Hezekiah Reigns in Judah
1 jHezekiah began to reign when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah1 the daughter of kZechariah. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.
Hezekiah Cleanses the Temple
3 In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he lopened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them. 4 He brought in the priests and the Levites and assembled them in the square on the east 5 and said to them, “Hear me, Levites! Now mconsecrate yourselves, and consecrate the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and carry out the filth2 from the Holy Place. 6 For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done what was evil in the sight of the Lord our God. They have forsaken him and nhave turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord and turned their backs. 7 They also oshut the doors of the vestibule and put out the lamps and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the Holy Place to the God of Israel. 8 Therefore pthe wrath of the Lord came on Judah and Jerusalem, and he has made them qan object of horror, of astonishment, rand of hissing, as you see with your own eyes. 9 For behold, sour fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. 10 Now tit is in my heart uto make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, in order that his fierce anger may turn away from us. 11 My sons, do not now be negligent, vfor the Lord has chosen you to stand in his presence, to minister to him and to be his ministers and make offerings to him.”
12 Then the Levites arose, wMahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of xthe Kohathites; and of the sons of xMerari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; and of the xGershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah; 13 and of the sons of yElizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel; and of the sons of zAsaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah; 14 and of the sons of aHeman, Jehuel and Shimei; and of the sons of bJeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel. 15 They gathered their brothers and cconsecrated themselves and went in as the king had commanded, dby the words of the Lord, eto cleanse the house of the Lord. 16 The priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and they brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the Lord into the court of the house of the Lord. And the Levites took it and carried it out to fthe brook Kidron. 17 They began to consecrate gon the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule of the Lord. Then for eight days they consecrated the house of the Lord, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished. 18 Then they went in to Hezekiah the king and said, “We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the table for the showbread and all its utensils. 19 All the utensils hthat King Ahaz discarded in his reign when he was faithless, we have made ready and consecrated, and behold, they are before the altar of the Lord.”
Hezekiah Restores Temple Worship
20 Then Hezekiah the king rose early and gathered the officials of the city and went up to the house of the Lord. 21 And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats ifor a sin offering for the kingdom and for the sanctuary and for Judah. And he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord. 22 So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests received the blood jand threw it against the altar. And they slaughtered the rams, and their blood was thrown against the altar. And they slaughtered the lambs, and their blood was thrown against the altar. 23 Then the goats for the sin offering were brought to the king and the assembly, kand they laid their hands on them, 24 and the priests slaughtered them and made a sin offering with their blood on the altar, lto make atonement for all Israel. For the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.
Righteousness Through Faith in Christ
1 Finally, my brothers,1 krejoice in the Lord. lTo write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.
2 Look out for mthe dogs, look out for nthe evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. 3 For owe are the circumcision, pwho worship qby the Spirit of God2 and rglory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— 4 sthough I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 tcircumcised on the eighth day, uof the people of Israel, vof the tribe of Benjamin, ua Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, wa Pharisee; 6 xas to zeal, ya persecutor of the church; zas to righteousness under the law,3 blameless. 7 But awhatever gain I had, bI counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of cthe surpassing worth of dknowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I ehave suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having fa righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but gthat which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 hthat I may know him and ithe power of his resurrection, and jmay share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may kattain the resurrection from the dead.
Straining Toward the Goal
12 Not that I have already lobtained this or mam already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: nforgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for othe prize of the upward pcall of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are qmature think this way, and if in anything ryou think otherwise, sGod will reveal that also to you. 16 Only tlet us hold true to what we have attained.
17 Brothers, ujoin in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk vaccording to the example you have in us. 18 For wmany, of whom I have often told you and now tell you xeven with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 yTheir end is destruction, ztheir god is their belly, and athey glory in their shame, with bminds set on earthly things. 20 But cour citizenship is in heaven, and dfrom it we eawait a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform four lowly body gto be like his glorious body, hby the power that enables him even ito subject all things to himself.
