1. Hezekiah was 25 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 29 years. His mother's name was Abijah. She was the daughter of Zechariah.
2. Hezekiah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as King David had done.
3. In the first month of Hezekiah's first year as king, he opened the doors of the Lord's temple. He repaired them.
4. He brought the priests and Levites in. He gathered them together in the open area on the east side of the temple.
5. He said, "Levites, listen to me! Set yourselves apart to the Lord. Set apart the temple of the Lord. He's the God of your people. Remove anything that is 'unclean' from the temple.
6. Our people weren't faithful. They did what was evil in the sight of the Lord our God. They deserted him. They turned their faces away from the place where he lives. They turned their backs on him.
7. They also shut the doors of the temple porch. They put the lamps out. They didn't burn incense at the temple. They didn't sacrifice burnt offerings to the God of Israel there.
8. "So the Lord has become angry with Judah and Jerusalem. He has made them look so bad that everyone is shocked when they see them. They laugh at them. You can see it with your own eyes.
9. That's why our people have been killed with swords. That's why our sons and daughters and wives have become prisoners.
10. "So I'm planning to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel. Then he'll turn his burning anger away from us.
11. "My sons, don't fail to obey the Lord. He has chosen you to stand in front of him and work for him. He wants you to serve him and burn incense to him."
12. Here are the Levites who went to work. Mahath and Joel were from the family line of Kohath. Mahath was the son of Amasai. Joel was the son of Azariah. Kish and Azariah were from the family line of Merari. Kish was the son of Abdi. Azariah was the son of Jehallelel. Joah and Eden were from the family line of Gershon. Joah was the son of Zimmah. Eden was the son of Joah.
13. Shimri and Jeiel were from the family line of Elizaphan. Zechariah and Mattaniah were from the family line of Asaph.
14. Jehiel and Shimei were from the family line of Heman. Shemaiah and Uzziel were from the family line of Jeduthun.
15. All of those Levites gathered the other Levites together. They set themselves apart to the Lord. Then they went in to purify the Lord's temple. That's what the king had ordered them to do. They did what the Lord told them to.
16. The priests went into the Lord's temple to make it pure. They brought out to the temple courtyard everything that was "unclean." They had found "unclean" things in the Lord's temple. The Levites took them and carried them out to the Kidron Valley.
17. On the first day of the first month they began to set everything in the temple apart to the Lord. By the eighth day of the month they reached the Lord's porch. For eight more days they set the Lord's temple itself apart to him. They finished on the 16th day of the first month.
18. Then they went to King Hezekiah. They reported, "We've purified the whole temple of the Lord. That includes the altar for burnt offerings and all of its tools. It also includes the table for the holy bread and all of its articles.