Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



The king commanded all the people, "Keep the Passover of the Lord your God as written in the book of the covenant." No such Passover had ever been kept from the time of the judges who judged Israel through the entire time of the kings of Israel and Judah. But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was observed to the Lord in Jerusalem.

Josiah observed the Lord's Passover and slaughtered the Passover [lambs] on the fourteenth day of the first month. He appointed the priests to their responsibilities and encouraged them to serve in the Lord's temple. He said to the Levites who taught all Israel the holy things of the Lord, "Put the holy ark in the temple built by Solomon son of David king of Israel. Since you do not have to carry it on your shoulders, now serve the Lord your God and His people Israel. read more.
"Organize your ancestral houses by your divisions according to the written instruction of David king of Israel and that of his son Solomon. Serve in the holy place by the divisions of the ancestral houses for your brothers, the lay people, and the distribution of the tribal household of the Levites. Slaughter the Passover [lambs], consecrate yourselves, and make preparations for your brothers to carry out the word of the Lord through Moses." Then Josiah donated 30,000 sheep, lambs, and kid goats, plus 3,000 bulls from his own possessions, for the Passover sacrifices for all the lay people who were present. His officials also donated willingly for the people, the priests, and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, leaders of God's temple, gave 2,600 Passover sacrifices and 300 bulls for the priests. Conaniah and his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad, officers of the Levites, donated 5,000 Passover sacrifices for the Levites, plus 500 bulls. So the service was established; the priests stood at their posts and the Levites in their divisions according to the king's command. Then they slaughtered the Passover [lambs], and while the Levites were skinning the [animals], the priests sprinkled the blood they had been given. They removed the burnt offerings so that they might be given to the divisions of the ancestral houses of the lay people to offer to the Lord, according to what is written in the book of Moses; [they did] the same with the bulls. They roasted the Passover [lambs] with fire according to regulation. They boiled the holy [sacrifices] in pots, in kettles, and in bowls; and they quickly brought [them] to the lay people. Afterwards, they made preparations for themselves and for the priests, since the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were busy offering up burnt offerings and fat until night. So the Levites made preparations for themselves and for the priests, the descendants of Aaron. The singers, the descendants of Asaph, were at their stations according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer. Also, the gatekeepers were at each gate. Because their Levite brothers had made preparations for them, none of them left their tasks. So all the service of the Lord was established that day for observing the Passover and for offering burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, according to the command of King Josiah. The Israelites who were present [in Judah] also observed the Passover at that time and the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days. No Passover had been observed like it in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel ever observed a Passover like the one that Josiah observed with the priests, the Levites, all Judah, the Israelites who were present [in Judah], and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. In the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign, this Passover was observed.


Josiah observed the Lord's Passover and slaughtered the Passover [lambs] on the fourteenth day of the first month. He appointed the priests to their responsibilities and encouraged them to serve in the Lord's temple. He said to the Levites who taught all Israel the holy things of the Lord, "Put the holy ark in the temple built by Solomon son of David king of Israel. Since you do not have to carry it on your shoulders, now serve the Lord your God and His people Israel. read more.
"Organize your ancestral houses by your divisions according to the written instruction of David king of Israel and that of his son Solomon. Serve in the holy place by the divisions of the ancestral houses for your brothers, the lay people, and the distribution of the tribal household of the Levites. Slaughter the Passover [lambs], consecrate yourselves, and make preparations for your brothers to carry out the word of the Lord through Moses." Then Josiah donated 30,000 sheep, lambs, and kid goats, plus 3,000 bulls from his own possessions, for the Passover sacrifices for all the lay people who were present. His officials also donated willingly for the people, the priests, and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, leaders of God's temple, gave 2,600 Passover sacrifices and 300 bulls for the priests. Conaniah and his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad, officers of the Levites, donated 5,000 Passover sacrifices for the Levites, plus 500 bulls. So the service was established; the priests stood at their posts and the Levites in their divisions according to the king's command. Then they slaughtered the Passover [lambs], and while the Levites were skinning the [animals], the priests sprinkled the blood they had been given. They removed the burnt offerings so that they might be given to the divisions of the ancestral houses of the lay people to offer to the Lord, according to what is written in the book of Moses; [they did] the same with the bulls. They roasted the Passover [lambs] with fire according to regulation. They boiled the holy [sacrifices] in pots, in kettles, and in bowls; and they quickly brought [them] to the lay people. Afterwards, they made preparations for themselves and for the priests, since the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were busy offering up burnt offerings and fat until night. So the Levites made preparations for themselves and for the priests, the descendants of Aaron. The singers, the descendants of Asaph, were at their stations according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer. Also, the gatekeepers were at each gate. Because their Levite brothers had made preparations for them, none of them left their tasks. So all the service of the Lord was established that day for observing the Passover and for offering burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, according to the command of King Josiah. The Israelites who were present [in Judah] also observed the Passover at that time and the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days. No Passover had been observed like it in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel ever observed a Passover like the one that Josiah observed with the priests, the Levites, all Judah, the Israelites who were present [in Judah], and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. In the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign, this Passover was observed.

In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent the court secretary Shaphan son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, to the Lord's temple, saying, "Go up to Hilkiah the high priest so that he may total up the money brought into the Lord's temple-[the money] the doorkeepers have collected from the people. It is to be put into the hands of those doing the work-those who oversee the Lord's temple. They [in turn] are to give it to the workmen in the Lord's temple to repair the damage. read more.
[They are to give it] to the carpenters, builders, and masons to buy timber and quarried stone to repair the temple.

In the eighteenth year of his reign, in order to cleanse the land and the temple, Josiah sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, along with Maaseiah the governor of the city and the recorder Joah son of Joahaz, to repair the temple of the Lord his God. So they went to Hilkiah the high priest, and gave him the money brought into God's temple. The Levites and the doorkeepers had collected [money] from Manasseh, Ephraim, and from the entire remnant of Israel, and from all Judah, Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They put it into the hands of those doing the work-those who oversaw the Lord's temple. They [in turn] gave it to the workmen who were working in the Lord's temple, to repair and restore the temple; read more.
they gave it to the carpenters and builders and [also used it] to buy quarried stone and timbers-for joining and to make beams-for the buildings that Judah's kings had destroyed. The men were doing the work with integrity. Their overseers were Jahath and Obadiah the Levites from the Merarites, and Zechariah and Meshullam from the Kohathites as supervisors. The Levites were all skilled on musical instruments. [They were] also over the porters and were supervising all those doing the work task by task. Some of the Levites were secretaries, officers, and gatekeepers.