Study Desk

and spoke to them there. He said, "You Levites are to consecrate yourselves and purify the Temple of the Lord , the God of your ancestors. Remove from the Temple everything that defiles it.

Our ancestors were unfaithful to the Lord our God and did what was displeasing to him. They abandoned him and turned their backs on the place where he dwells.

They closed the doors of the Temple, let the lamps go out, and failed to burn incense or offer burnt offerings in the Temple of the God of Israel.

"I have now decided to make a covenant with the Lord , the God of Israel, so that he will no longer be angry with us.

We have also brought back all the equipment which King Ahaz took away during those years he was unfaithful to God, and we have rededicated it. It is all in front of the Lord 's altar."

Then King Hezekiah and all the people knelt down and worshiped God.

The king and the leaders of the nation told the Levites to sing to the Lord the songs of praise that were written by David and by Asaph the prophet. So everyone sang with great joy as they knelt and worshiped God.

King Hezekiah and the people were happy, because God had helped them to do all this so quickly.

The people had not been able to celebrate the Passover Festival at the proper time in the first month, because not enough priests were ritually clean and not many people had assembled in Jerusalem. So King Hezekiah, his officials, and the people of Jerusalem agreed to celebrate it in the second month, and the king sent word to all the people of Israel and Judah. He took special care to send letters to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, inviting them to come to the Temple in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover in honor of the Lord , the God of Israel.

Messengers went out at the command of the king and his officials through all Judah and Israel with the following invitation: "People of Israel, you have survived the Assyrian conquest of the land. Now return to the Lord , the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and he will return to you.

Do not be like your ancestors and your Israelite relatives who were unfaithful to the Lord their God. As you can see, he punished them severely.

Do not be stubborn as they were, but obey the Lord . Come to the Temple in Jerusalem, which the Lord your God has made holy forever, and worship him so that he will no longer be angry with you.

If you return to the Lord , then those who have taken your relatives away as prisoners will take pity on them and let them come back home. The Lord your God is kind and merciful, and if you return to him, he will accept you."

God was also at work in Judah and united the people in their determination to obey his will by following the commands of the king and his officials.

They took their places in the Temple according to the instructions in the Law of Moses, the man of God. The Levites gave the blood of the sacrifices to the priests, who sprinkled it on the altar.

"O Lord , the God of our ancestors, in your goodness forgive those who are worshiping you with all their heart, even though they are not ritually clean."

Hezekiah praised the Levites for their skill in conducting the worship of the Lord . After the seven days during which they offered sacrifices in praise of the Lord , the God of their ancestors,

The priests and the Levites asked the Lord 's blessing on the people. In his home in heaven God heard their prayers and accepted them.

All the people who lived in the cities of Judah brought tithes of their cattle and sheep, and they also brought large quantities of gifts which they dedicated to the Lord their God.

Throughout all Judah, King Hezekiah did what was right and what was pleasing to the Lord his God.