II Chronicles 35 The Passover Celebration in Jerusalem

 II Chronicles 35

The Passover Celebration in Jerusalem

1 Then Josiah celebrated the Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem, and they killed the Passover lamb on the tenth day of the first month.

2 He appointed the priests to their positions and encouraged them to serve in the house of the Lord.

3 He said to the Levites who taught all Israel and were consecrated to the Lord: "Put the sacred ark in the house that Solomon son of David, king of Israel, built. You will no longer have this burden on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and his people Israel.

4 Prepare yourselves according to the houses of your fathers, according to your divisions, according to the order of David king of Israel and according to the order of Solomon his son.

5 And stand in the sanctuary according to the divisions of the fathers' houses of your brothers, the sons of the people, and let each one have a portion from the fathers' houses of the Levites.

 6 And ye shall kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare for your brethren, according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.

 7 And Josiah gave to the children of the people lambs and goats out of the flock, all for the passover sacrifices, thirty thousand for all that were present, and three thousand oxen; these were of the king's substance. 

8 And his princes gave willingly unto the people, and to the priests, and to the Levites: Hilkiah, and Zechariah, and Jeiel the ruler of the house of God, gave to the priests for the passover sacrifices two thousand and six hundred head of cattle, and three hundred oxen. 

9 And Conaniah, and Shemaiah, and Nethanel, his brethren, and Hashabiah, and Jeiel, and Jozabad, the chiefs of the Levites, gave to the Levites for the Passover sacrifices five thousand head of sheep and five hundred oxen.

10 So the service was prepared; and the priests stood in their posts, and the Levites in their courses, according to the commandment of the king.

11 Then they slaughtered the Passover lambs; and the priests sprinkled the blood that had been received on their hands, and the Levites skinned the cattle.

12 And they set aside the burnt offerings to give to the sons of the people according to the divisions of the fathers' houses, to offer to the Lord, as it is written in the book of Moses; and so they did with the oxen. 

13 And they roasted the Passover with fire according to the ordinance, and they boiled the holy offerings in pots, and in caldrons, and in pans, and they distributed them quickly among all the people.

14 Then they prepared what was needed for themselves and for the priests; for the priests, the sons of Aaron, were busy until night with the sacrifice of the burnt offerings and the fat; and the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron.

15 And the singers, the sons of Asaph, were at their post, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer, and the porters at each gate; they had no need to turn aside from their service, for their brethren the Levites prepared what was needed for them. 

16 So the entire service of the Lord was established on that day, to celebrate the Passover and to sacrifice burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, according to the commandment of King Josiah. 

17 And the children of Israel who were present there celebrated the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days.

 18 For there had never been such a Passover celebrated in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet; nor had any king of Israel celebrated such a Passover as the one that Josiah celebrated with the priests and Levites, and all Judah and Israel who were present there, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 

19 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah this Passover was celebrated.