2 Chronicles 35

Josiah Keeps the Passover

1 g Josiah kept a Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem. And they slaughtered the Passover lamb h on the fourteenth day of the first month. 2 He appointed the priests to their offices i and encouraged them in the service of the house of the Lord. 3 And he said to the Levites j who taught all Israel and who were holy to the Lord, "Put the holy ark in the house that Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built. You need not carry it on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and his people Israel. 4 Prepare yourselves k according to your fathers' houses by your divisions, l as prescribed in the writing of David king of Israel m and the document of Solomon his son. 5 And n stand in the Holy Place o according to the groupings of the fathers' houses of your brothers the lay people, and according to the division of the Levites by fathers' household. 6 And slaughter the Passover lamb, and p consecrate yourselves, and prepare for your brothers, to do according to the word of the Lord by Moses."

7 Then Josiah contributed to the lay people, as Passover offerings for all who were present, lambs and young goats from the flock to the number of 30,000, and 3,000 bulls; q these were from the king's possessions. 8 And his officials contributed willingly to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites. r Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the chief officers of the house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings 2,600 Passover lambs and 300 bulls. 9 Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethanel his brothers, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, the chiefs of the Levites, gave to the Levites for the Passover offerings 5,000 lambs and young goats and 500 bulls.

10 When the service had been prepared for, the priests s stood in their place, t and the Levites in their divisions according to the king's command. 11 u And they slaughtered the Passover lamb, and the priests v threw the blood that they received from them w while the Levites flayed the sacrifices. 12 And they set aside the burnt offerings that they might distribute them according to the groupings of the fathers' houses of the lay people, to offer to the Lord, as it is written in the Book of Moses. And so they did with the bulls. 13 x And they roasted the Passover lamb with fire according to the rule; and they y boiled the holy offerings in pots, in cauldrons, and in pans, and carried them quickly to all the lay people. 14 And afterward they prepared for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron, were offering the burnt offerings and the fat parts until night; so the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron. 15 The singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their place z according to the command of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king's a seer; b and the gatekeepers were at each gate. They did not need to depart from their service, for their brothers the Levites prepared for them.

16 So all the service of the Lord was prepared that day, to keep the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, according to the command of King Josiah. 17 And the people of Israel who were present kept the Passover at that time, c and the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days. 18 d No Passover like it had been kept in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as was kept by Josiah, and the priests and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 19 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah this Passover was kept.

Josiah Killed in Battle

20 e After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Neco king of Egypt went up to fight at f Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to meet him. 21 But he sent envoys to him, saying, "What have we to do with each other, king of Judah? I am not coming against you this day, but against the house with which I am at war. And God has commanded me to hurry. Cease opposing God, who is with me, lest he destroy you." 22 Nevertheless, Josiah did not turn away from him, but g disguised himself in order to fight with him. He did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, but came to fight in the plain of h Megiddo. 23 And the archers shot King Josiah. And the king said to his servants, i "Take me away, for I am badly wounded." 24 So his servants took him out of the chariot and carried him in his second chariot and brought him to Jerusalem. And he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. j All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. 25 k Jeremiah also uttered a lament for Josiah; and all l the singing men and singing women have spoken of Josiah in their laments to this day. They made these a rule in Israel; behold, they are written in the Laments. 26 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his good deeds according to what is written in the Law of the Lord, 27 and his acts, first and last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

