3. In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the Lord’s house and repaired them.
4. He summoned the priests and Levites, gathering them in the open space to the east,
5. and said to them: “Listen to me, you Levites! Sanctify yourselves now and sanctify the house of the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and clean out the filth from the sanctuary.
6. Our ancestors acted treacherously and did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, our God. They abandoned him, turned away their faces from the Lord’s dwelling, and turned their backs on him.
7. They also closed the doors of the vestibule, extinguished the lamps, and failed to burn incense and sacrifice burnt offerings in the sanctuary to the God of Israel.
8. Therefore the anger of the Lord has come upon Judah and Jerusalem; he has made them an object of terror, horror, and hissing, as you see with your own eyes.
9. For our ancestors fell by the sword, and our sons, our daughters, and our wives have been taken captive because of this.
10. Now, I intend to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, that his burning anger may turn away from us.
11. My sons, do not be negligent any longer, for it is you whom the Lord has chosen to stand before him, to minister to him, to be his ministers and to offer incense.”
12. Then the Levites arose: Mahath, son of Amasai, and Joel, son of Azariah, of the Kohathites; of the descendants of Merari: Kish, son of Abdi, and Azariah, son of Jehallel; of the Gershonites: Joah, son of Zimmah, and Eden, son of Joah;
13. of the sons of Elizaphan: Shimri and Jeuel; of the sons of Asaph: Zechariah and Mattaniah;
14. of the sons of Heman: Jehuel and Shimei; of the sons of Jeduthun: Shemiah and Uzziel.
15. They gathered their kinfolk together and sanctified themselves; then they came as the king had ordered, in keeping with the words of the Lord, to cleanse the Lord’s house.