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Selected Verse: 2 Chronicles 29:3 - King James

Verse	Translation	Text
2Ch 29:3	King James	He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the LORD, and repaired them.

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
HE RESTORES RELIGION. (Ch2 29:3-11) in the first year of his reign, in the first month--not the first month after his accession to the throne, but in Nisan, the first month of the sacred year, the season appointed for the celebration of the passover. he opened the doors of the house of the Lord--which had been closed up by his father (Ch2 28:24). and repaired them--or embellished them (compare Kg2 18:16).

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

HE RESTORES RELIGION. (Ch2 29:3-11)

in the first year of his reign, in the first month--not the first month after his accession to the throne, but in Nisan, the first month of the sacred year, the season appointed for the celebration of the passover.

he opened the doors of the house of the Lord--which had been closed up by his father (Ch2 28:24).

and repaired them--or embellished them (compare Kg2 18:16).

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
By "the first month" is meant (compare Ch2 30:2-3) the month of Nisan, the first of the Jewish sacred year, not necessarily the first month of Hezekiah's reign.

The Scofield Bible Commentary, by Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, [1917]
first month That is, April.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
The purification of the temple by the priests and Levites. - Ch2 29:3. In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he caused the doors of the house of Jahve to be opened and repaired (הזּק as in Ch2 24:12, where it alternates with הדּשׁ). Cf. herewith the remark in Kg2 18:16, that Hezekiah caused the doors of the היכל to be covered with leaf-gold. The date, in the first month, in the first year of his reign, is variously interpreted. As the Levites, according to Ch2 29:17, began the purification on the first day of the first month, in eight days had reached the porch, and on the sixteenth day of the first month had completed the work, while the king had, according to Ch2 29:4, before called upon the priests and Levites to sanctify themselves for the work, and those summoned then assembled their brethren for this purpose, and after they had consecrated themselves, began the cleansing (Ch2 29:15), it would seem as if the summons of the king and the calling together of the remaining Levites had occurred before the first day of the first month, when they began the purification of the house of God. On that account Caspari (Beitrge z. Einleit. in d. B. Jesaiah, S. 111) thinks that the first month (Ch2 29:3) is not the first month of the year (Nisan), but the first month of the reign of Hezekiah, who probably became king shortly before Nisan, towards the end of the year. But it is not at all likely that הראשׁון החדר is used in a different sense in Ch2 29:3 from that in which it is used in Ch2 29:17. We therefore hold, with Berth. and others, the first month, both in Ch2 29:3 and in Ch2 29:17, to be the first month of the ecclesiastical year Nisan, without, however, accepting the supposition of Gumpach and Bertheau that the years of Hezekiah's reign began with the first of Tishri, for for that way of reckoning there are no certain data in the historical books of the Old Testament. The statement, "in the first year of his reign, in the first month" (not in the first year, in the first month of his reign), is sufficiently explained if Hezekiah ascended the throne in one of the last months of the calendar year, which began with Nisan. In that case, on the first of Nisan of the new year, so few months, or perhaps only weeks, would have elapsed since his accession, that what he did in Nisan could not rightly have been dated otherwise than "in the first year of his reign." The other difficulty, that the purification of the temple began on the first day of the first month (Ch2 29:7), while the preparations for it which preceded were yet, according to Ch2 29:3, made also in the first month, is removed if we take Ch2 29:3 to be a comprehensive summary of what is described in the following verses, and regard the connection between Ch2 29:3 and Ch2 29:4. as only logical, not chronological, the ו consec. (ויּבא) expressing, not succession in time, but connection in thought. The opening of the doors of the house of God, and the repairing of them (Ch2 29:3), did not precede in time the summons to the priests (Ch2 29:4), but is placed at the commencement of the account of the reopening and restoration of the temple as a contrast to the closing and devastation of the sanctuary by Ahaz. Hezekiah commenced this work in the first year of his reign, in the first month of the calendar year, and accomplished it as is described in Ch2 29:4-17. If we take Ch2 29:3 as a statement of the contents of the succeeding section, - as are e.g., (Kg1 6:14; Kg1 7:1) the statements, "he built the house, and completed it," where in both passages the completion of the building is described only in the succeeding verses, - we need not confine the preparations spoken of in Ch2 29:4-15 to the first day of the first month, but may quite well suppose that these preparations preceded the first day of the month, and that only the accomplishment of that which had been resolved upon and commanded by the king fell in the first month, as is more accurately stated in Ch2 29:17. Ch2 29:4-6 Hezekiah gathered the priests and Levites together "into the open space of the east," i.e., in the eastern open space before the temple, not "in the inner court" (Berth.), - see on Ezr 10:9 -and called upon them (Ch2 29:5) to sanctify themselves, and then to sanctify the house of the Lord. To purify the temple they must first sanctify themselves (cf. Ch2 29:15), in order to proceed to the work of sanctifying the house of God in a state of Levitical purity. The work was to remove all that was unclean from the sanctuary. הנּדּה is Levitical uncleanness, for which in Ch2 29:16 we have הטּמאה; here the abominations of idolatry. The king gave the reason of his summons in a reference to the devastation which Ahaz and his contemporaries had wrought in the house of God (Ch2 29:6, Ch2 29:7), and to the wrath of God which had on that account come upon them (Ch2 29:8, Ch2 29:9). "Our fathers" (Ch2 29:6), that is, Ahaz and his contemporaries, for only these had been guilty of displeasing God in the ways mentioned in Ch2 29:6 and Ch2 29:7, "have turned away their face from the dwelling of Jahve, and turned their back (upon it)." These words are a symbolical expression for: they have ceased to worship Jahve in His temple, and exchanged it for idolatry. Ch2 29:7 Even (גּם) the doors of the porch have they shut, and caused the service in the sanctuary, the lighting of the lamps, and the sacrifices of incense, to cease; see on Ch2 28:24. The words, "and they brought not burnt-offerings in the sanctuary to the God of Israel," do not imply the complete cessation of the legal sacrificial worship, but only that no burnt-offerings were brought to the God of Israel. Sacrifices offered upon the altar of burnt-offering built after a heathen pattern by Ahaz were not, in the eyes of the author of the Chronicle, sacrifices which were offered to the God of Israel; and it is also possible that even this sacrificial worship may have more and more decayed. קדשׁ, Ch2 29:7, is the whole sanctuary, with the court of the priests. Ch2 29:8-9 Wherefore the wrath of the Lord came upon Judah and Jerusalem. Cf. for the expression, Ch2 24:18; Ch2 32:25; on Ch2 29:8, cf. Deu 28:25, Deu 28:37; Jer 24:9; Jer 25:9, etc. "As ye see with your eyes." The shameful defeats which Judah had sustained under Ahaz from the Syrians, Ephraimites, Philistines, and Edomites, and the oppression by the Syrian king (Ch2 28:5., Ch2 28:17-21), are here referred to, as we learn from Ch2 29:9. Ch2 29:10-11 To turn away this anger of God, Hezekiah wishes to make a covenant with the Lord, i.e., to renew the covenant with Jahve by restoring His worship (לבבי עם as in Ch2 6:7; Ch2 9:1; Ch1 28:2, etc.), and therefore calls upon the Levites not to neglect the performance of their duty. בּני he calls the Levites, addressing them in kindly language; cf. Pro 1:8, etc. תּשּׁלוּ in Niph. occurs only here, and denotes to avoid a thing from carelessness or laziness, - from שׁלה, to draw forth; Job 27:8. On Ch2 29:11, cf. Deu 10:8; Ch1 23:13. Ch2 29:12-14 This address was heard with gladness. The Levites present assembled their brethren, and set to work, after they had all sanctified themselves, to purify the temple. In Ch2 29:12-14 fourteen names are mentioned as those of the audience, viz.: two Levites of each of the great families of Kohath, Merari, and Gershon; two of the family of Elizaphan, i.e., Elzaphan the son of Uzziel, the son of Kohath, Exo 6:18, who in the time of Moses was prince of the family of Kohath, Num 3:30; and then two Levites of the descendants of Asaph (of the family of Gershon); two of Heman's descendants (of the family of Kohath); and two of Jeduthun's (of the family of Merari): see on Ch1 6:18-32. Of these names, Mahath, Eden, and Jehiel occur again in Ch2 31:13-15; several others, Joah ben Zimmah and Kish ben Abdi, have occurred already in the genealogy, Ch1 6:5. and Ch2 29:29, for in the various families the same name often repeats itself. Ch2 29:15 These fourteen heads of the various families and branches of Levi assembled their brethren (the other Levites who dwelt in Jerusalem); then they all sanctified themselves, and went forward, according to the command of the king, with the work of cleansing the temple. יהוה בּדברי belongs to הם כּמצות, according to the command of the king, which was founded upon the words of Jahve, i.e., upon the commands of Moses' law; cf. Ch2 30:12. Ch2 29:16 The priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord (into the holy place, probably also into the most holy place) to cleanse it, and removed all the uncleanness which was there into the court, whence the Levites carried it out into the valley of the brook Kidron (חוּצה, out of the precincts of the temple). The Levites were forbidden by the law to enter the holy place, and this command was strictly observed. Of what nature the uncleannesses were which the priests found in the holy place (היכל) cannot be accurately ascertained. Owing to the prevalence of idolatry under Ahaz, vessels, e.g., sacrificial bowls, which were used in the worship, may have come into the holy place; and besides, all vessels of the holy place would require to be cleaned, and their filth removed. The closing of the temple doors (Ch2 28:24) occurred only in the last year of Ahaz, while idolatry had been practised from the beginning of his reign. On the Kidron, see on Kg2 23:4. Ch2 29:17 The duration of the purification. On the first day of the first month they commenced with the purification of the courts; on the eighth day of the same month they came to the porch of Jahve, and with it began the purification of the temple building. This lasted eight days more, so that the work was finished on the sixteenth day of the first month. Ch2 29:18-19 At the end of this business they made their report to the king. "All the vessels which King Ahaz had thrown away, i.e., made worthy of rejection," are the copper altar of burnt-offering, the brazen sea, and the lavers upon the bases (Kg2 16:14, Kg2 16:17). הכנּוּ, we have prepared, is a shorter form of הכיונוּ; cf. Gesen. Gramm. 72. 5, and J. Olshausen, hebr. Grammat. S. 565. The altar of Jahve is the altar of burnt-offering; cf. Ch2 29:21.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

