3He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of Jehovah, and repaired them.
4And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the broad place on the east,
5and said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites; now sanctify yourselves, and sanctify the house of Jehovah, the God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.
6For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of Jehovah, and turned their backs.
7Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt-offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel.
8Wherefore the wrath of Jehovah was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to be tossed to and fro, to be an astonishment, and a hissing, as ye see with your eyes.
9For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.