Chronicles II 35

1 And Josias kept a passover to the Lord his God; and sacrificed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

Josiah held a Passover for the Lord in Jerusalem, and the Passover lamb was killed on the fourteenth day of the first month.

2 And he appointed the priests at their charges, and encouraged them for the services of the house of the Lord.

He assigned the priests to their respective duties and encouraged them in their ministry at the Lord's Temple.

3 And he told the Levites that were able [to act] in all Israel, that they should consecrate themselves to the Lord: and they put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built: and the king said, You must not carry anything on your shoulders: now then minister to the Lord your God, and to his people Israel.

Josiah told the Levites who taught all Israel and were holy to the Lord, “Place the holy Ark in the Temple built by Solomon, son of David, king of Israel. It's not necessary for you to carry it around on your shoulders any more. Your responsibility now is to serve the Lord your God and his people Israel.

4 And prepare yourselves according to the houses of your families, and according to your daily courses, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and [the order] by the hand of his son Solomon.

Get yourselves ready for service in your divisions, by families, according to the instructions given by David, king of Israel, and his son Solomon.

5 And stand you in the house according to the divisions of the houses of your families for your brethren the sons of the people; [so] also let there be for the Levites a division of the house of their family.

Then you are to stand in the sanctuary to assist the lay people according to family divisions, following the assignments according to your Levite family divisions.

6 And kill you the passover, and prepare [it] for your brethren, to do according to the word of the Lord, by the hand of Moses.

Sacrifice the Passover lambs, purify yourselves, and be ready to help the people who come to fulfill the requirements given by the Lord through Moses.”

7 And Josias gave as an offering to the children of the people, sheep, and lambs, and kids of the young of the goats, all for the passover, [even for] all that were found, in number [amounting to] thirty thousand, and three thousand calves, these [were] of the substance of the king.

Josiah contributed as Passover offerings for all the people who were present 30,000 lambs and goats, and 3,000 bulls, all from his own flocks and herds.

8 And his princes gave an offering to the people, and to the priests, and to the Levites: and Chelcias and Zacharias and Jeiel the chief men gave to the priests of the house of God, they even gave for the passover sheep, and lambs, and kids, two thousand and six hundred, and three hundred calves.

His officials contributed freely to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, who were in charge of God's Temple, gave the priests as Passover offerings 2,600 Passover lambs and 300 bulls.

9 And Chonenias, and Banaeas, and Samaeas, and Nathanael his brother, and Asabias, and Jeiel, and Jozabad, heads of the Levites, gave an offering to the Levites for the passover, of five thousand sheep and five hundred calves.

The leaders of the Levites, Conaniah, and Shemaiah and Nethanel his brothers, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, gave the Levites as Passover offerings 5,000 lambs and young goats and 500 bulls.

10 And the service was duly ordered, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their divisions, according to the command of the king.

Once the preparations had been completed, the priests stood where they had been assigned and the Levites took their places in their divisions as the king had ordered.

11 And they killed the passover, and the priests sprinkled the blood from their hand, and the Levites flayed [the victims].

They killed the Passover lambs, the priests sprinkled the blood they were given on the altar, while the Levites skinned the sacrifices.

12 And they prepared the whole burnt offering to give to them, according to the division by the houses of families, [even] to the sons of the people, to offer to the Lord, as it is written in the book of Moses.

They put to one side the burnt offerings to be given to the families of the lay people, by division, to offer to the Lord, as required in the Book of Moses. They did the same thing with the bulls.

13 And thus [they did] till the morning. And they roasted the passover with fire according to the ordinance; and boiled the holy [pieces] in copper vessels and cauldrons, and [the feast] went on well, and they quickly served all the children of the people.

They roasted the Passover sacrifices on the fire as requires, and they boiled the holy offerings in pots, caldrons, and pans, and took them quickly to the lay people.

14 And after they had prepared for themselves and for the priests, for the priests [were engaged] in offering the whole burnt offerings and the fat until night, then the Levites prepared for themselves, and for their brethren the sons of Aaron.

After that they prepared food from the offerings for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were busy presenting burnt offerings and fat until night came. So the Levites did this work for themselves and for the priests, the descendants of Aaron.

15 And the sons of Asaph the psalm-singers [were] at their post according to the commands of David, and Asaph, and Aeman, and Idithom, the prophets of the king: also, the chiefs and the porters of the several gates; —it was not for them to stir from the service of the holy things, for their brethren the Levites prepared for them.

The singers, the descendants of Asaph, were in their places following the instructions given by David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, the king's seer. The gatekeepers in charge at each gate did not need to leave, because their fellow Levites provided for them.

16 So all the service of the Lord was duly ordered and prepared in that day, for keeping the passover, and offering the whole burnt sacrifices on the altar of the Lord, according to the command of king Josias.

So on that day the whole Passover service of the Lord was took place, including the presenting of burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, as King Josiah had ordered.

17 And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days.

The Israelites who were there also celebrated Passover at that time, and also the Feast of Unleavened Bread for the following seven days.

18 And there was no passover like it in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet, or any king of Israel: they kept not such a passover as Josias, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Juda and Israel that were present, and the dwellers in Jerusalem, kept to the Lord.

No Passover like this had been held in Israel since the time of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel had ever held a Passover like the one that Josiah observed with the priests, the Levites, all of Judah, the Israelites who were there, and the people of Jerusalem.

19 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josias this passover was kept, after all these things that Josias did in the house.

This Passover was observed in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah.

20 And Pharao Nechao king of Egypt went up against the king of the Assyrians to the river Euphrates, and king Josias went to meet him.

After all this work that Josiah had carried out in restoring the Temple, King Neco of Egypt was leading his army to fight at Carchemish near the Euphrates, and Josiah went to confront him.

21 And he sent messengers to him, saying, What have I to do with you, O king of Juda? I am not come today to war against you; and God has told me to hasten: beware of the God that is with me, lest he destroy you.

Neco sent messengers to him, saying, “What argument is there between you and me, king of Judah? I have not come to attack you today, because I'm fighting with another kingdom. God told me I should hurry, so stop obstructing God, who is with me, or he'll destroy you!”

22 However, Josias turned not his face from him, but strengthened himself to fight against him, and listened not to the words of Nechao by the mouth of God, and he came to fight in the plain of Mageddo.

But Josiah did not turn away and leave. Instead, he disguised himself so he could fight Neco in battle. He ignored Neco's message that came from God, and went to fight him on the Plain of Megiddo.

23 And the archers shot at king Josias; and the king said to his servants, Take me away, for I am severely wounded.

There archers shot King Josiah. He called out those beside him, “Get me out of the battle, because I'm badly wounded!”

24 And his servants lifted him out of the chariot, and put him in the second chariot which he had, and brought him to Jerusalem; and he died, and was buried with his fathers: and all Juda and Jerusalem lamented over Josias.

So they carried him out of his chariot, and took him back in his second chariot to Jerusalem, where he died. Josiah was buried in the tomb of his forefathers. All Judah and Jerusalem wept for him.

25 And Jeremias mourned over Josias, and all the chief men and chief women uttered a lamentation over Josias until this day: and they made it an ordinance for Israel, and, behold, it is written in the lamentations.

Then Jeremiah wrote a lament over Josiah, and to this day male and female choirs sing sad songs about Josiah. They have become a part of what is regularly sung in Israel, and they are recorded in the Book of Laments.

26 And the rest of the acts of Josias, and his hope, are written in the law of the Lord.

The rest of what Josiah did, along with his acts of loyalty following what is written in the Law of the Lord,

27 And his acts, the first and the last, behold, [they are] written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.

all his actions, from beginning to end, are recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.