意地送來燔祭。 32會眾獻給耶和華作燔祭的有七十頭公牛、一百隻公綿羊、二百隻羊羔， 33獻為聖物的有六百頭公牛、三千隻綿羊。 34但祭司人數太少，剝不完燔祭牲的皮，於是他們的親族利未人就來幫助他們，直到獻完燔祭，並且別的祭司也潔淨了自己，因為利未人比祭司更誠心潔淨自己。 35他們獻上大量燔祭和平安祭祭牲的脂肪，以及與燔祭同獻的奠祭。
從此，耶和華殿裡的事奉恢復了。 36希西迦和民眾因上帝為他們做的而歡喜快樂，因為這事很快成就了。
