The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Chronicles 35
1 Josiah kept a Passover to Yahweh in
Jerusalem. They killed the Passover on the
fourteenth day of the first month.
2He setthe priests in their offices and encouraged them in the service of Yahweh’s
house.
3 He said to the Levites who taught all
Israel, who were holy to Yahweh, “Put the
holy ark in the house which Solomon the
son of David king of Israel built. It will
no longer be a burden on your shoulders.
Now serve Yahweh your God and his people Israel.
4 Prepare yourselves after your fathers’
houses by your divisions, according to the
writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son.
5 Stand in the holy place according to
the divisions of the fathers’ houses of your
brothers the children of the people, and
let there be for each a portion of a fathers’
house of the Levites.
6 Kill the Passover lamb, sanctify yourselves, and prepare for your brothers, to
do according to Yahweh’s word by Moses.”
7 Josiah gave to the children of the people, of the flock, lambs and young goats, all
of them for the Passover offerings, to all
who were present, to the number of thirty
thousand, and three thousand bulls. These
were of the king’s substance.
8 His princes gave a free will offering
to the people, to the priests, and to the
Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the
rulers of God’s house, gave to the priests
for the Passover offerings two thousand
six hundred small livestock, and three
hundred head of cattle.
9 Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and
Nethanel, his brothers, and Hashabiah,
Jeiel, and Jozabad, the chiefs ofthe Levites,
gave to the Levites for the Passover offerings five thousand small livestock and five
hundred head of cattle.
10 So the service was prepared, and the
priests stood in their place, and the Levites
by their divisions, according to the king’s
commandment.
11 They killed the Passover lambs, and
the priests sprinkled the blood which they
received from their hands, and the Levites
skinned them.
12 They removed the burnt offerings,
that they might give them according to
the divisions of the fathers’ houses of the
children of the people, to offer to Yahweh,
as it is written in the book of Moses. They
did the same with the cattle.
13 They roasted the Passover with fire
according to the ordinance. They boiled
the holy offerings in pots, in cauldrons,
and in pans, and carried them quickly to
all the children of the people.
14 Afterward they prepared for themselves and for the priests, because the
priests the sons of Aaron were busy with
offering the burnt offerings and the fat until night. Therefore the Levites prepared
for themselves and for the priests the sons
of Aaron.
15 The singers, the sons of Asaph, were
in their place, according to the commandment of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer;
and the gatekeepers were at every gate. They didn’t need
to depart from their service, because their
brothers the Levites prepared for them.
16 So all the service of Yahweh was prepared the same day, to keep the Passover,
and to offer burnt offerings on Yahweh’s
altar, according to the commandment of
King Josiah.
17 The children of Israel who were
present kept the Passover at that time, and
the feast of unleavened bread seven days.
18 There wasno Passover like that keptin
Israelfromthe days of Samuelthe prophet,
nor did any of the kings of Israel keep
such a Passover as Josiah kept—with the
priests, the Levites, and all Judah and Israel who were present,
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
19 This Passover was kept in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah.
20 After all this, when Josiah had pre-pared the temple, Neco king of Egypt went
up to fight against Carchemish by the Euphrates, and Josiah went out against him.
21 But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, “What have I to do with you, you king
ofJudah? I come not against you today, but
against the house with which I have war.
God has commanded me to make haste.
Beware that it is God who is with me, that
he not destroy you.”
22 Nevertheless Josiah wouldnotturnhis
face from him, but disguised himself, that
hemightfight withhim, and didn’tlistento
the words of Neco from the mouth of God,
and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.
23 The archers shot at King Josiah; and
the king said to his servants, “Take me
away, because I am seriously wounded!”
24 So his servants took him out of the
chariot, and put him in the second chariot
that he had, and brought him to Jerusalem;
and he died, and was buried in the tombs
of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem
mourned for Josiah.
25 Jeremiah lamented for Josiah, and all
the singing men and singing women spoke
of Josiah in their lamentations to this day;
and they made them an ordinance in Israel. Behold,they are writteninthe lamentations.
26 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and
his good deeds, according to that which is
written in Yahweh’s law,
27 and his acts, first and last, behold,
they are written in the book of the kings of
Israel and Judah.