Josiah's Passover

Unlocked Literal Bible (ULB)

2Ki 23:21–23

21 Then the king commanded all the people, saying, “Keep the Passover to Yahweh your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.”
22 Such a Passover celebration had never been held from the days of the judges who ruled Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel or Judah.
23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover of Yahweh was celebrated in Jerusalem.

2Ch 35:1–19

1 Josiah kept a Passover to Yahweh in Jerusalem, and they killed the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of the first month.
2 He placed the priests in their positions and encouraged them in the service of the house of Yahweh.
3 He said to the Levites who taught all Israel and who were set apart to Yahweh, “Put the holy ark in the house that Solomon son of David, king of Israel built. Do not carry it around on your shoulders any longer. Now worship Yahweh your God, and serve his people Israel.
4 Organize yourselves by the name of your ancestral houses and your divisions, following the written instructions of David, king of Israel, and those of Solomon, his son.
5 Stand in the holy place, taking your position with your divisions within the ancestral houses of your brothers, the descendants of the people, and taking your places with your divisions within the ancestral houses of the Levites.
6 Kill the Passover lambs, consecrate yourselves, prepare the lambs for your brothers, to do according to the word of Yahweh that was given by the hand of Moses.”
7 Josiah gave to all the people thirty thousand lambs and kids from flocks for the Passover offerings to all who were present. He also gave three thousand bulls; these were from the king's possessions.
8 His leaders gave a free will offering to the people, priests, and Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the officials in charge of the house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings 2,600 small cattle and three hundred oxen.
9 Also Konaniah, and Shemaiah and Nethanel, his brothers, and Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad, the chiefs of the Levites, gave to the Levites for the Passover offerings five thousand small cattle and five hundred oxen.
10 So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their places, with the Levites by their divisions, in response to the king's command.
11 They killed the Passover lambs, and the priests sprinkled the blood that they received from the Levites' hand, and the Levites skinned the lambs.
12 They removed the burnt offerings, in order to distribute them to the divisions of the ancestral houses of the people, to offer them to Yahweh, as it is written in the Book of Moses. They did the same with the bulls.
13 They roasted the Passover lambs with fire following the instructions. As for the consecrated offerings, they boiled them in pots, cauldrons, and pans, and they quickly carried them to all the people.
14 They later prepared offerings for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were occupied in offering the burnt offerings and the fat until nightfall, so the Levites prepared the offerings for themselves and for the priests, the descendants of Aaron.
15 The singers, the descendants of Asaph, were in their place, as directed by David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer, and the guards were at every gate. They did not have to leave their post, because their brothers the Levites made preparations for them.
16 So, at that time the entire service of Yahweh was carried out for the celebration of the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of Yahweh, as King Josiah commanded.
17 The people of Israel who were present kept the Passover at that time, and then the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days.
18 Such a Passover celebration had never been held in Israel from the days of the prophet Samuel, nor had any of the other kings of Israel ever celebrated such a Passover as Josiah did, along with the priests, Levites, and all the people of 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.