2 Chronicles 29:5–15

Hezekiah Sets the House of God as Holy

⁵Then he said to them, “Listen to me, O Levites. ^aSet yourselves apart now as holy, and set apart as holy the house of Yahweh, the God of your fathers, and bring out the impurity from the holy place.

⁶“For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done what is evil in the sight of Yahweh our God, and have forsaken Him and ^aturned their faces away from the dwelling place of Yahweh, and have ¹turned their backs.

⁷“They have also ^ashut the doors of the porch and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel.

⁸“Therefore ^athe wrath of Yahweh was against Judah and Jerusalem, and He has made them an object of terror, of horror, and of ^bhissing, as you see with your own eyes.

⁹“And behold, ^aour 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 ^ato cut a covenant with Yahweh, the God of Israel, that His burning anger may turn away from us.

¹¹“My sons, do not be at ease now, for ^aYahweh has chosen you to stand before Him, to minister to Him, and to be His ministers and offer offerings up in smoke.”

¹²Then the Levites arose: ^aMahath, the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, from the sons of ^bthe Kohathites; and from the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; and from the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah and Eden the son of Joah;

¹³and from the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and ¹Jeiel; and from the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah;

¹⁴and from the sons of Heman, ¹Jehiel and Shimei; and from the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.

¹⁵And they gathered their brothers, ^aset themselves apart as holy, and went in ^bto cleanse the house of Yahweh, according to the commandment of the king ^cby the words of Yahweh.