The purification of the temple by the priests and Levites. - Ch2 29:3. In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he caused the doors of the house of Jahve to be opened and repaired (הזּק as in Ch2 24:12, where it alternates with הדּשׁ). Cf. herewith the remark in Kg2 18:16, that Hezekiah caused the doors of the היכל to be covered with leaf-gold. The date, in the first month, in the first year of his reign, is variously interpreted. As the Levites, according to Ch2 29:17, began the purification on the first day of the first month, in eight days had reached the porch, and on the sixteenth day of the first month had completed the work, while the king had, according to Ch2 29:4, before called upon the priests and Levites to sanctify themselves for the work, and those summoned then assembled their brethren for this purpose, and after they had consecrated themselves, began the cleansing (Ch2 29:15), it would seem as if the summons of the king and the calling together of the remaining Levites had occurred before the first day of the first month, when they began the purification of the house of God. On that account Caspari (Beitrge z. Einleit. in d. B. Jesaiah, S. 111) thinks that the first month (Ch2 29:3) is not the first month of the year (Nisan), but the first month of the reign of Hezekiah, who probably became king shortly before Nisan, towards the end of the year. But it is not at all likely that הראשׁון החדר is used in a different sense in Ch2 29:3 from that in which it is used in Ch2 29:17. We therefore hold, with Berth. and others, the first month, both in Ch2 29:3 and in Ch2 29:17, to be the first month of the ecclesiastical year Nisan, without, however, accepting the supposition of Gumpach and Bertheau that the years of Hezekiah's reign began with the first of Tishri, for for that way of reckoning there are no certain data in the historical books of the Old Testament. The statement, "in the first year of his reign, in the first month" (not in the first year, in the first month of his reign), is sufficiently explained if Hezekiah ascended the throne in one of the last months of the calendar year, which began with Nisan. In that case, on the first of Nisan of the new year, so few months, or perhaps only weeks, would have elapsed since his accession, that what he did in Nisan could not rightly have been dated otherwise than "in the first year of his reign." The other difficulty, that the purification of the temple began on the first day of the first month (Ch2 29:7), while the preparations for it which preceded were yet, according to Ch2 29:3, made also in the first month, is removed if we take Ch2 29:3 to be a comprehensive summary of what is described in the following verses, and regard the connection between Ch2 29:3 and Ch2 29:4. as only logical, not chronological, the ו consec. (ויּבא) expressing, not succession in time, but connection in thought. The opening of the doors of the house of God, and the repairing of them (Ch2 29:3), did not precede in time the summons to the priests (Ch2 29:4), but is placed at the commencement of the account of the reopening and restoration of the temple as a contrast to the closing and devastation of the sanctuary by Ahaz. Hezekiah commenced this work in the first year of his reign, in the first month of the calendar year, and accomplished it as is described in Ch2 29:4-17. If we take Ch2 29:3 as a statement of the contents of the succeeding section, - as are e.g., (Kg1 6:14; Kg1 7:1) the statements, "he built the house, and completed it," where in both passages the completion of the building is described only in the succeeding verses, - we need not confine the preparations spoken of in Ch2 29:4-15 to the first day of the first month, but may quite well suppose that these preparations preceded the first day of the month, and that only the accomplishment of that which had been resolved upon and commanded by the king fell in the first month, as is more accurately stated in Ch2 29:17.

