2 Chronicles 30
30
Hezekiah Celebrates the Passover
1Hezekiah sent word to all Israel and Judah and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, inviting them to come to the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel. 2The king and his officials and the whole assembly in Jerusalem decided to celebrate the Passover in the second month. 3They had not been able to celebrate it at the regular time because not enough priests had consecrated themselves and the people had not assembled in Jerusalem. 4The plan seemed right both to the king and to the whole assembly. 5They decided to send a proclamation throughout Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, calling the people to come to Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel. It had not been celebrated in large numbers according to what was written.
6At the king’s command, couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and from his officials, which read:
“People of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, that he may return to you who are left, who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. 7Do not be like your parents and your fellow Israelites, who were unfaithful to the Lord, the God of their ancestors, so that he made them an object of horror, as you see. 8Do not be stiff-necked, as your ancestors were; submit to the Lord. Come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever. Serve the Lord your God, so that his fierce anger will turn away from you. 9If you return to the Lord, then your fellow Israelites and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will return to this land, for the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him.”
10The couriers went from town to town in Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulun, but people scorned and ridiculed them. 11Nevertheless, some from Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves and went to Jerusalem. 12Also in Judah the hand of God was on the people to give them unity of mind to carry out what the king and his officials had ordered, following the word of the Lord.
13A very large crowd of people assembled in Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread in the second month. 14They removed the altars in Jerusalem and cleared away the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley.
15They slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites were ashamed and consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the temple of the Lord. 16Then they took up their regular positions as prescribed in the Law of Moses the man of God. The priests splashed against the altar the blood handed to them by the Levites. 17Since many in the crowd had not consecrated themselves, the Levites had to kill the Passover lambs for all those who were not ceremonially clean and could not consecrate their lambs#30:17 Or consecrate themselves to the Lord. 18Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the Lord, who is good, pardon everyone 19who sets their heart on seeking God—the Lord, the God of their ancestors—even if they are not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary.” 20And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people.
21The Israelites who were present in Jerusalem celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great rejoicing, while the Levites and priests praised the Lord every day with resounding instruments dedicated to the Lord.#30:21 Or priests sang to the Lord every day, accompanied by the Lord’s instruments of praise
22Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites, who showed good understanding of the service of the Lord. For the seven days they ate their assigned portion and offered fellowship offerings and praised#30:22 Or and confessed their sins to the Lord, the God of their ancestors.
23The whole assembly then agreed to celebrate the festival seven more days; so for another seven days they celebrated joyfully. 24Hezekiah king of Judah provided a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep and goats for the assembly, and the officials provided them with a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep and goats. A great number of priests consecrated themselves. 25The entire assembly of Judah rejoiced, along with the priests and Levites and all who had assembled from Israel, including the foreigners who had come from Israel and also those who resided in Judah. 26There was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. 27The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place.
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2 Chronicles 30: NIV
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The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®
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2 Chronicles 30
30
1 Also, Hezekiah sent to all of Israel and Judah. And he wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, so that they would come to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, and so that they would keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel.
2 Therefore, having taken counsel, the king and the rulers, and the entire assembly of Jerusalem, resolved that they would keep the Passover, in the second month.
3 For they had not been able to keep it at its proper time. For the priests, who were unable to suffice, had not been sanctified. And the people had not yet been gathered together in Jerusalem.
4 And the word was pleasing to the king, and to the entire multitude.
5 And they resolved that they would send messengers to all of Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, so that they might come and keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem. For many had not kept it, just as it was prescribed by the law.
6 And carriers traveled with the letters, by order of the king and his rulers, to all of Israel and Judah, proclaiming, in accord with what the king had ordered: "O sons of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Israel. And he will return to the remnant who escaped from the hand of the king of the Assyrians.
7 Do not choose to be like your fathers and brothers, who withdrew from the Lord, the God of their fathers. And so he delivered them over to destruction, as you yourselves discern.
8 Do not choose to harden your necks, as your fathers did. Surrender to the hands of the Lord. And go to his Sanctuary, which he has sanctified unto eternity. Serve the Lord, the God of your fathers, and the fury of his wrath will be turned away from you.
9 For if you will return to the Lord, your brothers and sons will find mercy before their masters, who led them away as captives, and they will be returned to this land. For the Lord your God is compassionate and lenient, and he will not avert his face from you, if you will return to him."
10 And so, the carriers were traveling quickly from city to city, throughout the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulun, though they were ridiculing and mocking them.
11 Even so, certain men from Asher, and from Manasseh, and from Zebulun, acquiescing to this counsel, went to Jerusalem.
12 Truly, the hand of God was working in Judah, to give them one heart, so that they would accomplish the word of the Lord, according to the precept of the king and of the rulers.
13 And many people gathered together in Jerusalem, so that they could keep the solemnity of unleavened bread, in the second month.
14 And rising up, they destroyed the altars which were in Jerusalem, and all the things in which incense was burned to idols. Overturning these things, they cast them into the torrent Kidron.
15 Then they immolated the Passover on the fourteenth day of the second month. Also, the priests and Levites, at length having been sanctified, offered the holocausts in the house of the Lord.
16 And they stood in their order, according to the disposition and law of Moses, the man of God. Yet truly, the priests took up the blood, which was to be poured out, from the hands of the Levites,
17 because a great number were not sanctified. And therefore, the Levites immolated the Passover for those who had not been sanctified to the Lord in time.
18 And now a great portion of the people from Ephraim, and Manasseh, and Issachar, and Zebulun, who had not been sanctified, ate the Passover, which is not in accord with what was written. And Hezekiah prayed for them, saying: "The good Lord will be forgiving
19 to all who, with their whole heart, seek the Lord, the God of their fathers. And he will not impute it to them, though they have not been sanctified."
20 And the Lord heeded him, and was reconciled to the people.
21 And the sons of Israel who were found at Jerusalem kept the solemnity of unleavened bread for seven days with great rejoicing, praising the Lord throughout each day, with the Levites and the priests, accompanied by the musical instruments corresponding to their office.
22 And Hezekiah spoke to the heart of all the Levites, who had a good understanding concerning the Lord. And they ate during the seven days of the solemnity, immolating victims of peace offerings, and praising the Lord, the God of their fathers.
23 And it pleased the entire multitude that they should celebrate, even for another seven days. And they did this with enormous gladness.
24 For Hezekiah, the king of Judah, had offered to the multitude one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep. Truly, the rulers had given the people one thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep. Then a great mulititude of priests was sanctified.
25 And the whole multitude of Judah, as much the priests and Levites as the entire crowd that had arrived from Israel, and also the converts from the land of Israel, and those with a habitation in Judah, was overflowing with cheerfulness.
26 And there was a great celebration in Jerusalem, to such an extent as had not been in that city since the days of Solomon, the son of David, the king of Israel.
27 Then the priests and Levites rose up and blessed the people. And their voice was heeded. And their prayer reached the holy habitation of heaven.
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