1 Esdras 1:1–19

¹Josiah kept the passover to his Lord in Jerusalem; he killed the passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month, ²having placed the priests according to their divisions, arrayed in their garments, in the temple of the Lord. ³And he told the Levites, the temple servants of Israel, that they should sanctify themselves to the Lord and put the holy ark of the Lord in the house which Solomon the king, the son of David, had built; ⁴and he said, “You need no longer carry it upon your shoulders. Now worship the Lord your God and serve his people Israel; and prepare yourselves by your families and kindred, ⁵in accordance with the directions of David king of Israel and the magnificence of Solomon his son. Stand in order in the temple according to the groupings of the fathers’ houses of you Levites, who minister before your brethren the people of Israel, ⁶and kill the passover lamb and prepare the sacrifices for your brethren, and keep the passover according to the commandment of the Lord which was given to Moses.”

⁷And Josiah gave to the people who were present thirty thousand lambs and kids, and three thousand calves; these were given from the king’s possessions, as he promised, to the people and the priests and Levites. ⁸And Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the chief officers of the temple, gave to the priests for the passover two thousand six hundred sheep and three hundred calves. ⁹And Jeconiah and Shemaiah and Nethanel his brother, and Hashabiah and Ochiel and Joram, captains over thousands, gave the Levites for the passover five thousand sheep and seven hundred calves.

¹⁰And this is what took place. The priests and the Levites, properly arrayed and having the unleavened bread, stood according to kindred ¹¹and the grouping of the fathers’ houses, before the people, to make the offering to the Lord as it is written in the book of Moses; this they did in the morning. ¹²They roasted the passover lamb with fire, as required; and they boiled the sacrifices in brass pots and caldrons, with a pleasing odor, ¹³and carried them to all the people. Afterward they prepared the passover for themselves and for their brethren the priests, the sons of Aaron, ¹⁴because the priests were offering the fat until night; so the Levites prepared it for themselves and for their brethren the priests, the sons of Aaron. ¹⁵And the temple singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their place according to the arrangement made by David, and also Asaph, Zechariah, and Eddinus, who represented the king. ¹⁶The gatekeepers were at each gate; no one needed to depart from his duties, for their brethren the Levites prepared the passover for them.

¹⁷So the things that had to do with the sacrifices to the Lord were accomplished that day: the passover was kept ¹⁸and the sacrifices were offered on the altar of the Lord, according to the command of King Josiah. ¹⁹And the people of Israel who were present at that time kept the passover and the feast of unleavened bread seven days.