1 Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. 2And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done.

3 In the first month of the first year of his reign, Hezekiah opened and repaired the doors of the house of the Lord. 4Then he brought in the priests and Levites and gathered them in the square on the east side.

5“Listen to me, O Levites,” he said. “Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers. Remove from the Holy Place every impurity.

6 For our fathers were unfaithful and did evil in the sight of the Lord our God. They abandoned Him, turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the Lord, and turned their backs on Him. 7They also shut the doors of the portico and extinguished the lamps. They did not burn incense or present burnt offerings in the Holy Place of the God of Israel.

8 Therefore, the wrath of the Lord has fallen upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He has made them an object of terror, horror, and scorn, as you can see with your own eyes. 9For behold, this is why our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and daughters and wives are in captivity.

10 Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that His fierce anger will turn away from us. 11Now, my sons, do not be negligent, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, to minister before Him, and to burn incense.”

12 Then the Levites set to work:

15 When they had assembled their brothers and consecrated themselves, they went in to cleanse the house of the Lord, according to the command of the king by the words of the Lord.

16 So the priests went inside the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and they brought out to the courtyard all the unclean things that they found in the temple of the Lord. Then the Levites took these things and carried them out to the Kidron Valley. 17They began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they reached the portico of the Lord. For eight more days they consecrated the house of the Lord itself, finishing on the sixteenth day of the first month.

18 Then they went in to King Hezekiah and reported, “We have cleansed the entire house of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the table of the showbread with all its utensils. 19Moreover, we have prepared and consecrated all the articles that King Ahaz in his unfaithfulness cast aside during his reign. They are now in front of the altar of the Lord.”

20 Early the next morning King Hezekiah gathered the city officials and went up to the house of the Lord. 21They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And the king commanded the priests, the descendants of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord.

22 So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and splattered it on the altar. They slaughtered the rams and splattered the blood on the altar. And they slaughtered the lambs and splattered the blood on the altar.

23 Then they brought the goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly, who laid their hands on them. 24And the priests slaughtered the goats and put their blood on the altar for a sin offering, to make atonement for all Israel, because the king had ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.

25 Hezekiah stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, harps, and lyres according to the command of David, of Gad the king’s seer, and of Nathan the prophet. For the command had come from the Lord through His prophets. 26The Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.

27 And Hezekiah ordered that the burnt offering be sacrificed on the altar. When the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord and the trumpets began as well, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel. 28The whole assembly was worshiping, the singers were singing, and the trumpeters were playing. All this continued until the burnt offering was completed.

29 When the offerings were completed, the king and all those present with him bowed down and worshiped. 30Then King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to sing praises to the Lord in the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness and bowed down and worshiped.

31 Then Hezekiah said, “Now that you have consecrated yourselves to the Lord, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the Lord.”

So the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all whose hearts were willing brought burnt offerings. 32The number of burnt offerings the assembly brought was seventy bulls, a hundred rams, and two hundred lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord. 33And the consecrated offerings were six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep.

34 However, since there were not enough priests to skin all the burnt offerings, their Levite brothers helped them until the work was finished and until the priests had consecrated themselves. For the Levites had been more diligent in consecrating themselves than the priests had been.

35 Furthermore, the burnt offerings were abundant, along with the fat of the peace offerings and the drink offerings for the burnt offerings. So the service of the house of the Lord was established. 36Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had prepared for the people, because everything had been accomplished so quickly.

1 Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on his opinions. 2For one person has faith to eat all things, while another, who is weak, eats only vegetables. 3The one who eats everything must not belittle the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted him. 4Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

5 One person regards a certain day above the others, while someone else considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6He who observes a special day does so to the Lord; he who eats does so to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.

7 For none of us lives to himself alone, and none of us dies to himself alone. 8If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9For this reason Christ died and returned to life, that He might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

10 Why, then, do you judge your brother? Or why do you belittle your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11It is written:

12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

13 Therefore let us stop judging one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.

14 I am convinced and fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. 15If your brother is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother, for whom Christ died.

16 Do not allow what you consider good, then, to be spoken of as evil. 17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18For whoever serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.

19 So then, let us pursue what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to let his eating be a stumbling block. 21It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything to cause your brother to stumble.

22 Keep your belief about such matters between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23But the one who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that is not from faith is sin.