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sent word to all Israel and Judah, and he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, inviting them to come to the House of the Lord in Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover of the Lord, the God of Israel. 2 For the king and his officials and the whole assembly in Jerusalem decided to keep the Passover in the second month. 3 They had not been able to keep it at the appropriate time, since not enough of the priests had consecrated themselves and the people had not assembled in Jerusalem. 4 The proposal pleased the king and the whole assembly. 5 So they decided to make a proclamation throughout Israel, from Beer-sheba to Dan, calling for the people to come and keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel, in Jerusalem; for they had not kept it for a long time according to what was prescribed.
6 So at the command of the king, couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with the letters from the king and his officials, which read:
People of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and He will return to the remnant of you who are left, who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. 7 Do not be like your fathers and your brothers who were unfaithful to the Lord, the God of their fathers, so that he made them an object of horror, as you see. 8 Do not be stiff-necked, as your fathers were. Submit yourselves to the Lord and come to His sanctuary, which He has consecrated forever. Serve the Lord your God, so that He may turn his fierce wrath away from you. 9 For if you return to the Lord, your brothers and your children will be shown compassion by their captors, and they will come back again to this land. For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and He will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.
10 The couriers went from city to city through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun, but the people laughed at them and mocked 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 carry out the command of the king and the officials by the word of the Lord.
13 A very large assembly of people was gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month. 14 They proceeded to remove the altars in Jerusalem, and cleared away all the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley.
15 They slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites were ashamed, and they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the House of the Lord. 16 Then they stood at their prescribed positions according to the Law of Moses the man of God; and the priests sprinkled the blood that they received from the hand of the Levites. 17 Since there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves, the Levites had to slaughter the Passover lambs for everyone who was not ceremonially clean, and could not consecrate their lambs to the Lord. 18 For a large number of people, including 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,
“May the good Lord pardon everyone 19 who sets his heart on seeking God, even though he has not been cleansed according to the purification rules of the sanctuary.”
20 And the Lord listened to Hezekiah and healed the people.
21 The Israelites who were present in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy, and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day, singing and accompanied with loud instruments to the Lord.
22 Then Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who performed skillfully in the service of the Lord. They ate the food of the appointed feast for seven days, offering fellowship offerings and giving thanks to the Lord, the God of their fathers.
23 Then the whole assembly decided to celebrate the feast seven more days; so they celebrated it joyfully for another seven days. 24 Hezekiah king of Judah provided a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep and goats for the assembly. Also, the officials provided a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep and goats for the assembly. A large number of priests consecrated themselves. 25 The whole assembly of Judah rejoiced, along with the priests and the Levites, and all the foreigners who came from Israel and those who were living in Judah. 26 There was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon son of David King of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. 27 Then the priests and the Levites stood and blessed the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached to His holy dwelling place in heaven.