2 Chronicles 30–33

Hezekiah Celebrates the Passover Feast

30Hezekiah sent a message to all of the people of Israel and Judah. He also wrote letters to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. He invited everyone to come to the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem. He wanted them to celebrate the Passover Feast in honor of the Lord. He is the God of Israel.

²The king, his officials and the whole community in Jerusalem decided to celebrate the Passover in the second month. ³They hadn’t been able to celebrate it at the regular time. That’s because there weren’t enough priests who had set themselves apart to the Lord. Also, the people hadn’t gathered together in Jerusalem.

⁴The plan seemed good to the king and the whole community. ⁵They decided to send a message all through Israel. It was sent out from Beersheba all the way to Dan. The message invited the people to come to Jerusalem. It invited them to celebrate the Passover in honor of the Lord, the God of Israel.

The Passover hadn’t been celebrated by large numbers of people for a long time. It hadn’t been done in keeping with what was written in the law.

⁶Messengers went all through Israel and Judah. They carried letters from the king and his officials. The king had ordered them to do that. The letters said,

“People of Israel, return to the Lord. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel. Return to him. Then he will return to you who are left in the land. You have escaped from the power of the kings of Assyria.

⁷“Don’t be like the rest of your people and relatives. They weren’t faithful to the Lord, the God of their people. That’s why he punished them. He made them look so bad that everyone was shocked when they saw them. You can see it for yourselves.

⁸“Don’t be stubborn. Don’t be as your people were. Obey the Lord. Come to the temple. He has set it apart to himself forever. Serve the Lord your God. Then he’ll turn his burning anger away from you.

⁹“Suppose you return to the Lord. Then those who captured your relatives and children will be kind to them. In fact, your relatives and children will come back to this land. The Lord your God is kind and tender. He won’t turn away from you if you return to him.”

¹⁰The messengers went from town to town in Ephraim and Manasseh. They went all the way to Zebulun. But the people made fun of them. They laughed at them. ¹¹In spite of that, some men from Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun made themselves low in the Lord’s sight. They went to Jerusalem.

¹²God’s powerful hand helped the people of Judah. He helped them agree with one another. So they did what the king and his officials had ordered. They did what the Lord told them to do.

¹³A very large crowd of people gathered together in Jerusalem. They went there to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It took place in the second month. ¹⁴They removed the altars in Jerusalem. They cleared away the altars for burning incense. They threw all of the altars into the Kidron Valley.

¹⁵They killed the Passover lamb on the 14th day of the second month. The priests and Levites were filled with shame. They set themselves apart to the Lord. They brought burnt offerings to his temple. ¹⁶Then they went to their regular positions. They did it just as the Law of Moses, the man of God, required. The Levites gave the blood of the animals to the priests. The priests sprinkled it on the altar.

¹⁷Many people in the crowd hadn’t set themselves apart to the Lord. They weren’t “clean.” They couldn’t set their lambs apart to him. So the Levites had to kill the Passover lambs for all of them.

¹⁸Many people came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun. Most of them hadn’t made themselves pure and clean. But they still ate the Passover meal. That was against what was written in the law. But Hezekiah prayed for them. He said, “The Lord is good. May he forgive everyone ¹⁹who wants to worship God with all his heart. God is the Lord, the God of their people. May God forgive them even if they aren’t ‘clean’ in keeping with the rules of the temple.”

²⁰The Lord answered Hezekiah’s prayer. He healed the people.

²¹The people of Israel who were in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread. They celebrated for seven days with great joy.

The Levites and priests sang to the Lord every day. Their singing was accompanied by musical instruments. The instruments were used to praise the Lord.

²²Hezekiah spoke words that gave hope to all of the Levites. They understood how to serve the Lord well. For the seven days of the Feast they ate the share that was given to them. They also sacrificed friendship offerings. They praised the Lord, the God of their people.

²³Then the whole community agreed to celebrate the Feast for seven more days. So for another seven days they celebrated with joy.

²⁴Hezekiah, the king of Judah, provided 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep and goats for the community. The officials provided 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep and goats for them. A large number of priests set themselves apart to the Lord.

