2 Chronicles 35

1Josiah kept the Passover to Yahweh in Jerusalem, and they slaughtered the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

2He appointed the priests to their duties and strengthened them for the service of the house of Yahweh.

3And he said to the Levites who taught all Israel, who were holy to Yahweh, “Put the holy ark in the house that Solomon son of David, king of Israel, built. You no longer have to carry it on your shoulders. Now serve Yahweh your God and his people Israel.”

4Prepare yourselves by your fathers’ houses according to your divisions, as prescribed in the writing of David king of Israel and in the writing of Solomon his son.

5And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the fathers’ houses of your brothers, the sons of the people, and according to the division of a father’s house for the Levites.

6Slaughter the Passover lamb, consecrate yourselves, and prepare for your brothers, to do according to the word of Yahweh by the hand of Moses.

7Josiah contributed to the people from the flock, lambs and young goats, all of them for the Passover offerings, for all who were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand cattle. These were from the king’s possessions.

8And his officials contributed a freewill offering for the people, for the priests, and for the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the leaders of the house of God, gave to the priests 2,600 Passover offerings and 300 cattle.

9Conaniah, and Shemaiah and Nethanel his brothers, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, the chiefs of the Levites, contributed to the Levites for the Passover offerings five thousand and five hundred head of cattle.

10So the service was prepared, and the priests stood at their stations, and the Levites by their divisions, according to the command of the king.

11And they slaughtered the Passover lamb, and the priests splashed the blood from their hands, while the Levites were skinning them.

12They removed the burnt offerings, to give them by divisions of the fathers’ houses to the sons of the people, to present to Yahweh, as it is written in the Book of Moses; and so also with the cattle.

13They cooked the Passover lamb in the fire according to the rule, and they boiled the holy offerings in pots, kettles, and bowls, and quickly brought them to all the people.

14Afterward they prepared for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron, were occupied in offering up the burnt offering and the fat portions until night. So the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron.

15And the singers, the sons of Asaph, were at their stations according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer; and the gatekeepers were at each gate. They had no need to depart from their service, because their brothers the Levites prepared for them.

16So all the service of Yahweh was prepared on that day, to keep the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of Yahweh, according to the command of King Josiah.

17And the Israelites who were present kept the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days.

18No Passover like it had been kept in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet, and none of the kings of Israel had kept a Passover like the one that Josiah kept, with the priests, the Levites, all Judah, Israel that was present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

19In the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign, this Passover was kept.

20After all this, when Josiah had prepared the house, Neco king of Egypt went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to meet him.

21But he sent messengers to him, saying, “What have I to do with you, king of Judah? I am not coming against you today, but against the house with which I am at war; and God has told me to hurry. Stop opposing God, who is with me, so that he does not destroy you.”

22But Josiah did not turn his face away from him; rather, he disguised himself to fight against him. He did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, and he came to fight in the Valley of Megiddo.

23And the archers shot King Josiah, and the king said to his servants, “Take me away, for I am severely wounded.”

24So his servants removed him from the chariot and set him on the second chariot that belonged to him, and brought him to Jerusalem. And he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers, and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

25And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah, and all the male singers and female singers speak of Josiah in their laments to this day. And they made them a statute in Israel; behold, they are written in the Laments.

26The rest of the acts of Josiah, and his deeds of faithful love, as written in the Law of Yahweh:

27His acts, first and last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.