2 Chronicles 35:1-19
Expanded Bible
Josiah Celebrates the Passover(A)
35 King Josiah ·celebrated [kept; observed] the Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem. The Passover lamb was ·killed [slaughtered] on the fourteenth day of the first month. 2 Josiah ·chose [appointed; assigned] the priests to ·do their duties [fulfill their offices], and he encouraged them as they served in the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord. 3 The Levites taught the Israelites and were ·made holy [set apart] for service to the Lord. Josiah said to them, “Put the Holy Ark in the ·Temple [L house] that David’s son Solomon, the king of Israel, built. Do not carry it from place to place on your shoulders anymore. Now serve the Lord your God and his people Israel. 4 Prepare yourselves by your family ·groups [divisions] for service, and do the jobs that King David and his son Solomon ·gave [wrote down for] you to do.
5 “Stand in the ·holy place [sanctuary] with a ·group [division] of the Levites for each family group of the people. 6 ·Kill [Slaughter] the Passover lambs, and ·make yourselves holy [consecrate/purify/sanctify yourselves] to the Lord. Prepare for your relatives, the people of Israel, to do as the Lord through Moses commanded.”
7 Josiah ·gave [provided] the Israelites thirty thousand sheep and goats to ·kill [slaughter] for the Passover sacrifices, and he gave them three thousand cattle. They were all his own ·animals [property].
8 Josiah’s ·officers [officials] also gave willingly to the people, the priests, and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the ·officers [officials] in charge of the ·Temple [L house], gave the priests twenty-six hundred lambs and goats and three hundred cattle for Passover ·sacrifices [offerings]. 9 Conaniah, his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad gave the Levites five thousand sheep and goats and five hundred cattle for Passover sacrifices. These men were ·leaders [officials] of the Levites.
10 When everything was ready for the Passover service, the priests and Levites in their divisions went to their ·places [stations], as the king had commanded. 11 The Passover lambs were ·killed [slaughtered]. Then the Levites skinned the animals and gave the blood to the priests, who ·sprinkled [splashed] it on the altar. 12 Then they ·gave [divided; set aside] the animals for the burnt offerings to the different family ·groups [divisions] so the burnt offerings [Lev. 1:1–17] could be ·offered [sacrificed] to the Lord as was written in the ·book [scroll] of Moses. They also did this with the cattle. 13 The Levites roasted the Passover sacrifices over the fire as ·they were commanded [prescribed], and they boiled the ·holy [consecrated] offerings in pots, kettles, and pans. Then they quickly ·gave [served] the meat to the people. 14 After this was finished, the Levites prepared meat for themselves and for the priests, the descendants of Aaron. The priests worked until night, offering the burnt offerings [Lev. 1:1–17] and burning the fat of the sacrifices.
15 The Levite singers ·from Asaph’s family [descended from Asaph] stood in ·the places chosen for them by [their stations as prescribed by] King David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun [5:12], the king’s ·seer [prophet]. The gatekeepers at each gate did not have to leave their ·places [posts], because their fellow Levites had prepared ·everything for them for the Passover [L for them].
16 So everything was ·done [completed] that day for the ·worship [service] of the Lord, as King Josiah commanded. The Passover was ·celebrated [kept; observed], and the burnt offerings were ·offered [sacrificed] on the Lord’s altar. 17 The Israelites who were there ·celebrated [kept; observed] the Passover and the ·Feast [Festival] of Unleavened Bread for seven days. 18 The Passover had not been ·celebrated [observed; kept] like this in Israel since the prophet Samuel was alive [C over four hundred years earlier]. None of the kings of Israel had ever ·celebrated [kept; observed] a Passover like the one ·celebrated [kept; observed] by King Josiah, the priests, the Levites, the people of Judah and Israel who were there, and the people of Jerusalem. 19 This Passover was ·celebrated [kept; observed] in the eighteenth year Josiah ·was king [reigned].
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2 Chronicles 35:1-19
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.
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- 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
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