2 Chronicles 35

1 And Josiah kept in Jerusalem the passover unto the Lord: and they slaughtered the passover-sacrifice 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 placed the priests in their charges, and strengthened them for the service 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 said unto the Levites that instructed all Israel, who were holy unto the Lord, Set the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David the king of Israel did build; you have not to carry it any more upon your shoulders; now serve the Lord your God, and 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 by your family divisions, according to your courses, after the written order of David the king of Israel, and after the written order of Solomon his son;

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 in the holy place according to the divisions of the family divisions of your brethren the sons of the people, and after the division of the families of the Levites;

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 slaughter the passover-sacrifice, and sanctify yourselves, 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 Josiah set apart for the sons of the people, of the flock, lambs and kids, all for the passover-sacrifices, for all that were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and of steers three thousand: these were of the king's property.

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 set apart [much] as a freewill gift for the people for the priests, and for the Levites: Chilkiyah, and Zecharyahu, and Jechiel, the rulers of the house of God, gave unto the priests for the passover-sacrifices two thousand and six hundred [lambs and kids], and three hundred steers.

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 Conanyahu, and Shema'yahu and Nethanel, his brothers, and Chashabyahu and Je'iel and Jozabad, the chiefs of the Levites, set apart unto the Levites for passover-sacrifices five thousand [lambs and kids], and five hundred steers.

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 So the service was established, and the priests stood on their station, and the Levites in their divisions, according to the king's command.

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 slaughtered the passover-sacrifice, and the priests sprinkled [the blood received] from their hands, and the Levites did the flaying.

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 removed the burnt-offerings to give them to the divisions of the family divisions of the sons of the people, to offer [them] unto the Lord, as it is written in the book of Moses. And so did they with the steers.

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 they roasted the passover by the fire in accordance with the prescribed manner; but the holy offerings they seethed in pots, and in caldrons, and in pans, and divided them speedily among all the sons 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 afterward they prepared for themselves, and for the priests; because the priests the sons of Aaron [were busied] in offering the burnt-offerings and the fat until night: therefore the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests 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 singers the sons of Assaph were on their station, according to the command of David, and Assaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer; and the gatekeepers were at every gate: they had no need to depart from their service; because 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 was established all the service of the Lord on the same day, to prepare the passover-sacrifice, and to offer burnt-offerings upon the altar of the Lord, according to the command of king Josiah.

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 prepared the passover-sacrifice at that time, and [kept] 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 not holden any passover like this in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; and all the kings of Israel did not keep such a passover as Josiah kept, with the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

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 Josiah was this passover holden.

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

20 After all this, when Josiah had restored the temple, came up Necho the king of Egypt to fight against Karkemish by the Euphrates, and Josiah went out against 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 But he sent ambassadors 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 wherewith I have war, and God hath commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with God who is with me, that he may not destroy thee.

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 Nevertheless did Josiah not turn his face away from him, but disguised himself, to fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God; and he came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.

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 Josiah: and the king said to his servants, Carry me away: for I am sorely 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 carried him away out of that chariot, and conveyed him in the second chariot that he had: and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

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 Jeremiah lamented for Josiah; and all the singing men and the singing women spoke of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and they instituted them as a custom in Israel: and, behold, they are 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 Josiah, and his pious deeds, in accordance with what is 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.