^30:2The king, his officials, and the entire assembly in Jerusalem decided to observe the Passover in the second month. ^30:3They were unable to observe it at the regular² time because not enough priests had consecrated themselves and the people had not assembled in Jerusalem. ^30:4The proposal seemed appropriate to³ the king and the entire assembly. ^30:5So they sent an edict⁴ throughout Israel from Beer Sheba to Dan, summoning the people⁵ 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.⁶^30:6Messengers⁷ delivered the letters from the king and his officials throughout Israel and Judah.

This royal edict read:⁸ “O Israelites, return to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so he may return⁹ to you who have been spared from the kings of Assyria.¹⁰^30:7Don’t be like your fathers and brothers who were unfaithful to the Lord God of their ancestors,¹¹ provoking him to destroy them,¹² as you can see. ^30:8Now, don’t be stubborn¹³ like your fathers! Submit¹⁴ 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.¹⁵^30:9For 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 you¹⁶ if you return to him.”

^30:10The messengers journeyed from city to city through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun, but people mocked and ridiculed them.¹⁷^30:11But some men from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. ^30:12In Judah God moved the people to unite and carry out the edict the king and the officers had issued at the Lord’s command.¹⁸^30:13A huge crowd assembled in Jerusalem to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month.¹⁹^30:14They removed the altars in Jerusalem; they also removed all the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley.²⁰

^30:15They 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.

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Footnotes

2 Heb “at that time.”
3 Heb “and the thing was proper in the eyes of.”
4 Heb “and they caused to stand a word to cause a voice to pass through.”
5 The words “summoning the people” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
6 Heb “because not for abundance had they done as written.”
7 Heb “the runners.”
8 Heb “and according to the command of the king, saying.”
9 The jussive with vav conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.
10 Heb “to the survivors who are left to you from the palm of the kings of Assyria.”
11 Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 19, 22).
12 Heb “and he made them a devastation” (or, perhaps, “an object of horror”).
13 Heb “don’t stiffen your neck” (a Hebrew idiom for being stubborn).
14 Heb “give a hand.” On the meaning of the idiom here, see I יָד 2.
15 Heb “so that the rage of his anger might turn from you.” The jussive with vav conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.
16 Heb “turn [his] face from you.”
17 Heb “and they were mocking them and ridiculing them.”
18 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.”
19 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.
20 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.”