2 Chronicles 35

Josiah’s Epic Passover & Tragic End

1 Josiah celebrated the Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem, and they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month.

2 He put the priests in their assigned positions and encouraged them for the service of the Lord’s temple.

3 He told the Levites who taught all Israel and were consecrated to the Lord, “Put the holy Ark in the temple that Solomon son of David king of Israel built. You are not going to carry it on your shoulders anymore. Now, serve the Lord your God and His people Israel.”

4 “Organize yourselves by your father’s families, by your divisions, according to the instructions of David king of Israel and the instructions of his son Solomon."

5 “And stand in the sanctuary according to the divisions of the father’s families of your relatives the common people, and let there be a portion for a Levite family for each one.”

6 “Slaughter the Passover lamb, make yourselves holy, and prepare it for your relatives, to do according to the word of the Lord through Moses.”

7 Josiah contributed to the common people thirty thousand sheep and goats for Passover offerings, and three thousand bulls; all these were from the king’s property.

8 His officials also gave a freewill offering to the people, the priests, and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the officials of God’s temple, gave the priests two thousand six hundred Passover offerings and three hundred oxen.

9 Conaniah, Shemaiah, and Nethanel, his brothers, and Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad, the chief Levites, gave the Levites five thousand Passover offerings and five hundred oxen.

10 So the service was set up, and the priests stood in their positions, and the Levites in their divisions, according to the king’s command.

11 They slaughtered the Passover lamb, and the priests splashed the blood from their hands, while the Levites skinned them.

12 They set aside the burnt offerings to distribute to the people by their father’s families, to offer to the Lord, as it is written in the Book of Moses. They did the same with the oxen.

13 They cooked the Passover lamb over fire according to the rule, and the holy offerings they boiled in pots, cauldrons, and pans, and quickly distributed them to all the people.

14 After that, they prepared for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron, were busy offering burnt offerings and fat until night. So the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron.

15 The singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their assigned places according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer. The gatekeepers were at each gate; they did not need to leave their post, because their Levite relatives prepared for them.

16 So all the service of the Lord was set up that day, to celebrate the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, according to the command of King Josiah.

17 The Israelites who were present celebrated the Passover at that time, and the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days.

18 No Passover like it had been celebrated in Israel since the time of Samuel the prophet. No king of Israel had ever celebrated such a Passover as Josiah celebrated with the priests, Levites, all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

19 This Passover was celebrated in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s rule.

Josiah’s Death

20 After all this, when Josiah had put the temple in order, Necho king of Egypt rolled up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates River. Josiah went out against him.

21 But Necho sent messengers to him, saying, “What beef is between me and you, king of Judah, I am not coming against you today, but against the house with which I am at war. And God told me to hurry. Stop resisting God, who is with me, or He will destroy you!”

22 However, Josiah did not turn his face away from him, but disguised himself to fight him. He did not listen to the words of Necho from the mouth of God, but came to fight in the Valley of Megiddo.

23 The archers shot King Josiah. And the king told his servants, “Get me out of here, because I am seriously wounded!”

24 So his servants took him out of the chariot and carried him in his second chariot to Jerusalem. He passed away and was buried in the tombs of his ancestors. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

25 Jeremiah composed a lament for Josiah. And all the male and female singers still speak of Josiah in their laments to this day. They made them a custom in Israel. Look, they are written in the Laments.

26 As for the rest of Josiah’s story, and his loyal acts, according to what is written in the Law of the Lord,

27 And his deeds, from beginning to end, look, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.