2 Chronicles 35

Josiah celebrated the Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem. They slaughtered the Passover sacrifices on the fourteenth day of the first month. He appointed the priests to their duties and encouraged them in the service of the house of the LORD. He said to the Levites who instructed all Israel and were holy to the LORD, “Place the holy ark in the house that Solomon son of David, king of Israel, built. You no longer have to carry it on your shoulders. Now serve the LORD your God and his people Israel. Prepare yourselves by your ancestral houses according to your divisions, following the writings of David king of Israel and the writings of his son Solomon. Take your places in the sanctuary according to the divisions of the ancestral houses of your brothers among the people and according to the division of the Levites' ancestral houses. Slaughter the Passover sacrifices, consecrate yourselves, and make preparations for your brothers, carrying out the word of the LORD given through Moses.” Josiah contributed to the people 30,000 lambs and young goats, all for the Passover sacrifices of everyone present, and 3,000 cattle. These came from the king's possessions. His officials made freewill contributions to the people, the priests, and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the officials in charge of the house of God, gave the priests 2,600 animals for the Passover sacrifices and 300 cattle. Cononiah and his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, along with Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad, leaders of the Levites, contributed 5,000 animals for the Levites' Passover sacrifices and 500 cattle. So the service was prepared. The priests took their positions, and the Levites stood according to their divisions, as the king had commanded. They slaughtered the Passover sacrifices, and the priests dashed the blood handed to them, while the Levites skinned the animals. They set aside the burnt offerings to give them to the divisions of the people's ancestral houses, to offer to the LORD as written in the Book of Moses. They did the same with the cattle. They roasted the Passover sacrifices over the fire as prescribed. They cooked the consecrated offerings in pots, cauldrons, and pans and quickly brought them to all the people. Afterward they prepared portions for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron, were occupied with offering the burnt offerings and the fat until night. So the Levites prepared portions for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron. The singers, the sons of Asaph, were at their posts according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer. The gatekeepers were at every gate. They did not have to leave their service, because their brothers the Levites prepared portions for them. So all the service of the LORD was prepared that day to celebrate the Passover and offer burnt offerings on the altar of the LORD, as King Josiah had commanded. The Israelites who were present celebrated the Passover at that time and the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days. No Passover like it had been celebrated in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel had celebrated a Passover like the one celebrated by Josiah, the priests, the Levites, all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. This Passover was celebrated in the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign. After all this, when Josiah had prepared the house, Necho king of Egypt went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to confront him. But Necho sent messengers to him, saying, “What have I to do with you, king of Judah? I am not coming against you today, but against the house with which I am at war. God has told me to hurry. Stop opposing God, who is with me, so that he does not destroy you.” Josiah would not turn away from him but disguised himself to fight him. He did not listen to Necho's words from the mouth of God and went to fight in the Valley of Megiddo. The archers shot King Josiah, and the king said to his servants, “Take me away, for I am badly wounded.” His servants took him out of the chariot, put him in his second chariot, and brought him to Jerusalem. He died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. Jeremiah sang a lament for Josiah. To this day all the male and female singers speak of Josiah in their laments. They made these a custom in Israel, and they are written in the laments. The rest of Josiah's deeds and his acts of faithful love according to what is written in the law of the LORD, and his deeds, from first to last, are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

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