  1. Cross References
    2 Kings 23:21 - 23
    And the king commanded all the people, "Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.
  2. Cross References
    Exodus 12:6
    And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.
    Ezra 6:19
    On the fourteenth day of the first month, the returned exiles kept the Passover.
  3. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 29:11
    My sons, do not now be negligent, for the Lord has chosen you to stand in his presence, to minister to him and to be his ministers and make offerings to him.
  4. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 17:9
    And they taught in Judah, having the Book of th...
    Nehemiah 8:7
    Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Sha...
    Nehemiah 8:9
    And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra th...
    2 Chronicles 15:3
    For a long time Israel was without the true God...
    2 Chronicles 30:22
    And Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Lev...
    Leviticus 10:11
    And you are to teach the people of Israel all t...
    Deuteronomy 33:10
    They shall teach Jacob your rules and Israel yo...
    Ezra 7:10
    For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of ...
    Malachi 2:7
    For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge...
  5. Cross References
    1 Chronicles 9:9
    And their kinsmen according to their generations, 956. All these were heads of fathers' houses according to their fathers' houses.
  6. Cross References
    1 Chronicles 23:1 - 26:1
    When David was old and full of days, he made Solomon his son king over Israel.
  7. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 8:14
    According to the ruling of David his father, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their service, and the Levites for their offices of praise and ministry before the priests as the duty of each day required, and the gatekeepers in their divisions at each gate, for so David the man of God had commanded.
  8. Cross References
    Psalms 134:1
    Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord!
  9. Cross References
    Ezra 6:18
    And they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their divisions, for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the Book of Moses.
  10. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 29:5
    And said to them, "Hear me, Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, and consecrate the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and carry out the filth from the Holy Place.
  11. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 31:3
    The contribution of the king from his own possessions was for the burnt offerings: the burnt offerings of morning and evening, and the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths, the new moons, and the appointed feasts, as it is written in the Law of the Lord.
  12. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 34:9
    They came to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the keepers of the threshold, had collected from Manasseh and Ephraim and from all the remnant of Israel and from all Judah and Benjamin and from the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
    2 Chronicles 34:14
    While they were bringing out the money that had been brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord given through Moses.
  13. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 30:16
    They took their accustomed posts according to the Law of Moses the man of God. The priests threw the blood that they received from the hand of the Levites.
  14. Cross References
    Ezra 6:18
    And they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their divisions, for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the Book of Moses.
  15. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 30:15
    And they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. And the priests and the Levites were ashamed, so that they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings into the house of the Lord.
    Ezra 6:20
    For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were clean. So they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves.
  16. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 29:22
    So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests received the blood and threw it against the altar. And they slaughtered the rams, and their blood was thrown against the altar. And they slaughtered the lambs, and their blood was thrown against the altar.
  17. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 29:34
    But the priests were too few and could not flay all the burnt offerings, so until other priests had consecrated themselves, their brothers the Levites helped them, until the work was finished - for the Levites were more upright in heart than the priests in consecrating themselves.
  18. Cross References
    Exodus 12:8 - 9
    They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it.
    Deuteronomy 16:7
    And you shall cook it and eat it at the place that the Lord your God will choose. And in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents.
  19. Cross References
    1 Samuel 2:13 - 15
    The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand.
  20. Cross References
    1 Chronicles 25:1
    David and the chiefs of the service also set apart for the service the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who prophesied with lyres, with harps, and with cymbals. The list of those who did the work and of their duties was:
  21. Cross References
    1 Samuel 9:9
    (Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he said, "Come, let us go to the seer," for today's "prophet" was formerly called a seer.)
  22. Cross References
    1 Chronicles 9:17 - 29
    The gatekeepers were Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their kinsmen (Shallum was the chief).
    1 Chronicles 26:1 - 19
    As for the divisions of the gatekeepers: of the Korahites, Meshelemiah the son of Kore, of the sons of Asaph.
  23. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 30:21
    And the people of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept 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 to the Lord.
  24. Cross References
    2 Kings 23:22 - 23
    For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah.
  25. Cross References
    2 Kings 23:29 - 30
    In his days Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. King Josiah went to meet him, and Pharaoh Neco killed him at Megiddo, as soon as he saw him.
  26. Cross References
    Jeremiah 46:2
    About Egypt. Concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish and which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:
  27. Cross References
    1 Kings 22:30
    And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your robes." And the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.
  28. Cross References
    Judges 5:19
    The kings came, they fought; then fought the kings of Canaan, at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo; they got no spoils of silver.
  29. Cross References
    1 Kings 22:34
    But a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, "Turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded.
  30. Cross References
    Zechariah 12:11
    On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
  31. Cross References
    Lamentations 4:20
    The breath of our nostrils, the Lord 's anointed, was captured in their pits, of whom we said, "Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.
    2 Samuel 1:17
    And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son.
  32. Cross References
    2 Samuel 19:35
    I am this day eighty years old. Can I discern what is pleasant and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats or what he drinks? Can I still listen to the voice of singing men and singing women? Why then should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king?
    Ezra 2:65
    Besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7,337, and they had 200 male and female singers.
    Nehemiah 7:67
    Besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7,337. And they had 245 singers, male and female.
    Matthew 9:23
    And when Jesus came to the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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