Passover Celebrated

2 Chronicles 30

1 Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem to keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel. 2 For the king and his princes and all the assembly in Jerusalem had taken counsel to keep the Passover a in the second month - 3 for they could not keep it b at that time c because the priests had not consecrated themselves in sufficient number, nor had the people assembled in Jerusalem - 4 and the plan seemed right to the king and all the assembly. 5 So they decreed to make a proclamation throughout all Israel, d from Beersheba to Dan, that the people should come and keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem, for they had not kept it as often as prescribed. 6 e So couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his princes, as the king had commanded, saying, "O people of Israel, f return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may turn again to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of g the kings of Assyria. 7 h Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were faithless to the Lord God of their fathers, so that he made them a desolation, as you see. 8 i Do not now be stiff-necked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the Lord and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve the Lord your God, j that his fierce anger may turn away from you. 9 For f if you return to the Lord, your brothers and your children k will find compassion with their captors and return to this land. For l the Lord your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, m if you return to him."

10 e So the couriers went from city to city through the country of n Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, but o they laughed them to scorn and mocked them. 11 However, p some men of Asher, of Manasseh, and of Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. 12 The hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded q by the word of the Lord.

13 And many people came together in Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread r in the second month, a very great assembly. 14 They set to work and removed s the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for burning incense they took away t and threw into the Kidron Valley. 15 u And they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. v And the priests and the Levites were ashamed, w so that they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings into the house of the Lord. 16 x They took their accustomed posts according to the Law of Moses y the man of God. The priests threw the blood that they received from the hand of the Levites. 17 For there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves. Therefore the Levites had to slaughter the Passover lamb for everyone who was not clean, to consecrate it to the Lord. 18 For a majority of the people, z many of them from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise a than as prescribed. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, "May the good Lord pardon everyone 19 b who sets his heart to seek God, the Lord, the God of his fathers, even though not according to the sanctuary's rules of cleanness." 1 20 And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people. 21 And the people of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept c 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 2 to the Lord. 22 And Hezekiah spoke d encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good skill in the service of the Lord. So they ate the food of the festival for seven days, sacrificing e peace offerings and giving thanks to the Lord, the God of their fathers.

23 Then the whole assembly agreed together to keep the feast f for another seven days. So they kept it for another seven days with gladness. 24 For Hezekiah king of Judah g gave the assembly 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep for offerings, and the princes gave the assembly 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep. And the priests h consecrated themselves in great numbers. 25 The whole assembly of Judah, and the priests and the Levites, i and the whole assembly that came out of Israel, and the sojourners who came out of the land of Israel, and the sojourners who lived in Judah, rejoiced. 26 So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for j since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. 27 Then k the priests and the Levites arose and l blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came to m his holy habitation in heaven.

