2 Chronicles 30

1Then Hezekiah sent word to all Israel and Judah, and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, to come to the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem to keep the Passover to Yahweh, the God of Israel.

2Then the king and his officials and all the assembly in Jerusalem decided to keep the Passover in the second month.

3For they could not do it at that time, because the priests had not consecrated themselves sufficiently, and the people had not gathered to Jerusalem.

4The matter seemed right in the eyes of the king and in the eyes of all the assembly.

5So they established a decree to send a proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, that they should come to keep the Passover to Yahweh, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem; for they had not kept it in great numbers as it is written.

6So the couriers went with the letters from the hand of the king and his officials throughout all Israel and Judah, according to the command of the king, saying, “Sons of Israel, return to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may return to the remnant that has escaped and remains to you from the hand of the kings of Assyria.”

7Do not be like your fathers and like your brothers, who were unfaithful to Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and he made them a desolation, as you see.

8Do not stiffen your neck as your fathers did. Give your hand to Yahweh, and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve Yahweh your God, so that his burning anger may turn away from you.

9For when you return to Yahweh, your brothers and your sons will find compassion before their captors and return to this land. For Yahweh your God is gracious and compassionate, and he will not turn his face away from you if you return to him.

10So the couriers went from city to city in the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulun; but they were laughing at them and mocking them.

11Nevertheless, some men from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.

12Also in Judah the hand of God was on them to give them one heart to carry out the command of the king and the officials, according to the word of Yahweh.

13A great many people gathered in Jerusalem to keep the Festival of Unleavened Bread in the second month, a very great assembly.

14They arose and removed the altars that were in Jerusalem, and they removed all the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley.

15And they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. Then the priests and the Levites were ashamed and consecrated themselves, and they brought burnt offerings to the house of Yahweh.

16They stood in their place according to their custom, according to the law of Moses the man of God. The priests were sprinkling the blood received from the hand of the Levites.

17For many in the assembly had not sanctified themselves, and the Levites were over the slaughter of the Passover lambs for everyone who was not clean, to consecrate them to Yahweh.

18For a great many of the people, many from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise than as it is written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May Yahweh, who is good, make atonement for them—”

19everyone whose heart was set to seek God, Yahweh, the God of his fathers, though not according to the purification required for the holy place.

20And Yahweh listened to Hezekiah and healed the people.

21And the sons of Israel who were found in Jerusalem kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy, and the Levites and the priests praised Yahweh day by day with mighty instruments to Yahweh.

22And Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good understanding in the service of Yahweh. And they ate the feast for seven days, sacrificing peace offerings and giving thanks to Yahweh, the God of their fathers.

23Then the whole assembly agreed to keep it for another seven days, and they kept it for seven days with joy.

24For Hezekiah king of Judah gave to the assembly one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep, and the officials gave to the assembly one thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep; and priests consecrated themselves in great numbers.

25And all the assembly of Judah rejoiced, along with the priests and the Levites, and all the assembly who had come from Israel, and the sojourners who had come from the land of Israel, and those living in Judah.

26So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon son of David, king of Israel, there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem.

27Then the priests, the Levites, stood up and blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came to his holy dwelling, to heaven.