2 Chronicles 29:5–11

⁵He said to them, “Listen to me, Levites. Perform the ceremonies to make the temple of the Lord God of your ancestors holy. Remove anything that has been corrupted from the holy place. ⁶Our ancestors were unfaithful and did what the Lord our God considered evil. They deserted him. They turned away from the Lord’s tent^aand turned their backs on him. ⁷They also shut the doors of the ⸤temple’s⸥ entrance hall, extinguished the lamps, and didn’t burn incense or sacrifice burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel. ⁸So the Lord was angry with Judah and Jerusalem. He made them something that shocks and terrifies people and that people ridicule, as you can see with your own eyes. ⁹Our fathers were killed in battle, and our sons, daughters, and wives are prisoners because of this. ¹⁰Now I intend to make a pledge to the Lord God of Israel so that he may turn his burning anger away from us. ¹¹Don’t be negligent, my sons. The Lord has chosen you to stand in front of him, serve him, be his servants, and burn sacrifices.”