[1] And Josiah kept a Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem; on the fourteenth
day of the first month they put the Passover lamb to death. [2] And he gave
the priests their places, making them strong for the work of the house of
God. [3] And he said to the Levites, the teachers of all Israel, who were
holy to the Lord, See, the holy ark is in the house which Solomon, the son
of David, king of Israel, made; it will no longer have to be transported on
your backs: now be the servants of the Lord your God and his people Israel,
[4] And make yourselves ready in your divisions, by your families, as it is
ordered in the writings of David, king of Israel, and of Solomon his son;
[5] And take your positions in the holy place, grouped in the families of
your brothers, the children of the people, and for every division let there
be a part of a family of the Levites. [6] And put the Passover lamb to
death, and make yourselves holy, and make it ready for your brothers, so
that the orders given by the Lord through Moses may be done. [7] And Josiah
gave lambs and goats from the flock as Passover offerings for all the
people who were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three
thousand oxen: these were from the king's private property. [8] And his
captains freely gave an offering to the people, the priests, and the
Levites. Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel, the rulers of the house of God,
gave to the priests for the Passover offerings two thousand, six hundred
small cattle and three hundred oxen. [9] And Conaniah and Shemaiah and
Nethanel, his brothers, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, the chiefs of
the Levites, gave to the Levites for the Passover offerings five thousand
small cattle and five hundred oxen. [10] So everything was made ready and
the priests took their places with the Levites in their divisions, as the
king had said. [11] And they put the Passover lambs to death, the blood
being drained out by the priests when it was given to them, and the Levites
did the skinning. [12] And they took away the burned offerings, so that
they might give them to be offered to the Lord for the divisions of the
families of the people, as it is recorded in the book of Moses. And they
did the same with the oxen. [13] And the Passover lamb was cooked over the
fire, as it says in the law; and the holy offerings were cooked in pots and
basins and vessels, and taken quickly to all the people. [14] And after
that, they made ready for themselves and for the priests; for the priests,
the sons of Aaron, were offering the burned offerings and the fat till
night; so the Levites made ready what was needed for themselves and for the
priests, the sons of Aaron. [15] And the sons of Asaph, the makers of
melody, were in their places, as ordered by David and Asaph and Heman and
Jeduthun, the king's seer; and the door-keepers were stationed at every
door: there was no need for them to go away from their places, for their
brothers the Levites made ready for them. [16] So everything needed for the
worship of the Lord was made ready that same day, for the keeping of the
Passover and the offering of burned offerings on the altar of the Lord, as
King Josiah had given orders. [17] And all the children of Israel who were
present kept the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread at that time
for seven days. [18] No Passover like it had been kept in Israel from the
days of Samuel the prophet; and not one of the kings of Israel had ever
kept a Passover like the one kept by Josiah and the priests and the Levites
and all those of Judah and Israel who were present, and the people of
Jerusalem. [19] In the eighteenth year of the rule of Josiah this Passover
was kept. [20] After all this, and after Josiah had put the house in order,
Neco, king of Egypt, went up to make war at Carchemish by the river
Euphrates; and Josiah went out against him. [21] But he sent
representatives to him, saying, What have I to do with you, O king of
Judah? I have not come against you this day, but against those with whom I
am at war; and God has given me orders to go forward quickly: keep out of
God's way, for he is with me, or he will send destruction on you. [22]
However, Josiah would not go back; but keeping to his purpose of fighting
against him, and giving no attention to the words of Neco, which came from
God, he went forward to the fight in the valley of Megiddo. [23] And the
bowmen sent their arrows at King Josiah, and the king said to his servants,
Take me away, for I am badly wounded. [24] So his servants took him out of
the line of war-carriages, and put him in his second carriage and took him
to Jerusalem, where he came to his end, and they put his body in the
resting-place of his fathers. And in all Judah and Jerusalem there was
great weeping for Josiah. [25] And Jeremiah made a song of grief for
Josiah; and to this day Josiah is named by all the makers of melody, men
and women, in their songs of grief; they made it a rule in Israel; and the
songs are recorded among the songs of grief. [26] Now the rest of the acts
of Josiah, and the good he did, in keeping with what is recorded in the law
of the Lord, [27] And all his acts, first and last, are recorded in the
book of the kings of Israel and Judah.
