35:1 Moreover, Josiah kept a passover to the LORD in Jerusalem:
and they killed the passover on the fourteenth [day] of the
first month.
35:2 And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged
them to the service of the house of the LORD,
35:3 And said to the Levites that taught all Israel, who were
holy to the LORD, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon
the son of David king of Israel built; [it shall] not [be] a
burden upon [your] shoulders: serve now the LORD your God, and
his people Israel,
35:4 And prepare [yourselves] by the houses of your fathers
after your courses, according to the writing of David king of
Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son.
35:5 And stand in the holy [place] according to the divisions of
the families of the fathers of your brethren the people, and
[after] the division of the families of the Levites.
35:6 So kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare
your brethren, that [they] may do according to the word of the
LORD by the hand of Moses.
35:7 And Josiah gave to the people, of the flock, lambs and
kids, all for the passover-offerings, for all that were
present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand
bullocks: these [were] of the king's substance.
35:8 And his princes gave willingly to the people, to the
priests, and to the Levites: Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel,
rulers of the house of God, gave to the priests for the
passover-offerings two thousand and six hundred [small cattle],
and three hundred oxen.
35:9 Conaniah also, and Shemaiah, and Nethaneel, his brethren,
and Hashabiah and Jehiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites,
gave to the Levites for passover-offerings five thousand [small
cattle], and five hundred oxen.
35:10 So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in
their place, and the Levites in their courses, according to the
king's commandment.
35:11 And they killed the passover, and the priests sprinkled
[the blood] from their hands, and the Levites flayed [them].
35:12 And they removed the burnt-offerings, that they might give
according to the divisions of the families of the people, to
offer to the LORD, as [it is] written in the book of Moses. And
so [did they] with the oxen.
35:13 And they roasted the passover with fire according to the
ordinance: but the [other] holy [offerings] they boiled in
pots, and in caldrons, and in pans, and divided [them] speedily
among all the people.
35:14 And afterwards they made ready for themselves, and for the
priests: because the priests the sons of Aaron [were busied] in
offering burnt-offerings and the fat until night; therefore the
Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests the sons
of Aaron.
35:15 And the singers the sons of Asaph [were] in their place,
according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman,
and Jeduthun the king's seer; and the porters [waited] at every
gate; they might not depart from their service; for their
brethren the Levites prepared for them.
35:16 So all the service of the LORD was prepared the same day,
to keep the passover, and to offer burnt-offerings upon the
altar of the LORD, according to the commandment of king Josiah.
35:17 And the children of Israel [that were] present kept the
passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven
days.
35:18 And there was no passover like that kept in Israel from
the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of
Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests,
and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present,
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
35:19 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this
passover kept.
35:20 After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho
king of Egypt came up to fight against Charchemish by
Euphrates: and Josiah went out against him.
35:21 But he sent embassadors to him, saying, What have I to do
with thee, thou king of Judah? [I come] not against thee this
day, but against the house with which I have war: for God
commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from [meddling with]
God, who [is] with me, that he may not destroy thee.
35:22 Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but
disguised himself that he might fight with him, and hearkened
not to the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to
fight in the valley of Megiddo.
35:23 And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to
his servants, Have me away; for I am severely wounded.
35:24 His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and
put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him
to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in [one of] the
sepulchers of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned
for Josiah.
35:25 And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men
and the singing women have spoken of Josiah in their
lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel:
and behold, they [are] written in the lamentations.
35:26 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his goodness,
according to [that which was] written in the law of the LORD,
35:27 And his deeds, first and last, behold, they [are] written
in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.
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