2 Chronicles 30
30
Hezekiah Observes the Passover
1 Hezekiah sent messages throughout Israel and Judah; he even wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, summoning them to come to the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem#map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4. and observe a Passover celebration for the Lord God of Israel. 2 The king, his officials, and the entire assembly in Jerusalem decided to observe the Passover in the second month. 3 They were unable to observe it at the regular#tn Heb “at that time.” time because not enough priests had consecrated themselves and the people had not assembled in Jerusalem. 4 The proposal seemed appropriate to#tn Heb “and the thing was proper in the eyes of.” the king and the entire assembly. 5 So they sent an edict#tn Heb “and they caused to stand a word to cause a voice to pass through.” throughout Israel from Beer Sheba to Dan, summoning the people#tn The words “summoning the people” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. to come and observe a Passover for the Lord God of Israel in Jerusalem, for they had not observed it on a nationwide scale as prescribed in the law.#tn Heb “because not for abundance had they done as written.” 6 Messengers#tn Heb “the runners.” delivered the letters from the king and his officials throughout Israel and Judah.
This royal edict read:#tn Heb “and according to the command of the king, saying.” “O Israelites, return to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so he may return#tn The jussive with vav conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative. to you who have been spared from the kings of Assyria.#tn Heb “to the survivors who are left to you from the palm of the kings of Assyria.” 7 Don’t be like your fathers and brothers who were unfaithful to the Lord God of their ancestors,#tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 19, 22). provoking him to destroy them,#tn Heb “and he made them a devastation” (or, perhaps, “an object of horror”). as you can see. 8 Now, don’t be stubborn#tn Heb “don’t stiffen your neck” (a Hebrew idiom for being stubborn). like your fathers! Submit#tn Heb “give a hand.” On the meaning of the idiom here, see HALOT 387 s.v. I יָד 2. to the Lord and come to his sanctuary which he has permanently consecrated. Serve the Lord your God so that he might relent from his raging anger.#tn Heb “so that the rage of his anger might turn from you.” The jussive with vav conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative. 9 For if you return to the Lord, your brothers and sons will be shown mercy by their captors and return to this land. The Lord your God is merciful and compassionate; he will not reject you#tn Heb “turn [his] face from you.” if you return to him.”
10 The messengers journeyed from city to city through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun, but people mocked and ridiculed them.#tn Heb “and they were mocking them and ridiculing them.” 11 But some men from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. 12 In Judah God moved the people to unite and carry out the edict the king and the officers had issued at the Lord’s command.#tn Heb “also in Judah the hand of God was to give to them one heart to do the command of the king and the officials by the word of the Lord.” 13 A huge crowd assembled in Jerusalem to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month.#tn The Hebrew text adds here, “a very large assembly.” This has not been translated to avoid redundancy with the expression “a huge crowd” at the beginning of the verse. 14 They removed the altars in Jerusalem; they also removed all the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley.#tn Heb “and they arose and removed the altars which were in Jerusalem, and all the incense altars they removed and threw into the Kidron Valley.”
15 They slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and Levites were ashamed, so they consecrated themselves and brought burnt sacrifices to the Lord’s temple. 16 They stood at their posts according to the regulations outlined in the law of Moses, the man of God. The priests were splashing the blood as the Levites handed it to them.#tn Heb “from the hand of the Levites.” 17 Because many in the assembly had not consecrated themselves, the Levites slaughtered#tn Heb “were over the slaughter of.” the Passover lambs of all who were ceremonially unclean and could not consecrate their sacrifice to the Lord.#tn Heb “of everyone not pure to consecrate to the Lord.” 18 The majority of the many people from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun were ceremonially unclean, yet they ate the Passover in violation of what is prescribed in the law.#tn Heb “without what is written.” For Hezekiah prayed for them, saying: “May the Lord, who is good, forgive#tn Heb “make atonement for.” 19 everyone who has determined to follow God,#tn Heb “everyone [who] has prepared his heart to seek God.” the Lord God of his ancestors, even if he is not ceremonially clean according to the standards of the temple.”#tn Heb “and not according to the purification of the holy place.” 20 The Lord responded favorably#tn Heb “listened.” to Hezekiah and forgave#tn Heb “healed.” the people.
21 The Israelites who were in Jerusalem observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy. The Levites and priests were praising the Lord every day with all their might.#tn Heb “and they were praising the Lord day by day, the Levites and the priests with instruments of strength to the Lord.” The phrase בִּכְלֵי־עֹז (bikhley-’oz, “with instruments of strength”) might refer to loud sounding musical instruments (NASB “with loud instruments”; NEB “with unrestrained fervour”). The present translation assumes an emendation to בְּכָל־עֹז (bÿkhol-’oz, “with all strength”); see 1 Chr 13:8, as well as HALOT 805 s.v. I עֹז and BDB 739 s.v. עֹז). 22 Hezekiah expressed his appreciation to all the Levites,#tn Heb “and Hezekiah spoke to the heart of all the Levites.” On the meaning of the idiom “speak to the heart of” here, see HALOT 210 s.v. II דבר 8.d. who demonstrated great skill in serving the Lord.#tn Heb “who demonstrated skill [with] good skill for the Lord.” They feasted for the seven days of the festival,#tn Heb “and they ate [during] the appointed time [for] seven days.” מוֹעֵד (mo’ed, “appointed time”) is probably an adverbial accusative of time referring to the festival. However, some understand it as metonymically referring to the food eaten during the festival. See BDB 417 s.v. and were making peace offerings and giving thanks to the Lord God of their ancestors.
