2 Chronicles 30

1 Then Hezekiah sent an announcement to everyone in Israel and Judah, and also sent letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, inviting them to come to the Lord's Temple in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover of the Lord, the God of Israel.

The king and his officials and all the other people who had gathered in Jerusalem wanted to celebrate the Passover Festival. But they were not able to celebrate it at the usual time, because many of the priests had still not performed the rituals to purify themselves; therefore they were not allowed to do serve in the festival. Also, everyone had still not come to Jerusalem [to celebrate the Passover]. So they decided to celebrate it one month later than usual.

2 The king and his officials and the whole assembly in Jerusalem had decided to observe the Passover in the second month,

3 because they hadn't been able to observe it at the usual time since not enough priests had purified themselves and the people hadn't had time to get to Jerusalem.

4 The plan seemed right to both the king and the whole assembly.

The king and all the other people who had gathered thought that was a good plan.

5 So they decided to send an announcement to everyone in Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, inviting people to come and keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel, in Jerusalem, for many had not done as the Law required.

So they decided to send messages to all the towns in Judah and in Israel, from Beersheba [in the far south] to Dan [in the far north], including towns in the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, to invite people to come to the temple in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover [Festival] to [honor] Yahweh, the God whom the Israeli people [worshiped/belonged to]. Many of the people had not previously celebrated that festival, even though it had been written [in the laws of Moses that they should do that].

6 So messengers went to all of Israel and Judah carrying letters from the king and his officials and with the king's authorization. They said, “Children of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that he may return to you who are left, who have escaped the oppression of the kings of Assyria.

Obeying what the king commanded, messengers went throughout Judah and Israel, taking messages that had been written by the king and his officials. This is what they wrote: “You Israeli people, you who survived after being slaves of the kings of Assyria, return to Yahweh, the God whom [our great ancestors] Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob [worshiped/belonged to], in order that he may return to you. Your fathers and brothers did not faithfully obey Yahweh, the God whom our ancestors [worshiped].

7 Don't be like your fathers and those of you who sinned against the Lord, the God of your forefathers He made them into something horrifying, as you can see.

Do not act like they did, because what they did caused other people to become disgusted with them.

8 So don't be proud and obstinate like your fathers, but give yourselves to the Lord and come to his sanctuary, which he has made holy forever, and serve the Lord your God, that his fierce anger may no longer fall on you.

Do not be stubborn as our ancestors were. Do what Yahweh desires. Come [to Jerusalem] to the temple, which he has set apart forever. Do what pleases Yahweh our God, in order that he will no longer be angry with you.

9 If you come back to the Lord, your relatives and children will receive mercy from their captors and will return to this land. For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful. He will not reject you if you come back to him.”

If you return to Yahweh, the people who have captured our brothers [and sisters] and our children will be kind to them, and allow them to return to this land. Do not forget that Yahweh our God is kind and merciful. If you return to him, he will no longer reject you.”

10 The messengers went from town to town all over the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun; but the people laughed at them and mocked them.

The messengers went to all the towns in the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, as far [north] as the tribe of Zebulun, [and gave them this message, ] but most of the people there scorned them and ridiculed them.

11 Only some men from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun weren't too proud to go to Jerusalem.

But some of the people of [the tribes of] Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and went to Jerusalem.

12 At this time the power of God was helping the people in Judah to all have the same desire to follow the orders of the king and his officials, as indicated by the word of the Lord.

Also in Judah God motivated the people to be united in wanting to do what Yahweh wanted them to do, which is what the king and his officials had told them to do in the message that they sent.

13 Many people gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month—a really large crowd.

So a huge crowd of people gathered in Jerusalem in May, to celebrate the Festival of Eating Unleavened Bread.

14 They went and removed the pagan altars in Jerusalem as well as the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley.

They removed the altars [of Baal] in Jerusalem and took away the altars for burning incense [to honor other gods, and burned them] in Kidron Valley.

15 On the fourteenth day of the second month they killed the Passover lamb. The priests and Levites were ashamed, and they purified themselves and brought burnt offerings to the Lord's Temple.

They slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of that month. Some of the priests and the other descendants of Levi were ashamed [because they had not performed the rituals to cause them to be acceptable to work for Yahweh]. So they performed those rituals, and brought to the temple animals to be completely burned [on the altar].

16 They stood at their assigned positions, according to the law of Moses, the man of God. The priests sprinkled the blood of the sacrifices, which the Levites gave to them.

Then they stood at the places where Moses had written in his laws that they should stand. Then the descendants of Levi gave to the priests [bowls containing blood of the animals that were being sacrificed], and the priests sprinkled [the altar] with some of the blood.

17 Since many people in the assembly had not purified themselves, the Levites had to kill the Passover lambs on behalf of every unclean person to dedicate the lambs to the Lord.

Many people in the crowd had not purified themselves, and therefore they were not able to kill the lambs [and dedicate them] to Yahweh. So it was necessary for the descendants of Levi to kill the lambs for them.

18 Most of the people, many of those from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not purified themselves. Yet they ate the Passover meal even though this was not what the Law required, for Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, “May the good Lord forgive everyone

Although most of the people who had come from [the tribes of] Ephraim, Manasseh, and Issachar had not purified themselves, they ate the food of the Passover Festival anyway, ignoring the rules written [by Moses]. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying “Yahweh, you always do what is good; I pray that you will forgive everyone

19 who sincerely wants to follow the Lord God, the God of their forefathers, even though they're not clean according to the sanctuary requirements.”

who sincerely wants to honor you, the God whom our ancestors [worshiped], even if they have not purified themselves by obeying the sacred laws that you gave to us.”

20 The Lord accepted Hezekiah's prayer and permitted them this violation.

And Yahweh heard what Hezekiah prayed; he forgave the people, [and did not punish them].

21 The people of Israel who were there in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great enthusiasm, and every day the Levites and priests praised the Lord, accompanied by loud instruments.

The Israeli people who were there in Jerusalem celebrated the Festival of Eating Unleavened Bread for seven days. They rejoiced greatly as they celebrated, while the priests and other descendants of Levi sang to Yahweh every day, and played musical instruments to [praise] God.

22 Hezekiah spoke positively to all the Levites who showed a good understanding of the Lord. For seven days they ate the food that was assigned to them, presented friendship offerings, and gave thanks to the Lord, the God of their forefathers.

Hezekiah thanked all the descendants of Levi for doing this work for Yahweh, and for very skillfully leading the people who were worshiping. For those seven days the people ate the Passover food and brought offerings to maintain fellowship with Yahweh and praised Yahweh, the God whom their ancestors [belonged to/had worshiped].

23 Everyone then agreed to continue to celebrate the festival for seven more days. So for another seven days they celebrated, full of joy.

Then the whole group decided to celebrate for seven more days, so they did: They celebrated joyfully for seven more days.

24 Hezekiah, king of Judah, gave a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep as offerings on behalf of the assembly. The officials in turn gave a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep on as offerings on behalf of the assembly. A large number of priests purified themselves.

King Hezekiah provided 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep to be slaughtered for the people [to eat during the festival], and the officials also gave them 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep and goats. Many priests consecrated themselves.

25 The whole assembly of Judah celebrated, together with the priests and Levites, and also with the whole assembly that had come from Israel, including the foreigners from Israel and those living in Judah.

All the people of Judah rejoiced, including the priests and other descendants of Levi and all the people from Israel who had come, and including some from other countries who were living in Israel and some from other countries who were living in Judah.

26 There was such tremendous happiness in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel, nothing like this had happened in the city.

Everyone in Jerusalem was very joyful, because nothing like this had happened in Jerusalem since the time when David’s son Solomon was the king of Israel.

27 The priests and the Levites stood up to bless the people, and God heard them—their prayer ascended to where he lived in heaven.

The priests and the other descendants of Levi stood up to bless the people, and God heard them in heaven, the holy place where he lives.