Thematic Bible: Observation of, renewed


Thematic Bible



Josiah observed a Passover festival for the Lord in Jerusalem. They slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of the first month.

He issued this edict because a Passover like this had not been observed since the days of the judges; it was neglected for the entire period of the kings of Israel and Judah. But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah's reign, such a Passover of the Lord was observed in Jerusalem.

A Passover like this had not been observed in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel had observed a Passover like the one celebrated by Josiah, the priests, the Levites, all the people of Judah and Israel who were there, and the residents of Jerusalem.


The exiles observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. The priests and the Levites had purified themselves, every last one, and they all were ceremonially pure. They sacrificed the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their colleagues the priests, and for themselves.


So the Israelites camped in Gilgal and celebrated the Passover in the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the plains of Jericho. They ate some of the produce of the land the day after the Passover, including unleavened bread and roasted grain.


Hezekiah sent messages throughout Israel and Judah; he even wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, summoning them to come to the Lord's temple in Jerusalem and observe a Passover celebration for the Lord God of Israel.


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