Passover is celebrated

(2 Kings 23.21-23)

1Josiah commanded that Passover be celebrated in Jerusalem to honour the LORD. So, on the fourteenth day of the first month,35.1 first month: See the note at 29.3. the lambs were killed for the Passover celebration.

2On that day, Josiah made sure the priests knew what duties they were to do in the temple. 3He called together the Levites who served the LORD and who taught the people his laws, and he said:

No longer will you have to carry the sacred chest from place to place. It will stay in the temple built by King Solomon son of David, where you will serve the LORD and his people Israel. 4Get ready to do the work that David and Solomon assigned to you, according to your clans.35.4: 2 Ch 8.14. 5Divide yourselves into groups, then arrange yourselves throughout the temple so that each family of worshippers will be able to get help from one of you.35.5 each family of worshippers…you: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. 6When the people bring you their Passover lamb, you must kill it and prepare it to be sacrificed to the LORD. Make sure the people celebrate according to the instructions that the LORD gave Moses, and don't do anything to make yourselves unclean and unacceptable.

7Josiah donated thirty thousand sheep and goats, and three thousand bulls from his own flocks and herds for the people to offer as sacrifices. 8Josiah's officials also voluntarily gave some of their animals to the people, the priests, and the Levites as sacrifices. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, who were the officials in charge of the temple, gave the priests twenty-six hundred sheep and lambs and three hundred bulls to sacrifice during the Passover celebration. 9Conaniah, his two brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, as well as Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad were leaders of the Levites, and they gave the other Levites five thousand sheep and goats, and five hundred bulls to offer as sacrifices.

10When everything was ready to celebrate Passover, the priests and the Levites stood where Josiah had told them. 11Then the Levites killed and skinned the Passover lambs, and they handed some of the blood to the priests, who splattered it on the altar. 12The Levites set aside the parts of the animal that the worshippers needed for their sacrifices to please the LORD,35.12 sacrifices to please the LORD: See the note at 1.6. just as the Law of Moses required. They also did the same thing with the bulls. 13They sacrificed the Passover animals on the altar and boiled the meat for the other offerings in pots, kettles, and pans. Then they quickly handed the meat to the people so they could eat it.35.13: Ex 12.8,9.

14All day long, the priests were busy offering sacrifices and burning the animals' fat on the altar. And when everyone had finished, the Levites prepared Passover animals for themselves and for the priests.

15During the celebration some of the Levites prepared Passover animals for the musicians and the guards, so that the Levite musicians would not have to leave their places, which had been assigned to them according to the instructions of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king's prophet. Even the guards at the temple gates did not have to leave their posts.35.15: 1 Ch 25.1.

16So on that day, Passover was celebrated to honour the LORD, and sacrifices were offered on the altar to him, just as Josiah had commanded. 17The worshippers then celebrated the Festival of Thin Bread for the next seven days.35.17: Ex 12.1-20.

18People from Jerusalem and from towns all over Judah and Israel were there. Passover had not been observed like this since the days of Samuel the prophet. In fact, this was the greatest Passover celebration in Israel's history! 19All these things happened in the eighteenth year of Josiah's rule in Judah.

Josiah dies in battle

(2 Kings 23.28-30)

20Some time later, King Neco of Egypt led his army to the city of Carchemish on the River Euphrates. And Josiah led his troops north to meet the Egyptians in battle.35.20 battle: At this time, King Neco of Egypt (609-595 BC) was fighting on the side of the Assyrians. He marched north to fight the Babylonian army and help Assyria keep control of its land. Since Josiah considered Assyria an enemy, he set out to stop Neco and the Egyptian troops.

21Neco sent the following message to Josiah:

I'm not attacking you, king of Judah! We're not even at war. But God has told me to attack my enemy quickly. God is on my side, so if you try to stop me, he will punish you.

22But Josiah ignored Neco's warning, even though it came from God! Instead, he disguised himself and marched into battle against Neco in the valley near Megiddo.

23During the battle an Egyptian soldier shot Josiah with an arrow. Josiah told his servants, “Get me out of here! I've been hit.” 24They carried Josiah out of his chariot, then put him in the other chariot he had there and took him back to Jerusalem, where he soon died. He was buried beside his ancestors, and everyone in Judah and Jerusalem mourned his death.

25Jeremiah the prophet wrote a funeral song in honour of Josiah. And since then, anyone in Judah who mourns the death of Josiah sings that song. It is included in the collection of funeral songs.

26Everything else Josiah did while he was king, including how he faithfully obeyed the LORD, 27is written in The History of the Kings of Israel and Judah.