The Passover Held Again

35 Then Josiah ^(A)celebrated the Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem, and ^(B)they slaughtered the Passover animals on the fourteenth day of the first month. ² He appointed the priests to their offices and ^(C)encouraged them in the service of the house of the Lord. ³ He also said to ^(D)the Levites who taught all Israel and who were holy to the Lord, “Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built; ^(E)it will not be a burden on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and His people Israel. ^4 (F)Prepare yourselves by your fathers’ households in your divisions, according to the writing of David king of Israel and ^(G)according to the writing of his son Solomon. ⁵ Furthermore, ^(H)stand in the holy place according to the sections of the fathers’ households of your countrymen, the ^[a]lay people, and according to the Levites, by division of a father’s household. ⁶ Now ^(I)slaughter the Passover animals, ^(J)keep one another consecrated, and prepare for your countrymen to act in accordance with the word of the Lord by Moses.”

⁷ Josiah contributed to the lay people, to all who were present, flocks of lambs and young goats, all for the Passover offerings, numbering thirty thousand, plus three thousand bulls; these were from the king’s property. ⁸ His officers also contributed a ^[b]voluntary offering to the people, the priests, and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, ^(K)the officials of the house of God, gave the priests 2,600 from the flocks and three hundred bulls, for the Passover offerings. ^9 (L)Conaniah also, and his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, the officers of the Levites, contributed five thousand from the flocks and five hundred bulls to the Levites for the Passover offerings.

¹⁰ So the service was prepared, and ^(M)the priests stood at their positions and the Levites by their divisions according to the king’s command. ^11 [c](N)They slaughtered the Passover animals, and while ^(O)the priests ^[d]sprinkled the blood received from their hand, ^(P)the Levites skinned the animals. ¹² Then they removed the burnt offerings so that they might give them to the sections of the fathers’ households of the lay people to present to the Lord, as it is written in the Book of Moses. They did this with the bulls as well. ¹³ So ^(Q)they roasted the Passover animals on the fire according to the ordinance, and they boiled ^(R)the holy things in pots, in kettles, and in pans and carried them quickly to all the lay people. ¹⁴ Afterward they prepared for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron, were offering the burnt offerings and the fat until night; so the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron. ¹⁵ The singers, the sons of Asaph, were also at their positions ^(S)according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer; and ^(T)the gatekeepers at each gate did not have to leave their service, because their kinsmen the Levites prepared for them.

¹⁶ So all the service of the Lord was prepared on that day to celebrate the Passover, and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord according to the command of King Josiah. ¹⁷ And ^(U)the sons of Israel who were present celebrated the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days. ^18 (V)There had not been a Passover celebrated like it in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet; nor had any of the kings of Israel celebrated such a Passover as Josiah did with the priests, the Levites, all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁹ In the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign this Passover was celebrated.

Josiah Dies in Battle

^20 (W)After all this, when Josiah had set the ^[e]temple in order, Neco king of Egypt came up to wage war at ^(X)Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to engage him. ²¹ But ^[f]Neco sent messengers to him, saying, “^[g](Y)What business do you have with me, King of Judah? I am not coming against you today, but against the house with which I am at war, and God has told me to hurry. For your own sake, stop interfering with God who is with me, so that He does not destroy you.” ²² However, Josiah would not turn ^[h]away from him, but ^(Z)disguised himself in order to fight against him; nor did he listen to the words of Neco ^(AA)from the mouth of God, but he came to wage war on the plain of ^(AB)Megiddo. ²³ The archers shot King Josiah, and the king said to his servants, “Take me away, for I am badly wounded.” ²⁴ So his servants took him out of the chariot and carried him on the second chariot which he had, and brought him to Jerusalem ^[i]where he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. ^(AC)All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. ²⁵ Then ^(AD)Jeremiah chanted a song of mourning for Josiah. And all the male and female singers speak about Josiah in their songs of mourning to this day. And they made them an ordinance in Israel; behold, they are also written in the Lamentations. ²⁶ Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his deeds of devotion as written in the Law of the Lord, ²⁷ and his acts, the first to the last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

Joahaz, Jehoiakim, Then Jehoiachin Rule

36 ^(AE)Then the people of the land took ^[j](AF)Joahaz the son of Josiah and made him king in place of his father in Jerusalem. ² Joahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem. ³ Then the king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem, and imposed a fine on the land of ^[k]a hundred talents of silver and ^[l]one talent of gold. ⁴ The king of Egypt made ^[m]Joahaz’s brother Eliakim king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But ^(AG)Neco took his brother Joahaz and brought him to Egypt.

^5 (AH)Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord his God. ⁶ Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up ^(AI)against him and ^(AJ)bound him with bronze chains to take him to Babylon. ^7 (AK)Nebuchadnezzar also brought some of the articles of the house of the Lord to Babylon, and he put them in his temple in Babylon. ^8 (AL)Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and ^[n]the abominations which he committed, and what was found against him, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. And his son Jehoiachin became king in his place.

