2 Chronicles 29:5–15

Reforms Begun

⁵Then he said to them, “Listen to me, O Levites. ^aConsecrate yourselves now, and consecrate the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and carry the uncleanness out from the holy place.

⁶“For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done evil in the sight of the Lord our God, and have forsaken Him and ^aturned their faces away from the dwelling place of the Lord, 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 the Lord 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“For 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 make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that His burning anger may turn away from us.

¹¹“My sons, do not be negligent now, for ^athe Lord has chosen you to stand before Him, to minister to Him, and to be His ministers and burn incense.”

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.

¹⁵They assembled their brothers, ^aconsecrated themselves, and went in ^bto cleanse the house of the Lord, according to the commandment of the king ^cby the words of the Lord.