Josiah Keeps the Passover

1Moreover Josiah kept a passover to the Lord in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

2And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the service of the house of the Lord,   duties; temple

3And said to the Levites that taught all Israel, which were holy to the Lord, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build; it shall not be a burden upon your^p shoulders: serve now the Lord your^p God, and His people Israel,   temple

4And prepare yourselves^p by the houses of your^p fathers, after your^p courses, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son.   families; divisions

5And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the families of the fathers of your^p brethren the people, and after the division of the families of the Levites.

6So kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves^p, and prepare your^p brethren, that they may do according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

7And Josiah gave to the people, of the flock, lambs and kids, all for the passover offerings, for all that were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bullocks: these were of the king’s substance.   possessions

8And his princes gave willingly to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites: Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God, gave to the priests for the passover offerings two thousand and six hundred small cattle, and three hundred oxen.

9Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel, his brethren, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave to the Levites for passover offerings five thousand small cattle, and five hundred oxen.

10So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their courses, according to the king’s commandment.

11And they killed the passover, and the priests sprinkled the blood from their hands, and the Levites flayed them.   skinned

12And they removed the burned offerings, that they might give according to the divisions of the families of the people, to offer to the Lord, as it is written in the book of Moses. And so did they with the oxen.

13And they roasted the passover with fire according to the ordinance: but the other holy offerings sod they in pots, and in caldrons, and in pans, and divided them speedily among all the people.   as prescribed; boiled; large kettles

14And afterward they made ready for themselves, and for the priests: because the priests the sons of Aaron were busied in offering of burned offerings and the fat until night; therefore the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests the sons of Aaron.

15And the singers the sons of Asaph were in their place, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer; and the porters waited at every gate; they might not depart from their service; for their brethren the Levites prepared for them.   gatekeepers

16So all the service of the Lord was prepared the same day, to keep the passover, and to offer burned offerings upon the altar of the Lord, according to the commandment of king Josiah.

17And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days.   yeast-free

18And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

19In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover kept.