II Chronicles 35

1. And Josiah kept a Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem. And they killed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

2. And he set the priests in their charges and encouraged them in the service of the house of the LORD.

3. And he said to the Levites who taught all Israel, who were holy unto the LORD, “Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built. It shall not be a burden upon your shoulders. And serve the LORD your God and His people Israel,

4. And prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers, according to your courses, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son.

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

6. And kill the Passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare your brethren so that they may do according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.”

7. And Josiah gave to the people from the flock, lambs and kids, all for the Passover offerings, Refer to Deut. 16:1-8for all who were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand oxen. These were from what the king owned.

8. And 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 six hundred sheep, and three hundred oxen.

9. And Conaniah, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel, his brothers, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chiefs of the Levites, gave to the Levites for Passover offerings five thousand sheep and five hundred oxen.

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

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

12. And they removed the burnt offerings so 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 they did to the oxen.

13. And they boiled the Passover offerings over fire according to the law. And the holy offerings they boiled in pots, and in kettles, and in pans, and divided them speedily among all the people.

14. And afterward they made ready for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron, were busy offering up the burnt offerings and the fat until nightfall. And the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron.

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

16. So all the service of the LORD was prepared the same day, to keep the Passover and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of the LORD, according to the commandment of King Josiah.

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

18. And there was no Passover like that kept in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. Yea, none of the kings of Israel kept such a Passover as Josiah kept, and the priests and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel who were present, and the people of Jerusalem.

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

20. After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by the Euphrates. And Josiah went out against him.

21. But he sent messengers to him, saying, “What have I to do with you, king of Judah? I do not come against you today, but against the house with which I have war, for God commanded me to make haste. You must cease from opposing God, Who is with me, so that He does not destroy you.”

22. Nevertheless, Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself so that he might fight with him. And he did not hearken to the words of Necho from the mouth of God and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.

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

24. And his servants took him out of that chariot and put him in the second chariot that he had. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

25. And Jeremiah mourned for Josiah. And all the singing men and the singing women speak of Josiah in their lamentations, even to this day, and have made them an ordinance in Israel. And behold, they are written in the Lamentations.

26. Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his goodness, according to that which was written in the law of the LORD,

27. And his deeds, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.