Hezekiah Reigns in Judah

1 ^yHezekiah 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 Zechariah. 2 And he ^zdid 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 ^aopened 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 ^bconsecrate 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 ^cdone what was evil in the sight of the Lord our God. They have forsaken him and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord and ^dturned their backs. 7 They also shut 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 the wrath of the Lord came on Judah and Jerusalem, and he has made them an object of ^ehorror, of astonishment, and of hissing, as you see with your own eyes. 9 ^fFor behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. 10 Now it is in my heart to ^gmake 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, for ^hthe 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, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites; and of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; and of the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah; 13 and of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel; and of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah; 14 and of the sons of Heman, Jehuel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel. 15 They gathered their brothers and consecrated themselves and went in as the king had commanded, by the words of the Lord, to 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 the brook ⁱKidron. 17 They began to consecrate on 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 that King Ahaz ^jdiscarded 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 for a ^ksin 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 and 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, and they ^llaid their hands on them, 24 and the priests slaughtered them and made a sin offering with their blood on the altar, to make atonement for all Israel. For the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.

25 And he stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, harps, and lyres, ^maccording to the commandment of David and of ⁿGad the king’s seer and of ^oNathan the prophet, for the commandment was from the Lord through his prophets. 26 The Levites stood with the ^pinstruments of David, and the priests ^qwith the trumpets. 27 Then Hezekiah commanded that the burnt offering be offered on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song to the Lord began also, and the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel. 28 The whole assembly worshiped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded. All this continued until the burnt offering was finished. 29 When the offering was finished, the king and all who were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped. 30 And Hezekiah the king and the officials commanded the Levites to sing praises to the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed down and worshiped.

31 Then Hezekiah said, “You have now consecrated yourselves to³ the Lord. Come near; bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the Lord.” And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and ^rall who were of a willing heart brought burnt offerings. 32 The number of the burnt offerings that the assembly brought was 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord. 33 And the consecrated offerings were 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep. 34 But the priests were ^stoo few and could not ^tflay all the burnt offerings, so until other priests had consecrated themselves, their brothers the Levites helped them, until the work was finished—for the Levites were more upright in heart than the priests in consecrating themselves. 35 Besides the great number of burnt offerings, there was the fat of the peace offerings, and there were the drink offerings for the burnt offerings. Thus the service of the house of the Lord was restored. 36 And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because God had provided for the people, for the thing came about suddenly.

His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

The Throne in Heaven

1 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, ^fwhich I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, ^g“Come up here, and I will show you ^hwhat must take place after this.” 2 At once I was ⁱin the Spirit, ^jand behold, a ^kthrone stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. 3 And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a ^lrainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were ^mtwenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. 5 From the throne came ⁿflashes of lightning, and rumblings¹ and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are ^othe seven spirits of God, 6 and before the throne there was as it were a ^psea of glass, like ^qcrystal.

And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are ^rfour living creatures, ^sfull of eyes in front and behind: 7 ^tthe first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. 8 And the four living creatures, ^ueach of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and ^vday and night they never cease to say,

9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders ^yfall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

The Scroll and the Lamb

1 Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne ^aa scroll written within and on the back, ^bsealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, 4 and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, ^cthe Lion ^dof the tribe of Judah, the ^eRoot of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”

6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a ^fLamb standing, as though it had been ^gslain, with seven horns and with ^hseven eyes, which are ⁱthe seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. 8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the ^jtwenty-four elders ^kfell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, ^lwhich are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a ^mnew song, saying,

11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of ^rmany angels, ^snumbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice,

13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,

14 And the four living creatures said, ^u“Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

The Seven Seals

1 Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 And I looked, and behold, a ^vwhite horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out ^wconquering, and to conquer.

3 When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, ^xbright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a ^yblack horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, ^z“A quart² of wheat for a denarius,³ and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and ^ado not harm the oil and wine!”

7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 And I looked, and behold, a ^bpale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, ^cand Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill ^dwith sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.

9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the ^ealtar ^fthe souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, ^gholy and true, how long before you will judge and ^havenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then they were each given a ⁱwhite robe and told to ^jrest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers⁴ should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great ^kearthquake, and ^lthe sun became ^mblack as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and ⁿthe stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14 ^oThe sky vanished like a scroll that is being ^prolled up, and ^qevery mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave⁵ and free, ^rhid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, ^s“Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the ^tgreat day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”