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.
Parallel translations
- WEB The priests went into the inner part of Yahweh’s house to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in Yahweh’s temple into the court of Yahweh’s house. The Levites took it from there to carry it out to the brook Kidron.
- KJV And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD, to cleanse it, and 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, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron.
- NKJV Then the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and brought out all the debris that they found in the temple of the Lord to the court of the house of the Lord. And the Levites took it out and carried it to the Brook Kidron.
- NASB So the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and they brought every unclean thing which they found in the temple of the Lord out to the courtyard of the house of the Lord. Then the Levites received it to carry out to the Kidron Valley.
- NLT The priests went into the sanctuary of the Temple of the Lord to cleanse it, and they took out to the Temple courtyard all the defiled things they found. From there the Levites carted it all out to the Kidron Valley.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The priests cleanse the inner temple and carry out all the uncleanness to the court, from where the Levites remove it to the Kidron. The defilement of Ahaz's reign is thoroughly purged.
Overview
The priests enter the holy interior to remove all impurity, passing it to the Levites who dispose of it at the Kidron brook outside the city. The orderly division of priestly and Levitical duties honors the boundaries God appointed for His house. This complete removal of defilement foreshadows the thorough cleansing of sin accomplished by Christ, who bears our uncleanness away forever.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- 2 Chr 15:16King Asa also removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made a detestable Asherah pole. Asa chopped down the pole, crushed it, and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
- 2 Kgs 23:4–6Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests second in rank, and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the LORD all the articles made for Baal, Asherah, and all the host of heaven. And he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel.
- 1 Kgs 6:19–20Solomon also prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the LORD there.
- 2 Sam 15:23Everyone in the countryside was weeping loudly as all the people passed by. And as the king crossed the Kidron Valley, all the people also passed toward the way of the wilderness.
- 2 Chr 5:7Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, beneath the wings of the cherubim.
- 2 Chr 3:8Then he made the Most Holy Place; its length corresponded to the width of the temple—twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. And he overlaid the inside with six hundred talents of fine gold.
- Ezek 36:29I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will summon the grain and make it plentiful, and I will not bring famine upon you.
- Heb 9:23–24So it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
- Heb 9:2–8A tabernacle was prepared. In its first room were the lampstand, the table, and the consecrated bread. This was called the Holy Place.
- Matt 21:12–13Then Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves.
- Matt 23:27Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity.
- Exod 26:33–34And hang the veil from the clasps and place the ark of the Testimony behind the veil. So the veil will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.
- John 18:1After Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples across the Kidron Valley, where they entered a garden.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Temple, priesthood, and the repeated need for a faithful king who seeks the LORD all point past every imperfect reign to the King and Temple who finally and fully dwell with God's people.
How 2 Chronicles 29:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.