⁵and said: “Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate^b yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary. ⁶Our parents^c were unfaithful;^d they did evil in the eyes of the Lord our God and forsook him. They turned their faces away from the Lord’s dwelling place and turned their backs on him. ⁷They also shut the doors of the portico and put out the lamps. They did not burn incense^e or present any burnt offerings at the sanctuary to the God of Israel. ⁸Therefore, the anger of the Lord has fallen on Judah and Jerusalem; he has made them an object of dread and horror^f and scorn,^g as you can see with your own eyes. ⁹This is why our fathers have fallen by the sword and why our sons and daughters and our wives are in captivity.^h ¹⁰Now I intend to make a covenantⁱ with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger^j will turn away from us. ¹¹My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before him and serve him,^k to minister^l before him and to burn incense.”

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Cross references

bSee Lev 11:44; Ne 13:9
c Ezr 9:7; Ps 106:6–47; Jer 2:27; 18:17; Eze 23:35; Da 9:5–6
dSee 1 Ch 5:25
eSee Ex 30:7
fSee Dt 28:25
gSee Lev 26:32; Jer 18:16; 19:8; 25:9, 18
h 2 Ch 28:5–8, 17
iSee 2 Ki 11:17; See 2 Ch 23:16
jSee Nu 25:4; 2 Ch 30:8; Ezr 10:14
kSee Nu 3:6; 8:6, 14
lSee 1 Ch 15:2