⁵ and said to them: “Hear me, Levites! Now ^[a]sanctify yourselves, ^(A)sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry out the rubbish from the holy place. ⁶ For our fathers have trespassed and done evil in the eyes of the Lord our God; they have forsaken Him, have ^(B)turned their faces away from the ^[b]dwelling place of the Lord, and turned their backs on Him. ^7 (C)They have also shut up the doors of the vestibule, put out the lamps, and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel. ⁸ Therefore the ^(D)wrath of the Lord fell upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He has ^(E)given them up to trouble, to desolation, and to ^(F)jeering, as you see with your ^(G)eyes. ⁹ For indeed, because of this ^(H)our fathers have fallen by the sword; and our sons, our daughters, and our wives are in captivity.

¹⁰ “Now it is in my heart to make ^(I)a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that His fierce wrath may turn away from us. ¹¹ My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has ^(J)chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, and that you should minister to Him and burn incense.”

¹² Then these Levites arose: ^(K)Mahath the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the ^(L)Kohathites; of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; of the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah and Eden the son of Joah; ¹³ of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeiel; of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah; ¹⁴ of the sons of Heman, Jehiel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.

¹⁵ And they gathered their brethren, ^(M)sanctified^[c] themselves, and went according to the commandment of the king, at the words of the Lord, ^(N)to cleanse the house of the Lord.