23 The entire assembly then decided to celebrate for seven more days; so they joyfully celebrated for seven more days. 24 King Hezekiah of Judah supplied 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep#tn The Hebrew term צֹאן (ts’on, translated “sheep” twice in this verse) denotes smaller livestock in general; depending on context it can refer to sheep only or goats only, but their is nothing in the immediate context here to specify one or the other. for the assembly, while the officials supplied them#tn Heb “the assembly.” The pronoun “them” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy. with 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep. Many priests consecrated themselves. 25 The celebration included#tn Heb “they rejoiced.” the entire assembly of Judah, the priests, the Levites, the entire assembly of those who came from Israel, the resident foreigners who came from the land of Israel, and the residents of Judah. 26 There was a great celebration in Jerusalem, unlike anything that had occurred in Jerusalem since the time of King Solomon son of David of Israel.#tn Heb “and there was great joy in Jerusalem, for from the days of Solomon son of David, king of Israel, there was nothing like this in Jerusalem.” 27 The priests and Levites got up and pronounced blessings on the people. The Lord responded favorably to them#tn Heb “and it was heard with their voice.” BDB 1034 s.v. שָׁמַע Niph.4 interprets this to mean “hearing was granted to their voice.” It is possible that the name יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) has been accidentally omitted. as their prayers reached his holy dwelling place in heaven.
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2 Chronicles 30
30
1-5Then Hezekiah invited all of Israel and Judah, with personal letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, to come to The Temple of God in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover to Israel’s God. The king and his officials and the congregation in Jerusalem had decided to celebrate Passover in the second month. They hadn’t been able to celebrate it at the regular time because not enough of the priests were yet personally prepared and the people hadn’t had time to gather in Jerusalem. Under these circumstances, the revised date was approved by both king and people and they sent out the invitation from one end of the country to the other, from Beersheba in the south to Dan in the north: “Come and celebrate the Passover to Israel’s God in Jerusalem.” No one living had ever celebrated it properly.
6-9The king gave the orders, and the couriers delivered the invitations from the king and his leaders throughout Israel and Judah. The invitation read: “O Israelites! Come back to God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that he can return to you who have survived the preying kings of Assyria. Don’t repeat the sins of your ancestors who turned their backs on God, the God of their ancestors who then brought them to ruin—you can see the ruins all around you. Don’t be bullheaded as your ancestors were. Clasp God’s outstretched hand. Come to his Temple of holy worship, consecrated for all time. Serve God, your God. You’ll no longer be in danger of his hot anger. If you come back to God, your captive relatives and children will be treated compassionately and allowed to come home. Your God is gracious and kind and won’t snub you—come back and he’ll welcome you with open arms.”
10-12So the couriers set out, going from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, as far north as Zebulun. But the people poked fun at them, treated them as a joke. But not all; some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun weren’t too proud to accept the invitation and come to Jerusalem. It was better in Judah—God worked powerfully among them to make it unanimous, responding to the orders sent out by the king and his officials, orders backed up by the word of God.
13-17It turned out that there was a tremendous crowd of people when the time came in the second month to celebrate the Passover (sometimes called the Feast of Unraised Bread). First they went to work and got rid of all the pagan altars that were in Jerusalem—hauled them off and dumped them in the Kidron Valley. Then, on the fourteenth day of the second month, they slaughtered the Passover lambs. The priests and Levites weren’t ready; but now, embarrassed in their laziness, they consecrated themselves and brought Whole-Burnt-Offerings to The Temple of God. Ready now, they stood at their posts as designated by The Revelation of Moses the holy man; the priests sprinkled the blood the Levites handed to them. Because so many in the congregation had not properly prepared themselves by consecration and so were not qualified, the Levites took charge of the slaughter of the Passover lambs so that they would be properly consecrated to God.
18-19There were a lot of people, especially those from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, who did not eat the Passover meal because they had not prepared themselves adequately. Hezekiah prayed for these as follows: “May God who is all good, pardon and forgive everyone who sincerely desires God, the God of our ancestors. Even—especially!—these who do not meet the literal conditions stated for access to The Temple.”
20 God responded to Hezekiah’s prayer and healed the people.
21-22a All the Israelites present in Jerusalem celebrated the Passover (Feast of Unraised Bread) for seven days, celebrated exuberantly. The Levites and priests praised God day after day, filling the air with praise sounds of percussion and brass. Hezekiah commended the Levites for the superb way in which they had led the people in the worship of God.
22b-23 When the feast and festival—that glorious seven days of worship, the making of offerings, and the praising of God, the God of their ancestors—were over, the tables cleared and the floors swept, they all decided to keep going for another seven days! So they just kept on celebrating, and as joyfully as they began.
24-26Hezekiah king of Judah gave one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for the congregation’s worship; the officials gave an additional one thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep. And there turned out to be plenty of consecrated priests—qualified and well-prepared. The whole congregation of Judah, the priests and Levites, the congregation that came in from Israel, and the resident aliens from both Israel and Judah, were all in on the joyous celebration. Jerusalem was bursting with joy—nothing like this had taken place in Jerusalem since Solomon son of David king of Israel had built and dedicated The Temple.
27The priests and Levites had the last word: they stood and blessed the people. And God listened, listened as the ascending sound of their prayers entered his holy heaven.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.