3. He, in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of Jehovah, and repaired them.
4. And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them into the open place eastward;
5. and he said to them, Hear me, ye Levites: hallow yourselves now, and hallow the house of Jehovah the God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the sanctuary.
6. For our fathers have transgressed, and done evil in the sight of Jehovah our God and have forsaken him and turned away their faces from the habitation of Jehovah, and have turned their backs.
7. Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered up burnt-offerings in the sanctuary to the God of Israel.
8. Therefore the wrath of Jehovah has been upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he has delivered them to vexation, to desolation, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes.
9. And 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 make a covenant with Jehovah the God of Israel, that his fierce anger may turn away from us.
11. My sons, be not now negligent; for Jehovah has chosen you to stand before him, to do service unto him, and to be his ministers and incense-burners.