2 Chronicles 29:1-11 ▼

1 HEZEKIAH began to reign when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Ani, the daughter of Zechariah.

2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, just as David his father had done.

3 In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he 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 court of the sanctuary,

5 And said to them, Hear me, O Levites, sanctify now yourselves and sanctify the house of the LORD God of our fathers, and remove your evil works from your mind,

6 So that we may not do according to that which our fathers have done, for they did evil in the sight 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 porches and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings upon the altar of the God of Israel.

8 Therefore the wrath of the LORD came upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he has delivered them to curse, to desolation, and to sword, as you see with your own 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 And even now, because we have gone astray from following the LORD our God and have forsaken the covenant which he gave to our fathers, therefore he also has forsaken us.

11 My sons, be not now negligent; for the LORD has chosen you to stand before him, to serve him and to minister unto him and burn incense.