^18 (A)No Passover like it had been kept in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as was kept by Josiah, and the priests and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

⁵ So they decreed to make a proclamation throughout all Israel, ^(A)from Beersheba to Dan, that the people should come and keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem, for they had not kept it as often as prescribed.

Josiah Restores the Passover

²¹ And the king commanded all the people, ^(A)“Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, ^(B)as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” ^22 (C)For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. ²³ But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem.

²⁶ So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for ^(A)since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. ²⁷ Then ^(B)the priests and the Levites arose and ^(C)blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came to ^(D)his holy habitation in heaven.