Ch2 29:4-6

Hezekiah gathered the priests and Levites together "into the open space of the east," i.e., in the eastern open space before the temple, not "in the inner court" (Berth.), - see on Ezr 10:9 -and called upon them (Ch2 29:5) to sanctify themselves, and then to sanctify the house of the Lord. To purify the temple they must first sanctify themselves (cf. Ch2 29:15), in order to proceed to the work of sanctifying the house of God in a state of Levitical purity. The work was to remove all that was unclean from the sanctuary. הנּדּה is Levitical uncleanness, for which in Ch2 29:16 we have הטּמאה; here the abominations of idolatry. The king gave the reason of his summons in a reference to the devastation which Ahaz and his contemporaries had wrought in the house of God (Ch2 29:6, Ch2 29:7), and to the wrath of God which had on that account come upon them (Ch2 29:8, Ch2 29:9). "Our fathers" (Ch2 29:6), that is, Ahaz and his contemporaries, for only these had been guilty of displeasing God in the ways mentioned in Ch2 29:6 and Ch2 29:7, "have turned away their face from the dwelling of Jahve, and turned their back (upon it)." These words are a symbolical expression for: they have ceased to worship Jahve in His temple, and exchanged it for idolatry.

Ch2 29:7

Even (גּם) the doors of the porch have they shut, and caused the service in the sanctuary, the lighting of the lamps, and the sacrifices of incense, to cease; see on Ch2 28:24. The words, "and they brought not burnt-offerings in the sanctuary to the God of Israel," do not imply the complete cessation of the legal sacrificial worship, but only that no burnt-offerings were brought to the God of Israel. Sacrifices offered upon the altar of burnt-offering built after a heathen pattern by Ahaz were not, in the eyes of the author of the Chronicle, sacrifices which were offered to the God of Israel; and it is also possible that even this sacrificial worship may have more and more decayed. קדשׁ, Ch2 29:7, is the whole sanctuary, with the court of the priests.

Ch2 29:8-9

Wherefore the wrath of the Lord came upon Judah and Jerusalem. Cf. for the expression, Ch2 24:18; Ch2 32:25; on Ch2 29:8, cf. Deu 28:25, Deu 28:37; Jer 24:9; Jer 25:9, etc. "As ye see with your eyes." The shameful defeats which Judah had sustained under Ahaz from the Syrians, Ephraimites, Philistines, and Edomites, and the oppression by the Syrian king (Ch2 28:5., Ch2 28:17-21), are here referred to, as we learn from Ch2 29:9.

Ch2 29:10-11

To turn away this anger of God, Hezekiah wishes to make a covenant with the Lord, i.e., to renew the covenant with Jahve by restoring His worship (לבבי עם as in Ch2 6:7; Ch2 9:1; Ch1 28:2, etc.), and therefore calls upon the Levites not to neglect the performance of their duty. בּני he calls the Levites, addressing them in kindly language; cf. Pro 1:8, etc. תּשּׁלוּ in Niph. occurs only here, and denotes to avoid a thing from carelessness or laziness, - from שׁלה, to draw forth; Job 27:8. On Ch2 29:11, cf. Deu 10:8; Ch1 23:13.

