2 Chronicles
Chapter Thirty-Five
1 ¶ Now Josiah kept
a Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem, and they slaughtered the Passover lambs
on the fourteenth day of the first month.
2 And he set the priests in their duties and encouraged them for the service
of the house of the LORD.
3 Then he said to the Levites who taught all Israel, who were holy to the LORD:
"Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David, king of
Israel, built. It shall no longer be a burden on your shoulders. Now serve the
LORD your God and His people Israel.
4 "Prepare yourselves according to your fathers' houses, according to your
divisions, following the written instruction of David king of Israel and the
written instruction of Solomon his son.
5 "And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the fathers'
houses of your brethren the lay people, and according to the division of the
father's house of the Levites.
6 "So slaughter the Passover offerings, consecrate yourselves, and prepare
them for your brethren, that they may do according to the word of the LORD by
the hand of Moses."
7 Then Josiah gave the lay people lambs and young goats from the flock, all
for Passover offerings for all who were present, to the number of thirty thousand,
as well as three thousand cattle; these were from the king's possessions.
8 And his leaders gave willingly to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites.
Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God, gave to the priests
for the Passover offerings two thousand six hundred from the flock, and three
hundred cattle.
9 Also Conaniah, his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah and Jeiel
and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave to the Levites for Passover offerings
five thousand from the flock and five hundred cattle.
10 So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their places, and the
Levites in their divisions, according to the king's command.
11 And they slaughtered the Passover offerings; and the priests sprinkled the
blood with their hands, while the Levites skinned the animals.
12 Then they removed the burnt offerings that they might give them to the divisions
of the fathers' houses of the lay people, to offer to the LORD, as it is written
in the Book of Moses. And so they did with the cattle.
13 Also they roasted the Passover offerings with fire according to the ordinance;
but the other holy offerings they boiled in pots, in caldrons, and in pans,
and divided them quickly among all the lay people.
14 Then afterward they prepared portions for themselves and for the priests,
because the priests, the sons of Aaron, were busy in offering burnt offerings
and fat until night; therefore the Levites prepared portions for themselves
and for the priests, the sons of Aaron.
15 And the singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their places, according to the
command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer. Also the gatekeepers
were at each gate; they did not have to leave their position, because their
brethren the Levites prepared portions for them.
16 So all the service of the LORD was prepared the same day, to keep the Passover
and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the LORD, according to the command
of King Josiah.
17 And the children of Israel who were present kept the Passover at that time,
and the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days.
18 There had been no Passover kept in Israel like that since the days of Samuel
the prophet; and none of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as Josiah
kept, with the priests and the Levites, all Judah and Israel who were present,
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
19 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah this Passover was kept.
20 ¶ After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of
Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by the Euphrates; and Josiah went
out against him.
21 But he sent messengers to him, saying, "What have I to do with you,
king of Judah? I have not come against you this day, but against the house with
which I have war; for God commanded me to make haste. Refrain from meddling
with God, who is with me, lest He destroy you."
22 Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself
so that he might fight with him, and did not heed the words of Necho from the
mouth of God. So he came to fight in the Valley of Megiddo.
23 And the archers shot King Josiah; and the king said to his servants, "Take
me away, for I am severely wounded."
24 His servants therefore took him out of that chariot and put him in the second
chariot that he had, and they brought him to Jerusalem. So he died, and was
buried in one of the tombs of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned
for Josiah.
25 Jeremiah also lamented for Josiah. And to this day all the singing men and
the singing women speak of Josiah in their lamentations. They made it a custom
in Israel; and indeed they are written in the Laments.
26 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his goodness, according to what was
written in the Law of the LORD,
27 and his deeds from first to last, indeed they are written in the book of
the kings of Israel and Judah.
Go to Chapter Thirty-Six
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