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2 CHR ONICL ES 36
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month.* 2 Josiah also assigned the priests to
their duties and encouraged them in their work
at the Temple of the Lord. 3 He issued this order
to the Levites, who were to teach all Israel and
who had been set apart to serve the Lord: “Put
the holy Ark in the Temple that was built by
Solomon son of David, the king of Israel. You
no longer need to carry it back and forth on
your shoulders. Now spend your time serving
the Lord your God and his people Israel. 4 Report for duty according to the family divisions
of your ancestors, following the directions of
King David of Israel and the directions of his
son Solomon.
5 “Then stand in the sanctuary at the place
appointed for your family division and help the
families assigned to you as they bring their offerings to the Temple. 6 Slaughter the Passover
lambs, purify yourselves, and prepare to help
those who come. Follow all the directions that
the Lord gave through Moses.”
7 Then Josiah provided 30,000 lambs and
young goats for the people’s Passover offerings, along with 3,000 cattle, all from the king’s
own flocks and herds. 8 The king’s officials also
made willing contributions to the people,
priests, and Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the administrators of God’s Temple, gave
the priests 2,600 lambs and young goats and
300 cattle as Passover offerings. 9 The Levite
leaders—Conaniah and his brothers Shemaiah
and Nethanel, as well as Hashabiah, Jeiel, and
Jozabad—gave 5,000 lambs and young goats
and 500 cattle to the Levites for their Passover
offerings.
10 When everything was ready for the Passover
celebration, the priests and the Levites took their
places, organized by their divisions, as the king
had commanded. 11 The Levites then slaughtered
the Passover lambs and presented the blood to
the priests, who sprinkled the blood on the altar
while the Levites prepared the animals. 12 They
divided the burnt offerings among the people
by their family groups, so they could offer them
to the Lord as prescribed in the Book of Moses.
They did the same with the cattle. 13 Then they
roasted the Passover lambs as prescribed; and
they boiled the holy offerings in pots, kettles,
and pans, and brought them out quickly so the
people could eat them.
14 Afterward the Levites prepared Passover offerings for themselves and for the priests—the
descendants of Aaron—because the priests had
been busy from morning till night offering the
burnt offerings and the fat portions. The Levites
took responsibility for all these preparations.
15 The musicians, descendants of Asaph, were
in their assigned places, following the commands
35:1 This day in the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar was April 5,
622 b.c. 35:20 Or Josiah went out to meet him. 36:2 Hebrew
Joahaz, a variant spelling of Jehoahaz; also in 36:4.
that had been given by David, Asaph, Heman,
and Jeduthun, the king’s seer. The gatekeepers
guarded the gates and did not need to leave their
posts of duty, for their Passover offerings were
prepared for them by their fellow Levites.
16 The entire ceremony for the Lord’s Passover was completed that day. All the burnt offerings were sacrificed on the altar of the Lord,
as King Josiah had commanded. 17 All the Israelites present in Jerusalem celebrated Passover
and the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven
days. 18 Never since the time of the prophet Samuel had there been such a Passover. None of the
kings of Israel had ever kept a Passover as Josiah did, involving all the priests and Levites,
all the people of Jerusalem, and people from all
over Judah and Israel. 19 This Passover was celebrated in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign.
Josiah Dies in Battle
20 After Josiah had finished restoring the Temple,
King Neco of Egypt led his army up from Egypt
to do battle at Carchemish on the Euphrates
River, and Josiah and his army marched out to
fight him.* 21 But King Neco sent messengers to
Josiah with this message:
“What do you want with me, king of Judah?
I have no quarrel with you today! I am on my
way to fight another nation, and God has told
me to hurry! Do not interfere with God, who
is with me, or he will destroy you.”
22 But Josiah refused to listen to Neco, to
whom God had indeed spoken, and he would
not turn back. Instead, he disguised himself
and led his army into battle on the plain of Megiddo. 23 But the enemy archers hit King Josiah
with their arrows and wounded him. He cried
out to his men, “Take me from the battle, for I
am badly wounded!”
24 So they lifted Josiah out of his chariot
and placed him in another chariot. Then they
brought him back to Jerusalem, where he died.
He was buried there in the royal cemetery. And
all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him. 25 The
prophet Jeremiah composed funeral songs for
Josiah, and to this day choirs still sing these sad
songs about his death. These songs of sorrow
have become a tradition and are recorded in The
Book of Laments.
26 The rest of the events of Josiah’s reign and
his acts of devotion (carried out according
to what was written in the Law of the Lord),
27 from beginning to end—all are recorded in The
Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.
Jehoahaz Rules in Judah
Then the people of the land took Josiah’s son Jehoahaz and made him the
next king in Jerusalem.
2 Jehoahaz* was twenty-three years old when
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