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.

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