3In the first year of his rule, in the first month, opening the doors of the Lord's house, he made them strong.
4And he sent for the priests and the Levites, and got them together in the wide place on the east side,
5And said to them, Give ear to me, O Levites: now make yourselves holy, and make holy the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and take away everything unclean from the holy place.
6For our fathers have done evil, sinning in the eyes of the Lord our God, and have given him up, turning away their faces from the house of the Lord, and turning their backs on him.
7The doors of his house have been shut and the lights put out; no perfumes have been burned or offerings made to the God of Israel in his holy place.
8And so the wrath of the Lord has come on Judah and Jerusalem, and he has given them up to be a cause of fear and wonder and shame, as your eyes have seen.
9For see, our fathers have been put to death with the sword, and our sons and daughters and wives have been taken away prisoners because of this.