  1. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 30:13
    And many people came together in Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month, a very great assembly.
    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.
    Numbers 9:10 - 11
    Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If any one of you or of your descendants is unclean through touching a dead body, or is on a long journey, he shall still keep the Passover to the Lord.
  2. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 29:17
    They began to consecrate on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule of the Lord. Then for eight days they consecrated the house of the Lord, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.
    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.
    Exodus 12:18
    In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.
  3. 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.
    2 Chronicles 30:24
    For Hezekiah king of Judah gave the assembly 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep for offerings, and the princes gave the assembly 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep. And the priests consecrated themselves in great numbers.
  4. Cross References
    2 Samuel 3:10
    To transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan to Beersheba.
  5. Cross References
    Esther 3:13
    Letters were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces with instruction to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods.
    Esther 3:15
    The couriers went out hurriedly by order of the king, and the decree was issued in Susa the citadel. And the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was thrown into confusion.
    Esther 8:10
    And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king's signet ring. Then he sent the letters by mounted couriers riding on swift horses that were used in the king's service, bred from the royal stud.
    Esther 8:14
    So the couriers, mounted on their swift horses that were used in the king's service, rode out hurriedly, urged by the king's command. And the decree was issued in Susa the citadel.
    Jeremiah 51:31
    One runner runs to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to tell the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every side.
  6. Cross References
    Jeremiah 4:1
    If you return, O Israel, declares the Lord, to me you should return. If you remove your detestable things from my presence, and do not waver.
    Joel 2:12 - 13
    Yet even now," declares the Lord, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.
  7. Cross References
    2 Kings 15:19
    Pul the king of Assyria came against the land, and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that he might help him to confirm his hold on the royal power.
    2 Kings 15:29
    In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and he carried the people captive to Assyria.
  8. Cross References
    Ezekiel 20:18
    And I said to their children in the wilderness, Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor keep their rules, nor defile yourselves with their idols.
  9. Cross References
    Exodus 32:9
    And the Lord said to Moses, "I have seen this p...
    Deuteronomy 9:6
    Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not ...
    Deuteronomy 10:16
    Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart...
    2 Kings 17:14
    But they would not listen, but were stubborn, a...
    Nehemiah 9:16
    But they and our fathers acted presumptuously a...
    Nehemiah 9:29
    And you warned them in order to turn them back ...
    Jeremiah 7:26
    Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ...
    Jeremiah 17:23
    Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, b...
    Acts 7:51
    You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart...
  10. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 29:10
    Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, in order that his fierce anger may turn away from us.
  11. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 30:6
    So couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his princes, as the king had commanded, saying, "O people of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may turn again to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria.
  12. Cross References
    Psalms 106:46
    He caused them to be pitied by all those who held them captive.
  13. Cross References
    Exodus 34:6
    The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
    Daniel 9:9
    To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him
  14. Cross References
    1 Samuel 7:3
    And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, "If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
  15. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 30:6
    So couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his princes, as the king had commanded, saying, "O people of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may turn again to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria.
  16. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 30:1
    Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem to keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel.
  17. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 36:16
    But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy.
  18. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 30:18
    For a majority of the people, many of them from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise than as prescribed. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, "May the good Lord pardon everyone
    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.
    2 Chronicles 30:25
    The whole assembly of Judah, and the priests and the Levites, and the whole assembly that came out of Israel, and the sojourners who came out of the land of Israel, and the sojourners who lived in Judah, rejoiced.
  19. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 29:15
    They gathered their brothers and consecrated themselves and went in as the king had commanded, by the words of the Lord, to cleanse the house of the Lord.
  20. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 30:2
    For the king and his princes and all the assembly in Jerusalem had taken counsel to keep the Passover in the second month -
  21. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 28:24
    And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and he shut up the doors of the house of the Lord, and he made himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem.
  22. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 15:16
    Even Maacah, his mother, King Asa removed from being queen mother because she had made a detestable image for Asherah. Asa cut down her image, crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron.
    2 Kings 23:6
    And he brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron and beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves of the common people.
  23. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 35:11
    And they slaughtered the Passover lamb, and the priests threw the blood that they received from them while the Levites flayed the sacrifices.
  24. 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.
  25. Cross References
    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.
  26. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 35:10
    When the service had been prepared for, the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their divisions according to the king's command.
  27. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 33:1
    This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death.
  28. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 30:11
    However, some men of Asher, of Manasseh, and of Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.
    2 Chronicles 30:25
    The whole assembly of Judah, and the priests and the Levites, and the whole assembly that came out of Israel, and the sojourners who came out of the land of Israel, and the sojourners who lived in Judah, rejoiced.
  29. Cross References
    Exodus 12:43 - 49
    And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it.
  30. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 19:3
    Nevertheless, some good is found in you, for you destroyed the Asherahs out of the land, and have set your heart to seek God.
  31. Cross References
    Exodus 12:15
    Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.
    Exodus 13:6
    Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord.
    Ezra 6:22
    And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the Lord had made them joyful and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.
  32. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 32:6
    And he set combat commanders over the people and gathered them together to him in the square at the gate of the city and spoke encouragingly to them, saying.
    Isaiah 40:2
    Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord 's hand double for all her sins.
  33. Cross References
    Leviticus 5:1
    If anyone sins in that he hears a public adjuration to testify, and though he is a witness, whether he has seen or come to know the matter, yet does not speak, he shall bear his iniquity.
  34. Cross References
    1 Kings 8:65
    So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days.
  35. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 35:7 - 9
    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; these were from the king's possessions.
  36. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 30:3
    For they could not keep it at that time because the priests had not consecrated themselves in sufficient number, nor had the people assembled in Jerusalem -
    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.
  37. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 30:11
    However, some men of Asher, of Manasseh, and of Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.
    2 Chronicles 30:18
    For a majority of the people, many of them from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise than as prescribed. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, "May the good Lord pardon everyone
  38. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 7:8 - 10
    At that time Solomon held the feast for seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly, from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt.
  39. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 5:5
    And they brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the Levitical priests brought them up.
    2 Chronicles 23:18
    And Jehoiada posted watchmen for the house of the Lord under the direction of the Levitical priests and the Levites whom David had organized to be in charge of the house of the Lord, to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, as it is written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, according to the order of David.
  40. Cross References
    Numbers 6:23 - 27
    Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them.
  41. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 26:15
    Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel and the ground that you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.
    Psalms 68:5
    Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.
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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