35
1 Josiah
kept a Passover
to the LORD
in Jerusalem. They
killed the
Passover on the
fourteenth day of
the first month.
2 He
set the priests
in their offices
and encouraged
them in the
service of the
LORD’s house.
3 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 will no longer
be a burden
on your shoulders.
Now serve the
LORD your God
and his people
Israel.
4 Prepare yourselves after
your fathers’ houses
by your divisions,
according to the
writing of David
king of Israel,
and according to
the writing of
Solomon his son.
5 Stand
in the holy
place according to
the divisions of
the fathers’ houses
of your brothers
the children of
the people, and let
there be for
each a portion
of a fathers’
house of the
Levites.
6 Kill
the Passover lamb,
sanctify yourselves,
and prepare for
your brothers, to
do according to
the LORD’s word
by Moses.”
7 Josiah
gave to the
children of the
people, of the
flock, lambs and
young goats, all
of them for
the Passover
offerings, to all
who were present,
to the number
of thirty thousand,
and three thousand
bulls. These were
of the king’s
substance.
8 His
princes gave a free
will offering to
the people, to
the priests, and
to the Levites.
Hilkiah, Zechariah,
and Jehiel, the
rulers of God’s
house, gave to
the priests for
the Passover
offerings two thousand
six hundred small livestock,
and three hundred
head of cattle.
9 Conaniah
also, and Shemaiah
and Nethanel,
his brothers, and
Hashabiah, Jeiel,
and Jozabad, the
chiefs of the
Levites, gave to
the Levites for
the Passover
offerings five thousand small
livestock and five
hundred head of
cattle.
10 So
the service was
prepared, and the
priests stood in
their place, and
the Levites by
their divisions,
according to the
king’s commandment.
11 They
killed the
Passover lambs, and
the priests
sprinkled the blood
which they received
from their hands,
and the Levites
skinned them.
12 They
removed the burnt
offerings, that
they might give
them according to
the divisions of
the fathers’ houses
of the children
of the people,
to offer to
the LORD, as
it is written
in the book
of Moses. They
did the same
with the cattle.
13 They
roasted the
Passover with fire
according to the
ordinance. They
boiled the holy
offerings in pots,
in cauldrons, and
in pans, and
carried them
quickly to all
the children of
the people.
14 Afterward
they prepared for
themselves and for
the priests,
because the
priests the sons
of Aaron were busy
with offering the
burnt offerings
and the fat
until night.
Therefore the
Levites prepared
for themselves and
for the priests
the sons of Aaron.
15 The
singers, the sons
of Asaph, were in
their place,
according to the
commandment of
David, Asaph, Heman,
and Jeduthun the
king’s seer; and
the gatekeepers
were at every
gate. They didn’t need
to depart from
their service,
because their
brothers the
Levites prepared
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 LORD’s altar,
according to the
commandment of
King Josiah.
17 The
children of Israel
who were present
kept the Passover
at that time,
and the feast
of unleavened
bread seven days.
18 There
was no Passover
like that kept
in Israel from
the days of
Samuel the prophet,
nor did any
of the kings
of Israel keep
such a Passover
as Josiah kept—with
the priests, the
Levites, and all
Judah and Israel
who were present,
and the
inhabitants of
Jerusalem.
19 This
Passover was kept
in the eighteenth
year of the
reign of Josiah.
20 After
all this, when
Josiah had
prepared the
temple, Neco king
of Egypt went
up to fight
against Carchemish
by the Euphrates,
and Josiah went
out against him.
21 But
he sent
ambassadors to him,
saying, “What have
I to do
with you, you
king of Judah?
I come not
against you today,
but against the
house with which
I have war.
God has commanded
me to make haste.
Beware that it is
God who is
with me, that
he not destroy
you.”
22 Nevertheless Josiah
would not turn
his face from
him, but disguised
himself, that
he might fight
with him,
and didn’t listen
to the words
of Neco from
the mouth of
God, and came
to fight in
the valley of
Megiddo.
23 The
archers shot at
King Josiah; and
the king said to
his servants, “Take
me away, because
I am seriously
wounded!”
24 So
his servants took
him out of
the chariot, and
put him in
the second chariot
that he had,
and brought him
to Jerusalem; and
he died, and
was buried in
the tombs of
his fathers. All
Judah and
Jerusalem mourned for
Josiah.
25 Jeremiah
lamented for
Josiah, and all
the singing men
and singing
women spoke of
Josiah in their
lamentations to
this day; and
they made them
an ordinance in
Israel. Behold,
they are written
in the
lamentations.
26 Now the
rest of the
acts of Josiah
and his good
deeds, according to
that which is
written in the
LORD’s law,
27 and
his acts, first
and last, behold,
they are written
in the book
of the kings
of Israel and
Judah.