2 Chronicles 35
New American Standard Bible
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.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 35:5 Lit sons of the people, and so throughout the ch
- 2 Chronicles 35:8 Or freewill offering
- 2 Chronicles 35:11 I.e., the Levites
- 2 Chronicles 35:11 As in LXX; MT sprinkled from their hand
- 2 Chronicles 35:20 Lit house
- 2 Chronicles 35:21 Lit he
- 2 Chronicles 35:21 Lit What to me and to you, an ancient idiom
- 2 Chronicles 35:22 Lit his face
- 2 Chronicles 35:24 Lit and
2 Chronicles 35
New Living Translation
Josiah Celebrates Passover
35 Then Josiah announced that the Passover of the Lord would be celebrated in Jerusalem, and so the Passover lamb was slaughtered on the fourteenth day of the first month.[a] 2 Josiah also assigned the priests to their duties and encouraged them in their work at the Temple of the Lord. 3 He issued this order to the Levites, who were to teach all Israel and who had been set apart to serve the Lord: “Put the holy Ark in the Temple that was built by Solomon son of David, the king of Israel. You no longer need to carry it back and forth on your shoulders. Now spend your time serving the Lord your God and his people Israel. 4 Report for duty according to the family divisions of your ancestors, following the directions of King David of Israel and the directions of his son Solomon.
5 “Then stand in the sanctuary at the place appointed for your family division and help the families assigned to you as they bring their offerings to the Temple. 6 Slaughter the Passover lambs, purify yourselves, and prepare to help those who come. Follow all the directions that the Lord gave through Moses.”
7 Then Josiah provided 30,000 lambs and young goats for the people’s Passover offerings, along with 3,000 cattle, all from the king’s own flocks and herds. 8 The king’s officials also made willing contributions to the people, priests, and Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the administrators of God’s Temple, gave the priests 2,600 lambs and young goats and 300 cattle as Passover offerings. 9 The Levite leaders—Conaniah and his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, as well as Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad—gave 5,000 lambs and young goats and 500 cattle to the Levites for their Passover offerings.
10 When everything was ready for the Passover celebration, the priests and the Levites took their places, organized by their divisions, as the king had commanded. 11 The Levites then slaughtered the Passover lambs and presented the blood to the priests, who sprinkled the blood on the altar while the Levites prepared the animals. 12 They divided the burnt offerings among the people by their family groups, so they could offer them to the Lord as prescribed in the Book of Moses. They did the same with the cattle. 13 Then they roasted the Passover lambs as prescribed; and they boiled the holy offerings in pots, kettles, and pans, and brought them out quickly so the people could eat them.
14 Afterward the Levites prepared Passover offerings for themselves and for the priests—the descendants of Aaron—because the priests had been busy from morning till night offering the burnt offerings and the fat portions. The Levites took responsibility for all these preparations.
15 The musicians, descendants of Asaph, were in their assigned places, following the commands that had been given by David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, the king’s seer. The gatekeepers guarded the gates and did not need to leave their posts of duty, for their Passover offerings were prepared for them by their fellow Levites.
16 The entire ceremony for the Lord’s Passover was completed that day. All the burnt offerings were sacrificed on the altar of the Lord, as King Josiah had commanded. 17 All the Israelites present in Jerusalem celebrated Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days. 18 Never since the time of the prophet Samuel had there been such a Passover. None of the kings of Israel had ever kept a Passover as Josiah did, involving all the priests and Levites, all the people of Jerusalem, and people from all over Judah and Israel. 19 This Passover was celebrated in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign.
Josiah Dies in Battle
20 After Josiah had finished restoring the Temple, King Neco of Egypt led his army up from Egypt to do battle at Carchemish on the Euphrates River, and Josiah and his army marched out to fight him.[b] 21 But King Neco sent messengers to Josiah with this message:
“What do you want with me, king of Judah? I have no quarrel with you today! I am on my way to fight another nation, and God has told me to hurry! Do not interfere with God, who is with me, or he will destroy you.”
22 But Josiah refused to listen to Neco, to whom God had indeed spoken, and he would not turn back. Instead, he disguised himself and led his army into battle on the plain of Megiddo. 23 But the enemy archers hit King Josiah with their arrows and wounded him. He cried out to his men, “Take me from the battle, for I am badly wounded!”
24 So they lifted Josiah out of his chariot and placed him in another chariot. Then they brought him back to Jerusalem, where he died. He was buried there in the royal cemetery. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him. 25 The prophet Jeremiah composed funeral songs for Josiah, and to this day choirs still sing these sad songs about his death. These songs of sorrow have become a tradition and are recorded in The Book of Laments.
26 The rest of the events of Josiah’s reign and his acts of devotion (carried out according to what was written in the Law of the Lord), 27 from beginning to end—all are recorded in The Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
