2 Chronicles 30:13–27

¹³A very large crowd of people assembled in Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Breadⁱ in the second month. ¹⁴They removed the altars^j in Jerusalem and cleared away the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley.^k

¹⁵They slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites were ashamed and consecrated^l themselves and brought burnt offerings to the temple of the Lord. ¹⁶Then they took up their regular positions^m 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 killⁿ the Passover lambs for all those who were not ceremonially clean and could not consecrate their lambs^a to the Lord. ¹⁸Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not purified themselves,^o 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^p Hezekiah and healed^q the people.^r

²¹The Israelites who were present in Jerusalem celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread^s for seven days with great rejoicing, while the Levites and priests praised the Lord every day with resounding instruments dedicated to the Lord.^b

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^c the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

²³The whole assembly then agreed to celebrate^t the festival seven more days; so for another seven days they celebrated joyfully. ²⁴Hezekiah king of Judah provided^u 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^v, 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^w son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. ²⁷The priests and the Levites stood to bless^x the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place.