11 "My sons, don't fail to obey the Lord. He has chosen you to stand in front of him and work for him. He wants you to serve him and burn incense to him."
12 Here are the Levites who went to work. Mahath and Joel were from the family line of Kohath. Mahath was the son of Amasai. Joel was the son of Azariah. Kish and Azariah were from the family line of Merari. Kish was the son of Abdi. Azariah was the son of Jehallelel. Joah and Eden were from the family line of Gershon. Joah was the son of Zimmah. Eden was the son of Joah.
13 Shimri and Jeiel were from the family line of Elizaphan. Zechariah and Mattaniah were from the family line of Asaph.
14 Jehiel and Shimei were from the family line of Heman. Shemaiah and Uzziel were from the family line of Jeduthun.
15 All of those Levites gathered the other Levites together. They set themselves apart to the Lord. Then they went in to purify the Lord's temple. That's what the king had ordered them to do. They did what the Lord told them to.
16 The priests went into the Lord's temple to make it pure. They brought out to the temple courtyard everything that was "unclean." They had found "unclean" things in the Lord's temple. The Levites took them and carried them out to the Kidron Valley.
17 On the first day of the first month they began to set everything in the temple apart to the Lord. By the eighth day of the month they reached the Lord's porch. For eight more days they set the Lord's temple itself apart to him. They finished on the 16th day of the first month.