2 Chronicles, Chapter 35:

Verses from 2 Chronicles, Chapter 35 of the book of 2 Chronicles of the Bible.

2 Chronicles - Old Testament — 2 Chronicles – Old Testament

The celebration of Easter

1. Josiah celebrated the Lord's Passover in Jerusalem, and the Passover lamb was sacrificed on the fourteenth day of the first month.
2. He appointed the priests to their duties and encouraged them to dedicate themselves to service in the temple of the Lord.
3. Then he said to the Levites, who taught all Israel and who had been consecrated to the Lord, “Place the holy ark in the temple built by Solomon son of David, king of Israel. Now, you no longer need to carry it back and forth on your shoulders. Serve the Lord your God and the people of Israel.
4. Prepare yourselves by families, in your divisions, according to the instructions given by David, king of Israel, and by his son Solomon.
5. “Stay in the Holy Place with a group of Levites for each subdivision of the people's families.
6. Kill the Passover lambs, consecrate yourselves, and prepare the lambs for your fellow Israelites, doing as the Lord commanded through Moses.”
7. Josiah gave the people there a total of thirty thousand sheep and goats for the Passover offerings, in addition to three thousand oxen; all this taken from their own possessions.
8. The officials also made freewill offerings to the people, the priests, and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah and Jeiel, administrators of the temple of God, gave the priests two thousand and six hundred sheep and goats, and three hundred oxen.
9. Conaniah, together with his brothers Shemaiah and Nathanael, and the leaders of the Levites – Hashabiah, Jeiel and Jozabad – offered the Levites five thousand sheep and goats, and five hundred oxen.
10. The service was organized and the priests took their places with the Levites in their turns, as the king had ordered.
11. The Passover lambs were killed, and the priests sprinkled the blood given to them, while the Levites skinned the animals.
12. They separated the burnt offerings to be offered to the family groups of the people, so that they could present them to the Lord, as it is written in the Book of Moses; and they did the same with the oxen.
13. The Passover lambs were roasted over the fire, as prescribed, and the sacred offerings were cooked in pots, cauldrons, and frying pans, and quickly served to all the people.
14. After this, the Levites prepared their portion and that of the priests, for the priests, descendants of Aaron, were busy offering burnt offerings and the fat of the offerings until evening. Therefore, the Levites prepared their portion and that of the priests, descendants of Aaron.
15. The musicians, descendants of Asaph, were in their places appointed by David, Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun, the king's seer. The gatekeepers did not need to be absent from their posts, as their fellow Levites prepared the offerings for them.
16. So on that day the entire service of the Lord was performed for the celebration of the Passover and the presentation of burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, as commanded by King Josiah.
17. The Israelites who were present celebrated the Passover that day and for seven days they celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
18. Never before, since the days of the prophet Samuel, had the Passover been celebrated in this way in Israel, and none of the kings of Israel had celebrated such a grand Passover as the one that Josiah celebrated with the priests, Levites and all Judah and Israel present there, in addition to the people of Jerusalem.
19. This Passover was celebrated in the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign.

Josiah's death

20. After all of Josiah's actions, when he restored the temple, Necho, king of Egypt, marched to fight at Carchemish, along the Euphrates, and Josiah decided to face him in combat.
21. But Necho sent messengers to Josiah, saying: “Do not meddle, O king of Judah, it is not you I am going to fight today, but another nation with whom I am at war. God ordered me to be quick; stop opposing God, for he is with me, or he will destroy you.”
22. But Josiah did not turn away from him and disguised himself to face him in battle. He did not listen to the words of Necho, which came from the mouth of God, and went to fight against him in the plain of Megiddo.
23. During the battle, the archers struck King Josiah, and he said to his officers, “Take me out of here, for I am seriously injured.”
24. They took him out of his car and put him in another vehicle and took him to Jerusalem, where he died. He was buried in the tombs of his ancestors, and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned his death.
25. Jeremiah composed a song of lament in memory of Josiah, and to this day both men and women sing these songs of lament in Israel. They have become a tradition and are written in the Lamentations.
26. The other acts of Josiah and his works of piety, according to what is written in the Law of the Lord,
27. all his acts, from the beginning to the end, are recorded in the annals of the kings of Israel and Judah.