Moff 2 CHR Chapter 35

◄ 2 CHR 35 ► ║ ═ ©

35 Josiah held a passover in honour of the Eternal at Jerusalem; the passover lamb was killed on the fourteenth day of the first month. 2 He assigned the priests their duties, and encouraged them to serve in the temple of the Eternal. 3 And he addressed the Levites, men sacred to the Eternal, who gave religious instruction to all Israel. “Since the sacred ark,” said he, “was placed inside the temple built by Solomon the son of David, 'king of Israel, and you have no longer to carry it on your shoulders, see to the worship of the Eternal your God, and of his people Is rael. 4 Arrange yourselves by your families in your divisions, as prescribed by David king of Israel and by his son Solomon; 5 stand in the sacred place with some of each Levitical family, to serve each group of families among your kinsmen the laity; 6 kill the passover lamb, then purify yourselves and prepare the passover, that your kinsmen may celebrate according to the Eternal’s instructions given by Moses.” 7 Josiah gave all the people present lambs and kids from his flocks, all as victims for the passover sacrifices, amounting to thirty thousand, with three thousand bullocks; these came out of the king’s property. 8 His nobles also made a freewill offering to the people, the priests, and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zecharlah, and Jehiel, who were in charge of the temple of God, gave the priests two thousand six hundred lambs and three hundred oxen for the passover sacrifices, 9 while Conaniah, with Shemaiah and Nethanel his brothers and Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad, wrho were heads of the Levites, gave the Levites five thousand lambs and five hundred oxen for the passover sacrifices. 10 So the service was arranged; the priests stood in their positions, and the Levites in their divisions, as the king ordered. 11 The passover lambs were killed, and the priests splashed their blood on the altar, as they received it from the Levites who were flaying the victims. 12 Parts of the victims of the burnt-offering were removed, to be given to the various groups of families among the laity, to sacrifice to the Eternal, as enjoined in the law-book of Moses. So too with the oxen. 13 They duly roasted the passover lamb in the fire, and boiled the sacrificial flesh of the oxen in pots, cauldrons, and pans, carrying the meat quickly among the laity. 14 Then they prepared flesh for themselves and for the priests; as the Aaronite priests were occupied till night in sacrificing the burnt-offerings and the fat slices, the Levites had to make their preparation for themselves and for the Aaronite priests. 15 The Asaphite singers were arrayed as David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun (the king’s seer) had prescribed, and the warders were at each gate; they did not require to leave their posts, as their fellows the Levites got the meat all ready for them. 16 In this way the whole service of holding the passover in honour of the Eternal and of sacrificing burnt-offerings on the altar of the Eternal was carried out that day, as king Josiah ordered. 17 The Israelites present held their passover and also, for seven days, the festival of unleavened bread. 18 Never since the days of the prophet Samuel had there been a passover like it in Israel; never had any king of Israel celebrated such a passover as was held by Josiah, by the priests and the Levites, by all Judah and Israel who were present, and by the citizens of Jerusalem. 19 This passover was held in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign.

20 After all this, when Josiah had arranged the temple, Necho king of Egypt marched north to fight at Karkhemish on the Euphrates. Josiah sallied out to attack him, 21 but Necho sent ambassadors to him with this message; “What have you to do with me, O king of Judah? I am out against your ancient foe, not against you; and God has ordered me to be quick about it. Stop interfering with God, who is on my side, lest he destroy you.” 22 But Josiah would not leave him alone; he presumed to attack him, paying no heed to what Necho had been inspired to tell him. The fight opened in the valley of Megiddo. 23 The archers aimed at king Josiah, till Josiah cried to his men, “Take me away, I am badly wounded.” 24 So his men lifted him out of the chariot and put him into his reserve chariot, driving him to Jerusalem, where he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. 25 Jeremiah composed an elegy over Josiah, and the singers, both men and women, all uttered a lament over Josiah--as indeed they do to this day, for they made it a regular custom in Israel. The laments are written in the Book of Elegies. 26 The rest of the acts of Josiah and his brave deeds, in obedience to the instructions of the law of the Eternal, 27 his acts from first to last, are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

2 CHR C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28 C29 C30 C31 C32 C33 C34 C35 C36

Moff 2 CHR Chapter 35

Moff 2 CHR Chapter 35