^9 (AM)Jehoiachin was ^[o]eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned for three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did evil in the sight of the Lord.

Captivity in Babylon Begun

^10 (AN)At the turn of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent men and had him brought to Babylon with the valuable articles of the house of the Lord; and he made his relative ^(AO)Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.

Zedekiah Rules in Judah

^11 (AP)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. ¹² He did evil in the sight of the Lord his God; ^(AQ)he did not humble himself ^(AR)before Jeremiah the prophet ^[p]who spoke for the Lord. ^13 (AS)He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear allegiance by God. But ^(AT)he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord God of Israel. ¹⁴ Furthermore, all the officials of the priests and the people were very unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations; and they defiled the house of the Lord which He had sanctified in Jerusalem.

¹⁵ Yet the Lord, the God of their fathers, ^(AU)sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place; ¹⁶ but they continually ^(AV)mocked the messengers of God, ^(AW)despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, ^(AX)until the wrath of the Lord rose against His people, until there was no remedy. ^17 (AY)So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or frail; He handed them all over to him. ^18 (AZ)He brought all the articles of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and his officers, to Babylon. ¹⁹ Then ^(BA)they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its fortified buildings with fire and destroyed all its valuable articles. ²⁰ He ^(BB)took into exile those who had escaped from the sword to Babylon; and ^(BC)they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, ^21 (BD)to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until ^(BE)the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. ^(BF)All the days of its desolation it kept the Sabbath ^[q](BG)until seventy years were complete.

Cyrus Permits Return

^22 (BH)Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia—in order to fulfill the word of the Lord ^(BI)by the mouth of Jeremiah—the Lord ^(BJ)stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia so that he sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, ²³ “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may the Lord his God be with him; ^[r]go up then!’”

Tradition and Commandment

15 ^(A)Then some Pharisees and scribes *came to Jesus ^(B)from Jerusalem and said, ² “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they ^(C)do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” ³ And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves also break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, ‘^(D)Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘^(E)The one who speaks evil of father or mother is to ^[a]be put to death.’ ⁵ But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been ^[b]given to God,” ⁶ he is not to ^[c]honor his father or mother.’ And by this you have invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷ You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you, by saying:

¹⁰ After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand! ^11 (H)It is not what enters the mouth that defiles the person, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles the person.”

¹² Then the disciples came and *said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were ^[d]offended when they heard this statement?” ¹³ But He answered and said, “^(I)Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. ¹⁴ Leave them alone; ^(J)they are blind guides ^[e]of blind people. And ^(K)if a person who is blind guides another who is blind, both will fall into a pit.”

The Heart of Man

¹⁵ Peter ^[f]said to Him, “^(L)Explain the parable to us.” ^16 [g]Jesus said, “Are you also still lacking in understanding? ¹⁷ Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is ^[h]eliminated? ¹⁸ But ^(M)the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and those things defile the person. ^19 (N)For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, acts of adultery, other immoral sexual acts, thefts, false testimonies, and ^[i]slanderous statements. ²⁰ These are the things that defile the person; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the person.”

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman

^21 (O)Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the region of ^(P)Tyre and ^(Q)Sidon. ²² And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, ^(R)Son of David; my daughter is severely ^(S)demon-possessed.” ²³ But He did not answer her with even a word. And His disciples came up and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting ^[j]at us!” ²⁴ But He answered and said, “I was sent only to ^(T)the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” ²⁵ But she came and ^(U)began ^[k]to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” ²⁶ Yet He answered and said, “It is not ^[l]good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁷ And she said, “Yes, Lord; but please help, for even the dogs feed on the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” ²⁸ Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, ^(V)your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed ^[m]at once.

Healing Crowds

^29 (W)Departing from there, Jesus went along ^(X)the Sea of Galilee, and after going up on the mountain, He was sitting there. ³⁰ And ^[n]large crowds came to Him bringing with them those who were limping, had impaired limbs, were blind, or were unable to speak, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and ^(Y)He healed them. ³¹ So the crowd was astonished as they saw those who were unable to speak talking, those with impaired limbs ^[o]restored, those who were limping walking around, and those who were blind seeing; and they ^(Z)glorified the God of Israel.

Four Thousand Men Fed

^32 (AA)Now Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “^(AB)I feel compassion for the ^[p]people, because they ^[q]have remained with Me now for three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.” ³³ The disciples *said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?” ³⁴ And Jesus *said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” ³⁵ And He directed the ^[r]people to ^[s]sit down on the ground; ³⁶ and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and after ^(AC)giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ³⁷ And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large ^(AD)baskets full. ³⁸ And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

³⁹ And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into ^(AE)the boat and came to the region of ^(AF)Magadan.