²² And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread ^(A)seven days with joy, for the Lord had made them joyful ^(B)and had turned the heart of ^(C)the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

The Proclamation of Cyrus

1 ^(A)In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, ^(B)that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so ^(C)that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:

⁷ Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. ⁸ Let us therefore celebrate the festival, ^(A)not with the old leaven, ^(B)the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

^27 (A)Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, ^(B)who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem,

²¹ And the people of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept ^(A)the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great gladness, and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day, singing with all their might^[a] to the Lord.

¹⁷ And the people of Israel who were present kept the Passover at that time, ^(A)and the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days.

¹¹ Jesus answered him, ^(A)“You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore ^(B)he who delivered me over to you ^(C)has the greater sin.”

The Passover with the Disciples

^17 (A)Now on ^(B)the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?”