18. The Levites made the following report to King Hezekiah: “We have completed the ritual purification of the whole Temple, including the altar for burnt offerings, the table for the sacred bread, and all their equipment.
19. We have also brought back all the equipment which King Ahaz took away during those years he was unfaithful to God, and we have rededicated it. It is all in front of the Lord's altar.”
20. Without delay King Hezekiah assembled the leading men of the city, and together they went to the Temple.
21. As an offering to take away the sins of the royal family and of the people of Judah and to purify the Temple, they took seven bulls, seven sheep, seven lambs, and seven goats. The king told the priests, who were descendants of Aaron, to offer the animals as sacrifices on the altar.
22. The priests killed the bulls first, then the sheep, and then the lambs, and sprinkled the blood of each sacrifice on the altar.
23. Finally they took the goats to the king and to the other worshippers, who laid their hands on them.
24. Then the priests killed the goats and poured their blood on the altar as a sacrifice to take away the sin of all the people, for the king had commanded burnt offerings and sin offerings to be made for all Israel.
25. The king followed the instructions that the Lord had given to King David through Gad, the king's prophet, and through the prophet Nathan; he stationed Levites in the Temple, with harps and cymbals,
26. instruments like those that King David had used. The priests also stood there with trumpets.
27. Hezekiah gave the order for the burnt offering to be presented; and as the offering began, the people sang praise to the Lord, and the musicians began to play the trumpets and all the other instruments.
28. Everyone who was there joined in worship, and the singing and the rest of the music continued until all the sacrifices had been burnt.
29. Then King Hezekiah and all the people knelt down and worshipped God.
30. The king and the leaders of the nation told the Levites to sing to the Lord the songs of praise that were written by David and by Asaph the prophet. So everyone sang with great joy as they knelt and worshipped God.
31. Hezekiah said to the people, “Now that you are ritually clean, bring sacrifices as offerings of thanksgiving to the Lord.” They obeyed, and some of them also voluntarily brought animals to be sacrificed as burnt offerings.
32. They brought seventy bulls, 100 sheep, and 200 lambs as burnt offerings for the Lord;
33. they also brought 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep as sacrifices for the people to eat.
34. Since there were not enough priests to kill all these animals, the Levites helped them until the work was finished. By then more priests had made themselves ritually clean. (The Levites were more faithful in keeping ritually clean than the priests were.)