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JULY 17
The priests and the Levites were ashamed, and
sanctified themselves, and brought the burnt
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offerings to the house of the LORD. They
stood in their place according to their custom, 30:26 nothing like this. A telling statement
according to the Law of Moses the man of about the spiritual degeneracy of the divided
God; the priests sprinkled the blood received kingdom since the time of Solomon over 215
from the hand of the Levites. For there were years earlier.
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many in the assembly who had not sanctified
themselves; therefore the Levites had charge
of the slaughter of the Passover lambs for from the land of Israel, and those who dwelt in
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everyone who was not clean, to sanctify them to Judah. So there was great joy in Jerusalem,
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the LORD. For a multitude of the people, many for since the time of Solomon the son of Da-
from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and vid, king of Israel, there had been nothing like
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Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet this in Jerusalem. Then the priests, the
they ate the Passover contrary to what was Levites, arose and blessed the people, and
written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, say- their voice was heard; and their prayer came
ing, “May the good LORD provide atonement up to His holy dwelling place, to heaven.
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for everyone who prepares his heart to seek Now when all this was finished, all Israel
God, the LORD God of his fathers, though he is 31 who were present went out to the cities
not cleansed according to the purification of of Judah and broke the sacred pillars in pieces,
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the sanctuary.” And the LORD listened to cut down the wooden images, and threw down
Hezekiah and healed the people. the high places and the altars—from all Judah,
21 So the children of Israel who were present Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh—until
at Jerusalem kept the Feast of Unleavened they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all
Bread seven days with great gladness; and the the children of Israel returned to their own
Levites and the priests praised the LORD day cities, every man to his possession.
by day, singing to the LORD, accompanied by 2 And Hezekiah appointed the divisions of
loud instruments. 22 And Hezekiah gave the priests and the Levites according to their
encouragement to all the Levites who taught divisions, each man according to his service,
the good knowledge of the LORD; and they ate the priests and Levites for burnt offerings and
throughout the feast seven days, offering peace offerings, to serve, to give thanks, and to
peace offerings and making confession to the praise in the gates of the camp of the LORD.
LORD God of their fathers. 3 The king also appointed a portion of his pos-
23 Then the whole assembly agreed to keep sessions for the burnt offerings: for the morn-
the feast another seven days, and they kept it ing and evening burnt offerings, the burnt
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another seven days with gladness. For offerings for the Sabbaths and the New
Hezekiah king of Judah gave to the assembly Moons and the set feasts, as it is written in the
a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep, Law of the LORD.
and the leaders gave to the assembly a thou- 4 Moreover he commanded the people who
sand bulls and ten thousand sheep; and a dwelt in Jerusalem to contribute support for
great number of priests sanctified themselves. the priests and the Levites, that they might
25 The whole assembly of Judah rejoiced, also devote themselves to the Law of the LORD.
the priests and Levites, all the assembly that 5 As soon as the commandment was circulat-
came from Israel, the sojourners who came ed, the children of Israel brought in abun-
dance the firstfruits of grain and wine, oil and
honey, and of all the produce of the field; and
they brought in abundantly the tithe of every-
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thing. And the children of Israel and Judah,
30:1–27 Hezekiah reached back to restore the
Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Passover who dwelt in the cities of Judah, brought the
(Ex. 12:1–20; Lev. 23:1–8), which apparently tithe of oxen and sheep; also the tithe of holy
had not been properly and regularly observed things which were consecrated to the LORD
in some time,perhaps since the division of the their God they laid in heaps.
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kingdom 215 years earlier (v. 5). The Passover In the third month they began laying them
would later be revived again by Josiah (2 Chr. in heaps, and they finished in the seventh
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35:1–9) and Zerubbabel (Ezra 6:19–22).It cele- month. And when Hezekiah and the leaders
brated God’s forgiveness and redemption of came and saw the heaps, they blessed the LORD
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His believing people. and His people Israel. Then Hezekiah ques-
tioned the priests and the Levites concerning
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