2 Chronicles 30

Revised Geneva Translation

30 And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the House of the LORD at Jerusalem, to keep the Passover to the LORD God of Israel.

² And the king and his princes and all the Congregation had taken counsel in Jerusalem to keep the Passover in the second month.

³ For they could not keep it at the present time, because there were not enough sanctified priests, nor were the people gathered to Jerusalem.

⁴ And the thing pleased the king and all the Congregation.

⁵ And they decreed to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, that they should come to keep the Passover to the LORD God of Israel at Jerusalem. For they had not done it as it was written for a long time.

⁶ So, the posts went with letters by the commission of the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and with the commandment of the king, saying, “You children of Israel, turn back to the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel; and He will return to the remnant of you who has escaped out of the hands of the kings of Assyria.

⁷ “And do not be like your fathers, and like your brethren, who trespassed against the LORD God of their fathers. Therefore, as you see, He made them desolate.

⁸ “Do not be stiff-necked now, as your fathers were, but give the hand to the LORD and come into His Sanctuary which He has sanctified forever, and serve the LORD your God. And the fierceness of His wrath shall turn away from you.

⁹ “For if you return to the LORD, your brethren and your children shall find mercy before those who led them away captive. And they shall return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away His Face from you, if you convert to Him.”

¹⁰ So, the posts went from city to city throughout the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the way to Zebulun. But they ridiculed and mocked them.

¹¹ Nevertheless, some from Asher and Manasseh and Zebulun submitted themselves and came to Jerusalem.

¹² And the hand of God was in Judah, so that He gave them one heart to do the commandment of the king, and of the rulers, according to the Word of the LORD.

¹³ And many people assembled in Jerusalem, to keep the Feast of the Unleavened Bread in the second month, a very great assembly.

¹⁴ And they arose and took away the Altars that were in Jerusalem. And they took away all those for incense and cast them into the brook Kidron.

¹⁵ Afterward, they killed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the second month. And the priests and Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought the Burnt Offerings into the House of the LORD.

¹⁶ And they stood in their place after their manner, according to the Law of Moses, the man of God. And the priests sprinkled the blood from the hands of the Levites.

¹⁷ Because there were many in the Congregation who were not sanctified, the Levites had the charge of the killing of the Passover for all who were not clean, to sanctify it to the LORD.

¹⁸ For a multitude of the people — a multitude of Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun — had not cleansed themselves, yet ate the Passover, not as it was written. Therefore, Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “The good LORD be merciful toward

¹⁹ “whomever prepares his whole heart to seek the LORD God, the God of his fathers, though he is not according to the purification of the Sanctuary.”

²⁰ And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people.

²¹ And the children of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept the Feast of the Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy. And the Levites and the priests praised the LORD, day by day, singing with loud instruments to the LORD.

²² And Hezekiah spoke encouragement to all the Levites who had good knowledge of the LORD. And they ate of that Feast for seven days, and offered Peace Offerings and praised the LORD God of their fathers.

²³ And the whole assembly took counsel to keep it for another seven days. So, they kept it for seven days with joy.

²⁴ For Hezekiah, king of Judah, had given a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep to the Congregation. And the princes had given a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep to the Congregation. And many priests were sanctified.

²⁵ And all the Congregation of Judah rejoiced with the priests and the Levites, and all the Congregation who came out of Israel, and the strangers who came out of the land of Israel, and who dwelt in Judah.

²⁶ So, there was great joy in Jerusalem. For since the time of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel, there was not anything like it in Jerusalem.

²⁷ Then, the priests and the Levites arose and blessed the people. And their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to Heaven, to His holy habitation.