2 Crônicas 30

¹ And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem, to keep the Passover unto Jehovah the God of Israel.

² For the king and his rulers and all the assembly in Jerusalem had taken counsel to keep the Passover in the second month.

³ For they could not keep it at the regular time, because a sufficient number of priests had not consecrated themselves, nor had the people gathered together at Jerusalem.

⁴ And the matter was right in the eyes of the king and all the assembly.

⁵ So they established a decree throughout all Israel, from Beer-sheba to Dan, that they should come to keep the Passover unto Jehovah the God of Israel at Jerusalem, for they had not done it for many days as it is written.

⁶ And the runners went throughout all Israel and Judah with the letters from the king and his rulers, and spoke according to the command of the king: O Children of Israel, return unto Jehovah the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel; then He will return to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria.

⁷ And do not be like your fathers and your brethren, who have been unfaithful to Jehovah the God of their fathers, so that He gave them up to desolation, as you see.

⁸ Now do not stiffen your necks, like your fathers, but give your hands unto Jehovah; and enter His sanctuary, which He has consecrated for all time, and serve Jehovah your God, that the fierceness of His wrath may turn away from you.

⁹ For if you return to Jehovah, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before those holding them captive, to come back to this land; for Jehovah your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn His face from you if you return to Him.

¹⁰ So the runners passed from city to city through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulun; but they laughed at them, mocking them.

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

¹² Also the hand of God was on Judah to give them singleness of heart to obey the command of the king and the rulers, at the Word of Jehovah.

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

¹⁴ They arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and they took away all the incense altars and cast them into the Brook Kidron.

¹⁵ Then they slaughtered the Passover on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites were ashamed, and consecrated themselves, and brought the burnt offerings to the house of Jehovah.

¹⁶ They stood in their place according to the ordinance, according to the Law of Moses the man of God; the priests were sprinkling the blood from the hand of the Levites.

¹⁷ For many in the assembly had not sanctified themselves; therefore the Levites had charge of the slaughter of the Passover for everyone who was not clean, to consecrate them to Jehovah.

¹⁸ For a multitude of the people, many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, O good Jehovah, provide atonement for everyone

¹⁹ who has prepared his heart to seek God, Jehovah the God of his fathers, though not according to the purification of the sanctuary.

²⁰ And Jehovah gave heed to Hezekiah and healed the people.

²¹ So the children of Israel found at Jerusalem kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great joy; and the Levites and the priests were praising Jehovah day by day, with loud instruments unto Jehovah.

²² And Hezekiah spoke to the heart of all the Levites who were teaching the good understanding of Jehovah; and they ate throughout the feast seven days, offering peace offerings and making confession unto Jehovah the God of their fathers.

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

²⁴ For Hezekiah king of Judah had given to the assembly a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep, and the rulers had given to the assembly a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep; and a great number of priests consecrated themselves.

²⁵ The whole assembly of Judah rejoiced, along with the priests and Levites, all the assembly that came from Israel, the sojourners who came from the land of Israel, and those dwelling in Judah.

²⁶ So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem.

²⁷ Then the priests, the Levites, rose up and blessed the people, and their voice was heard; and their prayer came up to His holy dwelling place, to the heavens.