II Chronicles 30 Hezekiah Invites All the People to Come to Jerusalem to Celebrate the Passover

 II Chronicles 30

Hezekiah Invites All the People to Come to Jerusalem to Celebrate the Passover

1 After this Hezekiah sent throughout all Israel and Judah, and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, asking them to come to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, to celebrate the Passover to the Lord God of Israel.

2 For the king had taken counsel with his princes and with the whole assembly in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover in the second month.

3 For they could not celebrate it at that time, because not enough of the priests had consecrated themselves, and the people had not assembled in Jerusalem.

4 And this was right in the eyes of the king and in the eyes of the whole assembly.

5 And they sent a proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, that they should come to celebrate the Passover to the Lord God of Israel in Jerusalem, for many had not celebrated it as it was written.

6 6 So the couriers went with letters from the hand of the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, according to the king's command, saying, "Children of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that he may return to those of you who have escaped and are left in the hand of the kings of Assyria. 

7 Do not be like your fathers and like your brothers, who transgressed against the Lord, the God of their fathers, so that he made them desolate, as you see. 

8 Do not stiffen your necks now, like your fathers; give your hand to the Lord and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve the Lord your God, so that his fierce anger may turn away from us. 

9 For if you return to the Lord, your brothers and your children will find mercy before those who carried them away captive, and they will return to this land. For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn his face away from you if you return to him.

10 And the couriers went from city to city through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, even to Zebulun; but they laughed at them and mocked them.

11 But some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.

12 And the hand of God was in Judah, giving them one heart to do the commandment of the king and the princes, according to the word of the Lord.

13 And much people gathered together in Jerusalem to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great assembly.

14 And they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the incense vessels they took away, and threw them into the brook Kidron. 

15 Then they sacrificed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and Levites were ashamed and consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the house of the Lord.

16 They stood in their places according to their custom, according to the law of Moses the man of God. The priests took the blood from the hands of the Levites and sprinkled it.

17 For there were many in the congregation who had not consecrated themselves. Therefore the Levites had the responsibility of killing the Passover lambs for everyone who was not clean, to consecrate them to the Lord.

18 For a large number of the people, many from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, and yet they ate the Passover otherwise than as it is written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, "May the Lord, who is good, be reconciled to him." 

19 Who has prepared his heart to seek the Lord God, the God of his fathers, though he is not clean according to the purification of the sanctuary.

20 And the Lord listened to Hezekiah and healed the people.

21 And the children of Israel, who were present in Jerusalem, kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great joy; and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day, with instruments loudly sounding to the Lord.

22 And Hezekiah spoke kindly to all the Levites who had understanding in the good knowledge of the Lord: and they ate the offerings of the solemnity seven days, offering peace offerings, and praising the Lord God of their fathers.

23 And when all the congregation had taken counsel to keep it another seven days, they kept it seven days more with joy. 

24 For Hezekiah king of Judah gave to the assembly a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep, and the princes gave to the assembly a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep, and the priests consecrated themselves in great numbers.

25 And the whole assembly of Judah rejoiced, with the priests and the Levites, the whole assembly of all who came from Israel, and the strangers who came from the land of Israel and those who lived in Judah. ​​

26 And there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, there had not been such joy in Jerusalem.

27 Then the priests, the Levites, stood up and blessed the people; and their voice was heard, for their prayer had reached their holy habitation, even to heaven.