Ch2 29:12-14

This address was heard with gladness. The Levites present assembled their brethren, and set to work, after they had all sanctified themselves, to purify the temple. In Ch2 29:12-14 fourteen names are mentioned as those of the audience, viz.: two Levites of each of the great families of Kohath, Merari, and Gershon; two of the family of Elizaphan, i.e., Elzaphan the son of Uzziel, the son of Kohath, Exo 6:18, who in the time of Moses was prince of the family of Kohath, Num 3:30; and then two Levites of the descendants of Asaph (of the family of Gershon); two of Heman's descendants (of the family of Kohath); and two of Jeduthun's (of the family of Merari): see on Ch1 6:18-32. Of these names, Mahath, Eden, and Jehiel occur again in Ch2 31:13-15; several others, Joah ben Zimmah and Kish ben Abdi, have occurred already in the genealogy, Ch1 6:5. and Ch2 29:29, for in the various families the same name often repeats itself.

Ch2 29:15

These fourteen heads of the various families and branches of Levi assembled their brethren (the other Levites who dwelt in Jerusalem); then they all sanctified themselves, and went forward, according to the command of the king, with the work of cleansing the temple. יהוה בּדברי belongs to הם כּמצות, according to the command of the king, which was founded upon the words of Jahve, i.e., upon the commands of Moses' law; cf. Ch2 30:12.

Ch2 29:16

The priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord (into the holy place, probably also into the most holy place) to cleanse it, and removed all the uncleanness which was there into the court, whence the Levites carried it out into the valley of the brook Kidron (חוּצה, out of the precincts of the temple). The Levites were forbidden by the law to enter the holy place, and this command was strictly observed. Of what nature the uncleannesses were which the priests found in the holy place (היכל) cannot be accurately ascertained. Owing to the prevalence of idolatry under Ahaz, vessels, e.g., sacrificial bowls, which were used in the worship, may have come into the holy place; and besides, all vessels of the holy place would require to be cleaned, and their filth removed. The closing of the temple doors (Ch2 28:24) occurred only in the last year of Ahaz, while idolatry had been practised from the beginning of his reign. On the Kidron, see on Kg2 23:4.

Ch2 29:17

The duration of the purification. On the first day of the first month they commenced with the purification of the courts; on the eighth day of the same month they came to the porch of Jahve, and with it began the purification of the temple building. This lasted eight days more, so that the work was finished on the sixteenth day of the first month.

Ch2 29:18-19

At the end of this business they made their report to the king. "All the vessels which King Ahaz had thrown away, i.e., made worthy of rejection," are the copper altar of burnt-offering, the brazen sea, and the lavers upon the bases (Kg2 16:14, Kg2 16:17). הכנּוּ, we have prepared, is a shorter form of הכיונוּ; cf. Gesen. Gramm. 72. 5, and J. Olshausen, hebr. Grammat. S. 565. The altar of Jahve is the altar of burnt-offering; cf. Ch2 29:21.

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¹⁶ At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

²⁴ And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God, and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and shut up the doors of the house of the LORD, and he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem.

³ He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the LORD, and repaired them.
⁴ And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street,
⁵ And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.
⁶ For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned their backs.
⁷ Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel.
⁸ Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes.
⁹ For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.
¹⁰ Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us.
¹¹ My sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and burn incense.

² For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the passover in the second month.
³ For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem.

²¹ And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on the altar of the LORD.

¹⁷ And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stones.

¹⁴ And he brought also the brasen altar, which was before the LORD, from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the north side of the altar.

¹⁸ Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have cleansed all the house of the LORD, and the altar of burnt offering, with all the vessels thereof, and the shewbread table, with all the vessels thereof.
¹⁹ Moreover all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression, have we prepared and sanctified, and, behold, they are before the altar of the LORD.

¹⁷ Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the LORD: so they sanctified the house of the LORD in eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end.

⁴ And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.

¹⁶ And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the LORD into the court of the house of the LORD. And the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron.

¹² Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes, by the word of the LORD.

¹⁵ And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD.

²⁹ And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves, and worshipped.

