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Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for sixteen years.

Ahaz became king at the age of twenty, and he ruled in Jerusalem for sixteen years. He did not follow the good example of his ancestor King David; instead, he did what was not pleasing to the Lord

Hezekiah became king of Judah at the age of twenty-five, and he ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. His mother was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.

The work was begun on the first day of the first month, and by the eighth day they had finished it all, including the entrance room to the Temple. Then they worked for the next eight days, until the sixteenth of the month, preparing the Temple for worship.

The Levites made the following report to King Hezekiah: "We have completed the ritual purification of the whole Temple, including the altar for burnt offerings, the table for the sacred bread, and all their equipment.

Then the priests killed the goats and poured their blood on the altar as a sacrifice to take away the sin of all the people, for the king had commanded that burnt offerings and sin offerings be made for all Israel.

Hezekiah gave the order for the burnt offering to be presented; and as the offering began, the people sang praise to the Lord , and the musicians began to play the trumpets and all the other instruments.

They brought 70 bulls, 100 sheep, and 200 lambs as burnt offerings for the Lord ;

they also brought 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep as sacrifices for the people to eat.

In addition to offering the sacrifices that were burned whole, the priests were responsible for burning the fat that was offered from the sacrifices which the people ate, and for pouring out the wine that was presented with the burnt offerings. And so worship in the Temple was begun again.

They took all the altars that had been used in Jerusalem for offering sacrifices and burning incense and threw them into Kidron Valley.

And on the fourteenth day of the month they killed the lambs for the Passover sacrifice. The priests and Levites who were not ritually clean became so ashamed that they dedicated themselves to the Lord , and now they could sacrifice burnt offerings in the Temple.

Because many of the people were not ritually clean, they could not kill the Passover lambs, so the Levites did it for them and dedicated the lambs to the Lord .

In addition, many of those who had come from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not performed the ritual of purification, and so they were observing Passover improperly. King Hezekiah offered this prayer for them:

For seven days the people who had gathered in Jerusalem celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread with great joy, and day after day the Levites and the priests praised the Lord with all their strength.

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,

they all decided to celebrate for another seven days. So they celebrated with joy.

King Hezekiah contributed 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep for the people to kill and eat, and the officials gave them another 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep. A large number of priests went through the ritual of purification.

From his own flocks and herds he provided animals for the burnt offerings each morning and evening, and for those offered on the Sabbath, at the New Moon Festival, and at the other festivals which are required by the Law of the Lord .

The gifts started arriving in the third month and continued to pile up for the next four months.