Old/New Testament

The Great Passover Celebration

30 Hezekiah sent messengers to all Israel and Judah. He also wrote letters inviting Ephraim and Manasseh to come to the House of the Lord at Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover for the Lord, the God of Israel. ² The king, his officials, and the whole assembly in Jerusalem had made plans to celebrate the Passover in the second month. ³ They were not able to celebrate it at its proper time, because the priests had not consecrated themselves in sufficient number, and the people had not assembled in Jerusalem.

⁴ The plan seemed right in the eyes of the king and in the eyes of the whole assembly. ⁵ So they decided to issue a proclamation throughout Israel from Beersheba to Dan to come to observe the Passover for the Lord, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem, because they had not been celebrating it with large numbers of people as had been commanded. ⁶ Runners were sent out with letters from the hand of the king and from his officials to all Israel and Judah. Because of the command of the king, they made the following announcement:

¹⁰ The runners went from city to city through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh and even as far as Zebulun, but people laughed at them and ridiculed them. ¹¹ Nevertheless, some men from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.

¹² But in Judah the hand of God was present to give them one heart to follow the command of the king and the command of the officials, in agreement with the word of the Lord. ¹³ Many people gathered in Jerusalem to keep the Festival of Unleavened Bread in the second month—a very great assembly.

¹⁴ They quickly removed the altars from Jerusalem. They took away all the altars for burning incense and threw them into the Kidron Valley.

¹⁵ They slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites had been put to shame, so they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings into the House of the Lord. ¹⁶ They took up their positions as prescribed in the Law of Moses, the man of God. The priests splashed the blood, which was given to them by the Levites, against the altar. ¹⁷ Because many of the assembly had not consecrated themselves,^[b] the Levites carried out the slaughtering of the Passover lambs for everyone who was not ceremonially clean, to make them holy to the Lord.

¹⁸ A large number of the people, many of whom were from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not purified themselves, but they ate the Passover anyway, in a manner not in keeping with what is written. So Hezekiah prayed for them: “May the good Lord pardon everyone all around, ¹⁹ that is, everyone who seeks God the Lord, the God of his fathers, with all his heart, even though he does not have the ceremonial purity required by the holy place.”

²⁰ The Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people.

²¹ The people of Israel who were present in Jerusalem observed the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great rejoicing. The Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day with loud instruments for the Lord.

²² Hezekiah encouraged the hearts of all the Levites, who displayed wonderful skills in service of the Lord. They ate the food of the festival for the appointed seven days, presenting fellowship sacrifices and giving thanks to the Lord, the God of their fathers.

²³ The entire assembly agreed to celebrate for another seven days. They gladly did it for another seven days, ²⁴ because Hezekiah king of Judah provided one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for the assembly, and the officials contributed one thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep for the assembly. The priests consecrated themselves in great number.

²⁵ The whole assembly of Judah rejoiced together with the priests, the Levites, the entire assembly from Israel, the aliens who resided in the land of Israel, and the people who lived in Judah. ²⁶ There was great joy in Jerusalem, because since the time of Solomon, the son of David, the king of Israel, there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem.

²⁷ Then the levitical priests arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard. Their prayer ascended to the Lord’s holy dwelling in heaven.

Hezekiah Restores Proper Worship of the Lord

31 When all this was finished, all the Israelites who were present went out to the cities of Judah. They broke the sacred memorial pillars into pieces, chopped down the Asherah poles, and smashed the high places and the altars throughout Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh until the task was finished. Then all the people of Israel returned to their cities, each of them to his own property.

² Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests and Levites, assigning each man to his area of service according to his division. The priests and Levites were responsible for burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, in order to minister and to give thanks and praise in the gates of the camps^[c] of the Lord.

³ The king’s contribution from his own personal property was designated for the morning and evening burnt offerings, as well as for burnt offerings on the sabbaths, the new moons, and the designated festivals, as it is written in the Law of the Lord. ⁴ He commanded the people living in Jerusalem to contribute the portion designated for the priests and the Levites, so that they could hold tightly to the Law of the Lord.

