first month, first year

In the first month of the first year of his reign, [Hezekiah] opened the doors of the temple of YHWH and repaired them. He brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east side and said: "Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of YHWH, the God of your fathers. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary...Now I intend to make a covenant with YHWH, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us."

So they sang praises with gladness and bowed their heads and worshiped. Then Hezekiah said, "You have now dedicated yourselves to YHWH. Come and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the temple of YHWH." So the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all whose hearts were willing brought burnt offerings.

So the service of the temple of YHWH was reestablished. Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had brought about for his people, because it was done so quickly.

Hezekiah sent word to all Israel and Judah and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, inviting them to come to the temple of YHWH in Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover to YHWH, the God of Israel.

The couriers went from town to town in Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulun, but the people scorned and ridiculed them. Nevertheless, some men of Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves and went to Jerusalem. Also in Judah the hand of God was on the people to give them unity of mind to carry out what the king and his officials had ordered, following the word of YHWH.

There was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place.

The king contributed from his own possessions ... He ordered the people living in Jerusalem to give the portion due the priests and Levites so they could devote themselves to the Law of YHWH. As soon as the order went out, the Israelites generously gave the firstfruits of their grain, new wine, oil and honey and all that the fields produced. They brought a great amount, a tithe of everything. The men of Israel and Judah who lived in the towns of Judah also brought a tithe of their herds and flocks and a tithe of the holy things dedicated to YHWH their God, and they piled them in heaps. They began doing this in the third month and finished in the seventh month. When Hezekiah and his officials came and saw the heaps, they praised YHWH and blessed his people Israel.

Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites about the heaps; and Azariah the chief priest, from the family of Zadok, answered, "Since the people began to bring their contributions to the temple of YHWH, we have had enough to eat and plenty to spare, because YHWH has blessed his people, and this great amount is left over."

This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful before YHWH his God. In everything that he undertook in the service of God's temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered.


2 Chronicles 29:3-5,10,30b,31,35b,36 30:1,10-12,26,27 31:3-10,20,21 NIV

[Yahweh, when we can lead, let us act in our first month, first year of our reign.]