Second Book of Chronicles 35

¹ Josiah then celebrated a Passover in honour of Yahweh in Jerusalem and they slaughtered the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

² He re-established the priests in their functions and made it possible for them to discharge the duties of the Temple of Yahweh.

³ Then he said to the Levites, whose understanding was at the disposal of all Israel and who were consecrated to Yahweh, ‘Place the holy ark in the Temple built by Solomon son of David, king of Israel. It is no longer a burden for your shoulders. Now serve Yahweh your God and Israel his people.

⁴ Take your places by families according to your orders, in compliance with the written decree of David king of Israel and his son Solomon.

⁵ Stand in the sanctuary at the disposal of the family groupings, at the disposal of your brothers the laity; the Levites are to have a portion in the family.

⁶ Slaughter the passover, sanctify yourselves, and be at the disposal of your brothers in acting in accordance with the word of Yahweh which was spoken through Moses.’

⁷ Josiah then provided for the laity lambs and kids from the flocks to the number of thirty thousand, all as Passover victims for all who were present, and three thousand bulls as well; all the animals came from the king’s possessions.

⁸ His officials, for their part, made provision for the voluntary offerings on behalf of the people, the priests and the Levites. The senior officials gave the priests of the Temple of God, Hilkiah, Zechariah and Jehiel, two thousand six hundred lambs and kids and three hundred bulls as Passover victims.

⁹ The heads of the Levites, Conaniah, Shemaiah and his brother Nathanel, Hashabiah, Jeiel and Jozabad, provided five thousand lambs and kids and five hundred bulls as Passover victims for the Levites.

¹⁰ The order of the service was arranged, the priests at their places and the Levites in their orders, in compliance with the king’s order.

¹¹ They slaughtered the passover, and the priests sprinkled the blood as they received it from the Levites, and the Levites dismembered the victims.

¹² They put the holocaust on one side to give it to the family groupings among the laity as each made its offering to Yahweh, as is written in the Book of Moses; they did the same with the bulls.

¹³ They roasted the passover, as ordained, and the sacred foods in pots, dishes, pans, carrying them speedily to the laity.

¹⁴ Afterwards they prepared the passover for themselves and for the priests – the priests, the sons of Aaron, having been busy till nightfall offering the holocaust and the fatty parts; that was why the Levites prepared the passover for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron.

¹⁵ The cantors, the sons of Asaph, were at their places, in accordance with the ordinances of David; neither Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun the king’s seer, nor the keepers of each gate, had to leave their duties, since their brothers the Levites made all the preparations for them.

¹⁶ So the whole liturgical service of Yahweh was arranged that day to celebrate the Passover and to offer holocausts on the altar of Yahweh, in accordance with the ordinances of King Josiah.

¹⁷ And so it was that the Israelites who were present celebrated the Passover and, for seven days, the feast of Unleavened Bread.

¹⁸ No Passover like this one had ever been celebrated in Israel since the days of the prophet Samuel; no king of Israel had ever celebrated a Passover like the one celebrated by Josiah with the priests, the Levites, all of Judah and of Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

¹⁹ This Passover was celebrated in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah.

²⁰ After everything had been done by Josiah to set the Temple in order, Neco king of Egypt came up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates. When Josiah marched out to intercept him,

²¹ Neco sent him messengers to say, ‘What quarrel is there between me and you, king of Judah? I have not come today to attack you; my quarrel is with another dynasty, and God has told me to hurry. Do not oppose the God who is with me any more, or else he may destroy you.’

²² But Josiah continued to challenge him; he was in fact determined to fight him, and would not listen to the words of Neco from God’s own mouth. He gave battle in the plain of Megiddo;

²³ the bowmen fired on King Josiah, and the king said to his followers, ‘Take me away; I am badly wounded’.

²⁴ His servants lifted him out of his own chariot, transferred him to another one and took him back to Jerusalem, where he died. He was buried in the tombs of his ancestors. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

²⁵ Jeremiah composed a lament for Josiah which all the singing men and singing women still recite today when they lament for Josiah; this has become a custom in Israel; the dirges are recorded in the Lamentations.[*a]

²⁶ The rest of the history of Josiah, his deeds of piety conforming to everything written in the Law of Yahweh,

²⁷ his history from first to last, are recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.