⁵ As soon as the order was made public, the people of Israel gave their firstfruits of grain, wine, oil, honey, and all the produce of the field in abundance. They brought an abundant tithe of everything.

⁶ All the people of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah also brought their tithe of the cattle and sheep, and a tithe of the holy things dedicated for the Lord their God. They piled up one heap on top of another. ⁷ In the third month they began to accumulate it, and they finished by the seventh month.

⁸ When Hezekiah and the officials came, they saw the piles and blessed the Lord and his people Israel. ⁹ Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites about the piles. ¹⁰ Azariah, the head priest of the house of Zadok, answered, “Ever since they began bringing their contributions into the House of the Lord, the people have had plenty to eat and drink, enough to be full, with plenty left over. The Lord has blessed his people, and this great amount is left over.”

¹¹ Hezekiah told them to prepare rooms in the House of the Lord, and they did so. ¹² They faithfully brought the special contributions, tithes, and dedicated things. Konaniah the Levite was the chief officer over them, and his brother Shimei was second in command. ¹³ Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismakiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were administrators under the supervision of Konaniah and his brother Shimei, by the appointment of King Hezekiah. Azariah was the chief officer of the House of God. ¹⁴ Kore son of Imnah the Levite, the keeper of the East Gate, was in charge of the voluntary offerings to God. He was responsible for distributing the special contribution given to the Lord^[d] and the most holy offerings. ¹⁵ Faithfully assisting him in the cities of the priests were Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shekaniah, who were making distributions to their brothers, according to their divisions, the same to old and young alike.

¹⁶ Besides that, they gave support to all those enrolled by genealogy, to the males from three years old and up, to all who came to the House of the Lord for their daily service in their assigned offices in their divisions. ¹⁷ They also gave support to those enrolled as priests on the basis of the house of their fathers, also to the Levites from twenty years old and older, according to their assigned offices in their divisions, ¹⁸ to those enrolled with all their dependents, their wives and their sons and daughters—to the entire group—because they were faithfully keeping themselves holy. ¹⁹ For the descendants of Aaron, those priests who were living in the fields of the common pastureland around their cities, in every city, men designated by name were assigned to give portions to every male among the priests and to all the enrolled Levites.

²⁰ Hezekiah carried this out in all Judah. He did what was good, right, and faithful before the Lord his God. ²¹ In all the work which he began in service to the House of God, to the law, and to the commandment, he sought his God and acted with all his heart, and he prospered.

The Arrest

18 After saying these things, Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley,^[a] where there was a garden. He and his disciples went into it.

² Now Judas, who was betraying him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. ³ So Judas took the company of soldiers and some guards from the chief priests and the Pharisees, and came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.

⁴ Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who are you looking for?”

⁵ “Jesus the Nazarene,” they replied.

“I am he,” Jesus told them.

Judas, the betrayer, was standing with them. ⁶ When Jesus told them, “I am he,” they backed away and fell to the ground.

⁷ Then Jesus asked them again, “Who are you looking for?”

“Jesus the Nazarene,” they said.

⁸ “I told you that I am he,” Jesus replied. “So if you are looking for me, let these men go.” ⁹ This was to fulfill the statement he had spoken: “I did not lose any of those you have given me.”

¹⁰ Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.

¹¹ So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath. Shall I not drink the cup my Father has given me?”

¹² Then the company of soldiers, their commander, and the Jewish guards arrested Jesus and bound him. ¹³ First they led him to Annas, because he was father-in-law to Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year. ¹⁴ Now it was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews, “It is better that one man die for the people.”

Peter Denies Jesus

¹⁵ Simon Peter and another disciple kept following Jesus. That disciple was known to the high priest, so he went into the high priest’s courtyard with Jesus. ¹⁶ But Peter stood outside by the door. So the other disciple, the one known to the high priest, went out and talked to the girl watching the door and brought Peter in.

¹⁷ “You are not one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” the girl at the door asked Peter.

“I am not!” he said.

¹⁸ The servants and guards were standing around a fire of coals that they had made because it was cold. While they warmed themselves, Peter was standing with them, warming himself too.