²⁵The entire community of Judah was filled with joy. So were the priests and Levites. And so were all of the people who had gathered together from Israel. That included the outsiders who had come from Israel. It also included those who lived in Judah.

²⁶There was great joy in Jerusalem. There hadn’t been anything like it in Israel since the days of Solomon, the son of David. Solomon had been king of Israel.

²⁷The priests and Levites gave their blessing to the people. God heard them. Their prayer reached all the way to heaven. It’s the holy place where he lives.

31The Feast came to an end. The people of Israel who were in Jerusalem went out to the towns of Judah. They smashed the sacred stones. They cut down the poles that were used to worship the goddess Asherah. They destroyed the high places and the altars. They did those things all through Judah and Benjamin. They also did them in Ephraim and Manasseh. They destroyed all of the objects that were used to worship other gods. Then the people returned to their own towns and property.

The People Bring Gifts to the Lord

²Hezekiah put the priests and Levites in groups based on their duties. The priests sacrificed burnt offerings and friendship offerings. The Levites served the Lord by giving thanks and singing praises at the gates of his house.

³The king gave some of his own possessions to the temple. He gave them for the morning and evening burnt offerings. He gave them for the burnt offerings for every Sabbath day. He gave them for the burnt offerings for every New Moon feast. And he gave them for the burnt offerings for every yearly appointed feast. He did it in keeping with what is written in the Law of the Lord.

⁴Hezekiah gave an order to the people who were living in Jerusalem. He commanded them to give to the priests and Levites the share they owed them. Then the priests and Levites could give their full attention to the Law of the Lord.

⁵The order went out. Right away the people of Israel began to give freely. They gave the first share of the harvest of their grain, fresh wine, olive oil and honey. They also gave the first share of everything else their fields produced. They brought a large amount. It was a tenth of everything.

⁶The people of Israel and Judah who lived in the towns of Judah brought a tenth of their herds and flocks. They also brought a tenth of the holy things they had set apart to the Lord their God. They put them in piles. ⁷They began doing it in the third month. They finished in the seventh month. ⁸Hezekiah and his officials came and saw the piles. When they did, they praised the Lord. And they blessed his people Israel.

⁹Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites about the piles. ¹⁰The chief priest Azariah answered him. He said, “The people have been bringing their gifts to the Lord’s temple. Ever since they began to bring them, we’ve had enough to eat. We have even had plenty to spare. That’s because the Lord has blessed his people. So we have a large amount left over.” Azariah was from the family line of Zadok.

¹¹Hezekiah gave orders to prepare storerooms in the Lord’s temple. And it was done. ¹²The people were faithful. They brought in their offerings, a tenth of everything they produced, and the gifts they had set apart to the Lord. The Levite Conaniah was in charge of those things. His brother Shimei was next in command after him. ¹³Conaniah and his brother Shimei had directors who worked under them. Their names were Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismakiah, Mahath and Benaiah. King Hezekiah and Azariah had appointed them. Azariah was the official who was in charge of God’s temple.

¹⁴The Levite Kore guarded the East Gate. He was in charge of the offerings people chose to give to God. He handed out the offerings that were made to the Lord. He also handed out the gifts that had been set apart to the Lord. Kore was the son of Imnah. ¹⁵Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah and Shecaniah helped Kore. They were faithful in helping him in the towns of the priests. They handed out gifts to their brother priests, group by group. They gave the gifts to young men and old men alike.

¹⁶In addition to that, they handed out gifts to the males who were three years old or more. The names of those males were listed in their family history. All of them would enter the Lord’s temple. They would carry out their duties each day. Each group did all of the different things it was supposed to do.

¹⁷Kore and his Levite companions also handed out gifts to the priests. The priests were listed by their families in their family history. Those Levites also handed out gifts to the Levites who were 20 years old or more. Each group did all of the different things it was supposed to do.

¹⁸Those groups included all of the little ones, the wives, and the sons and daughters of the whole community. All of them were listed in their family history. They were faithful in setting themselves apart to serve the Lord.

¹⁹Some of the priests, who were from the family line of…