2 Chronicles 35:1-14 ▼

1 Josiah observed the LORD’s Passover and slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of the first month.

2 He appointed the priests to their responsibilities and encouraged them to serve in the LORD’s temple.

3 He said to the Levites who taught all Israel the holy things of the LORD, “Put the holy ark in the temple built by Solomon son of David king of Israel. Since you do not have to carry it on your shoulders, now serve the LORD your God and his people Israel.

4 “Organize your ancestral families by your divisions according to the written instruction of King David of Israel and that of his son Solomon.

5 Serve in the holy place by the groupings of the ancestral families for your brothers, the lay people, and according to the division of the Levites by family.

6 Slaughter the Passover lambs, consecrate yourselves, and make preparations for your brothers to carry out the word of the LORD through Moses.”

7 Then Josiah donated thirty thousand sheep, lambs, and young goats, plus three thousand cattle from his own possessions, for the Passover sacrifices for all the lay people who were present.

8 His officials also donated willingly for the people, the priests, and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, chief officials of God’s temple, gave twenty-six hundred Passover sacrifices and three hundred cattle for the priests.

9 Conaniah and his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad, officers of the Levites, donated five thousand Passover sacrifices for the Levites, plus five hundred cattle.

10 So the service was established; the priests stood at their posts and the Levites in their divisions according to the king’s command.

11 Then they slaughtered the Passover lambs, and while the Levites were skinning the animals, the priests splattered the blood they had been given.

12 They removed the burnt offerings so that they might be given to the groupings of the ancestral families of the lay people to offer to the LORD, according to what is written in the book of Moses; they did the same with the cattle.

13 They roasted the Passover lambs with fire according to regulation. They boiled the holy sacrifices in pots, kettles, and bowls; and they quickly brought them to the lay people.

14 Afterward, they made preparations for themselves and for the priests, since the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were busy offering up burnt offerings and fat until night. So the Levites made preparations for themselves and for the priests, the descendants of Aaron.