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celebrated the Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem, and the Passover lambs were slaughtered on the fourteenth day of the first month. 2 He appointed the priests to their duties and encouraged them in the service of the House of the Lord. 3 He said to the Levites who taught all Israel and had been consecrated to the Lord, “Put the sacred ark in the temple that Solomon son of David king of Israel built. You do not need to carry it about on your shoulders any longer. Now serve the Lord your God and His people Israel. 4 Prepare yourselves according to your ancestral houses by your divisions, following the written instructions of David king of Israel and that of his son Solomon.
5 “Stand in the holy place with a family division of Levites for each division of the ancestral houses of your brothers, the lay people. 6 Slaughter the Passover lambs, consecrate yourselves, and make preparations for your brothers, acting in accordance with the word of the Lord through Moses.”
7 Josiah provided for all the lay people there thirty thousand lambs and young goats for the Passover offerings, and three thousand bulls as well; these were all from the king’s possessions.
8 His officials also contributed willingly for the people, the priests, and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah and Jehiel, the leaders of the house of God, gave two thousand six hundred Passover offerings and three hundred bulls for the priests. 9 Also Conaniah, and his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad, the leaders of the Levites, provided five thousand Passover offerings and five hundred bulls for the Levites.
10 So the service was arranged, and the priests stood in their places and the Levites in their divisions according to the king’s command. 11 They slaughtered the Passover lambs, and the priests sprinkled the blood with their hands, while the Levites skinned the animals. 12 They set aside the burnt offerings to give them to the divisions of the ancestral families of the lay people to offer to the Lord, according to what is written in the book of Moses. They did the same with the bulls. 13 They roasted the Passover lambs with fire according to the ordinance, and boiled the holy offerings in pots, in caldrons, and in pans, and they quickly served them to the lay people. 14 After this, they made preparations for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were occupied offering the burnt offerings and the fat portions until nightfall. So the Levites made preparations for themselves and for the priests, the descendants of Aaron.
15 The singers, the descendants of Asaph, were in their prescribed positions according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer. The gatekeepers at each gate did not need to leave their positions, because their Levite brothers prepared portions for them.
16 So all the service of the Lord was prepared that day to keep the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, according to the command of King Josiah. 17 the Israelites who were present celebrated the Passover at that time and observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days. 18 There had been no Passover celebrated like it in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet; and none of the kings of Israel ever celebrated such a Passover like the one that Josiah kept with the priests, the Levites, all Judah, and all the Israelites who were present, and all the people of Jerusalem. 19 This Passover was celebrated in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah.
20 After all this, when Josiah had set the temple in order, Neco king of Egypt came up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to confront him. 21 But Neco sent messengers to Josiah to say:
“What is the quarrel you have with me, O king of Judah? I have not come against you this day, but the dynasty with which I am at war. God has commanded me to hurry; so stop opposing God who is with me, or He will destroy you.”
22 But Josiah did not turn away from him; instead he disguised himself so he could fight Neco. He did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, but went to fight him on the plain of Megiddo.
23 The archers shot King Josiah, and the king told his servants, “Take me away, for I am severely wounded.” 24 So his servants took him out of his chariot, and they put him in the second chariot he had, and brought him to Jerusalem. Then he died, and they buried him in the tombs of his fathers, and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.
25 Jeremiah also chanted a lament for Josiah; and all the singing men and singing women still commemorate Josiah in their laments to this day. These laments have become a tradition in Israel, and they are written in the Laments. 26 Now the rest of the events of Josiah and his faithful deeds, according to what was written in the Law of the Lord, 27 and all the events, from beginning to end, are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.