⁵ And Abishua begat Bukki, and Bukki begat Uzzi,

¹³ And Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah, were overseers under the hand of Cononiah and Shimei his brother, at the commandment of Hezekiah the king, and Azariah the ruler of the house of God.
¹⁴ And Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the porter toward the east, was over the freewill offerings of God, to distribute the oblations of the LORD, and the most holy things.
¹⁵ And next him were Eden, and Miniamin, and Jeshua, and Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, in their set office, to give to their brethren by courses, as well to the great as to the small:

¹⁸ And the sons of Kohath were, Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel.
¹⁹ The sons of Merari; Mahli, and Mushi. And these are the families of the Levites according to their fathers.
²⁰ Of Gershom; Libni his son, Jahath his son, Zimmah his son,
²¹ Joah his son, Iddo his son, Zerah his son, Jeaterai his son.
²² The sons of Kohath; Amminadab his son, Korah his son, Assir his son,
²³ Elkanah his son, and Ebiasaph his son, and Assir his son,
²⁴ Tahath his son, Uriel his son, Uzziah his son, and Shaul his son.
²⁵ And the sons of Elkanah; Amasai, and Ahimoth.
²⁶ As for Elkanah: the sons of Elkanah; Zophai his son, and Nahath his son,
²⁷ Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, Elkanah his son.
²⁸ And the sons of Samuel; the firstborn Vashni, and Abiah.
²⁹ The sons of Merari; Mahli, Libni his son, Shimei his son, Uzza his son,
³⁰ Shimea his son, Haggiah his son, Asaiah his son.
³¹ And these are they whom David set over the service of song in the house of the LORD, after that the ark had rest.
³² And they ministered before the dwelling place of the tabernacle of the congregation with singing, until Solomon had built the house of the LORD in Jerusalem: and then they waited on their office according to their order.

³⁰ And the chief of the house of the father of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel.

¹⁸ And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years.

¹² Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites: and of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehalelel: and of the Gershonites; Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah:
¹³ And of the sons of Elizaphan; Shimri, and Jeiel: and of the sons of Asaph; Zechariah, and Mattaniah:
¹⁴ And of the sons of Heman; Jehiel, and Shimei: and of the sons of Jeduthun; Shemaiah, and Uzziel.

¹³ The sons of Amram; Aaron and Moses: and Aaron was separated, that he should sanctify the most holy things, he and his sons for ever, to burn incense before the LORD, to minister unto him, and to bless in his name for ever.

⁸ At that time the LORD separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day.

¹¹ My sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and burn incense.

⁸ For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?

⁸ My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

² Then David the king stood up upon his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people: As for me, I had in mine heart to build an house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building:

¹ And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great company, and camels that bare spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.

⁷ Now it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

¹⁰ Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us.
¹¹ My sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and burn incense.

⁹ For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.

¹⁷ For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah, and carried away captives.
¹⁸ The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the low country, and of the south of Judah, and had taken Bethshemesh, and Ajalon, and Gederoth, and Shocho with the villages thereof, and Timnah with the villages thereof, Gimzo also and the villages thereof: and they dwelt there.
¹⁹ For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the LORD.
²⁰ And Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not.
²¹ For Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the LORD, and out of the house of the king, and of the princes, and gave it unto the king of Assyria: but he helped him not.

⁵ Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.

⁹ Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.

⁹ And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them.

³⁷ And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.

²⁵ The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.

⁸ Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes.

²⁵ But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem.

¹⁸ And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass.

⁸ Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes.
⁹ For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.

⁷ Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel.

⁶ For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned their backs.

⁹ For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.

⁸ Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes.

⁷ Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel.

¹⁵ And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD.

⁵ And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.

⁹ Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month; and all the people sat in the street of the house of God, trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain.

⁴ And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street,
⁵ And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.
⁶ For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned their backs.
⁷ Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel.
⁸ Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes.
⁹ For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.
¹⁰ Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us.
¹¹ My sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and burn incense.
¹² Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites: and of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehalelel: and of the Gershonites; Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah:
¹³ And of the sons of Elizaphan; Shimri, and Jeiel: and of the sons of Asaph; Zechariah, and Mattaniah:
¹⁴ And of the sons of Heman; Jehiel, and Shimei: and of the sons of Jeduthun; Shemaiah, and Uzziel.
¹⁵ And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD.

¹ But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house.

¹⁴ So Solomon built the house, and finished it.