Josiah Keeps the Passover
1 NowJosiah kept a Passover to theLordin Jerusalem, and they slaughtered the Passoverlambson thefourteenthdayof the first month.
2 And he set the priests in theirduties andencouraged them for the service of the house of theLord.
3 Then he said to the Leviteswho taught all Israel, who were holy to theLord:“Put the holy arkin the house which Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built.Itshallno longerbea burden onyourshoulders. Now serve theLordyour God and His people Israel.
4 Prepareyourselvesaccording to your fathers’ houses, according to your divisions, following thewritten instruction of David king of Israel and thewritten instruction of Solomon his son.
5 Andstand in the holyplaceaccording to the divisions of the fathers’ houses of your brethren thelaypeople, andaccordingtothe division of the father’s house of the Levites.
6 So slaughter the Passoverofferings,consecrate yourselves, and preparethemfor your brethren, thattheymay do according to the word of theLordby the hand of Moses.”
7 Then Josiahgave thelaypeople lambs and young goats from the flock, all for Passoverofferingsfor all who were present, to the number of thirty thousand, as well as three thousand cattle; thesewerefrom the king’spossessions.
8 And hisleaders 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 Passoverofferingstwo thousand six hundredfromtheflock,and three hundred cattle.
9 AlsoConaniah, his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave to the Levites for Passoverofferingsfive thousandfromtheflockand five hundred cattle.
10 So the service was prepared, and the priestsstood in their places, and theLevites in their divisions, according to the king’s command.
11 And they slaughtered the Passoverofferings;and the priestssprinkledthebloodwith their hands, while the Levitesskinnedtheanimals.
12 Then they removed the burnt offerings thattheymight give them to the divisions of the fathers’ houses of thelaypeople, to offer to theLord, asitiswrittenin the Book of Moses. And sotheydidwith the cattle.
13 Also theyroasted the Passoverofferingswith fire according to the ordinance; but theotherholyofferingstheyboiled in pots, in caldrons, and in pans, and dividedthemquickly among all thelaypeople.
14 Then afterward they prepared portions for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron,werebusyin 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,werein their places, according to thecommand of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer. Also the gatekeeperswere 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 theLordwas prepared the same day, to keep the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of theLord, 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 ofUnleavened 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.
Josiah Dies in Battle
20 After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight againstCarchemish 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?Ihavenotcomeagainst you this day, but against the house with which I have war; for God commanded me to make haste. RefrainfrommeddlingwithGod, whoiswith me, lest He destroy you.”
22 Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, butdisguised 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 inoneofthe tombs of his fathers. Andall Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.
25 Jeremiah alsolamented forJosiah. And to this dayall the singing men and the singing women speak of Josiah in their lamentations.They made it a custom in Israel; and indeed theyarewritten in the Laments.
26 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his goodness, according towhatwaswritten in the Law of theLord,
27 and his deeds from first to last, indeed theyarewritten in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.