2 Chronicles 30

1 And Hezekiah sends to all Israel and Judah, and he has also written letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, [to cause them] to come to the house of YHWH in Jerusalem, to make a Passover to YHWH, God of Israel.

Then Hezekiah sent word throughout 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 to keep the Passover of the LORD, the God of Israel.

2 And the king takes counsel, and his heads, and all the assembly in Jerusalem, to make the Passover in the second month,

For the king and his officials and the whole assembly in Jerusalem had decided to keep the Passover in the second month,

3 for they have not been able to make it at that time, for the priests have not sanctified themselves sufficiently, and the people have not been gathered to Jerusalem.

since they had been unable to observe it at the regular time, because not enough priests had consecrated themselves and the people had not been gathered in Jerusalem.

4 And the thing is right in the eyes of the king, and in the eyes of all the assembly,

This proposal pleased the king and the whole assembly.

5 and they establish the thing, to cause an intimation to pass over into all Israel, from Beer-Sheba even to Dan, to come to make a Passover to YHWH, God of Israel, in Jerusalem; for they had not done as it is written for a long time.

So they established a decree to circulate a proclamation throughout Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, that the people should come to keep the Passover of the LORD, the God of Israel, in Jerusalem. For they had not observed it as a nation as prescribed.

6 And the runners go with letters from the hand of the king and his heads into all Israel and Judah, even according to the command of the king, saying, “O sons of Israel, turn back to YHWH, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and He turns back to the escaped part that is left of you from the hand of the kings of Asshur;

So the couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his officials, which read: “Children of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that He may return to those of you who remain, who have escaped the grasp of the kings of Assyria.

7 and do not be like your fathers and like your brothers, who trespassed against YHWH, God of their fathers, and He gives them to desolation, as you see.

Do not be like your fathers and brothers who were unfaithful to the LORD, the God of their fathers, so that He made them an object of horror, as you can see.

8 Now do not harden your neck like your fathers, give a hand to YHWH, and come into His sanctuary that He has sanctified for all time, and serve your God YHWH, and the fierceness of His anger turns back from you;

Now do not stiffen your necks as your fathers did. Submit to the LORD and come to His sanctuary, which He has consecrated forever. Serve the LORD your God, so that His fierce anger will turn away from you.

9 for in your turning back to YHWH, your brothers and your sons have mercies before their captors, even to return to this land, for your God YHWH [is] gracious and merciful, and He does not turn aside the face from you if you turn back to Him.”

For if you return to the LORD, your brothers and sons will receive mercy in the presence of their captors and will return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful; He will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.”

10 And the runners are passing over from city to city in the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, even to Zebulun, but they are laughing at them and mocking at them,

And the couriers traveled from city to city through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun; but the people scorned and mocked them.

11 only, certain from Asher, and Manasseh, and from Zebulun, have been humbled, and come to Jerusalem.

Nevertheless, some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.

12 Also, in Judah the hand of God has been to give one heart to them to do the command of the king and of the heads in the matter of YHWH;

Moreover, the power of God was on the people in Judah to give them one heart to obey the command of the king and his officials according to the word of the LORD.

13 and many people are gathered to Jerusalem to make the Celebration of Unleavened Things in the second month—a mighty assembly for multitude.

In the second month, a very great assembly gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

14 And they arise and turn aside the altars that [are] in Jerusalem, and they have turned aside all the incense altars, and cast [them] into the Brook of Kidron;

They proceeded to remove the altars in Jerusalem and to take away the incense altars and throw them into the Kidron Valley.

15 and they slaughter the Passover-offering on the fourteenth of the second month, and the priests and the Levites have been ashamed, and sanctify themselves, and bring in burnt-offerings to the house of YHWH.

And on the fourteenth day of the second month they slaughtered the Passover lamb. The priests and Levites were ashamed, and they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the house of the LORD.

16 And they stand on their station according to their ordinance, according to the Law of Moses the man of God; the priests are sprinkling the blood out of the hand of the Levites,

They stood at their prescribed posts, according to the Law of Moses the man of God. The priests sprinkled the blood, which they received from the hand of the Levites.

17 for many [are] in the assembly who have not sanctified themselves, and the Levites [are] over the slaughtering of the Passover-offerings for everyone not clean, to sanctify [him] to YHWH:

Since there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves, the Levites were in charge of slaughtering the Passover lambs for every unclean person to consecrate the lambs to the LORD.

18 for a multitude of the people, many from Ephraim, and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, have not been cleansed, but have eaten the Passover otherwise than it is written; but Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “YHWH, who [is] good, receives atonement for everyone

A large number of the people—many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun—had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah interceded for them, saying, “May the LORD, who is good, provide atonement for everyone

19 who has prepared his heart to seek God—YHWH, God of his fathers—yet not according to the cleansing of the holy place”;

who sets his heart on seeking God—the LORD, the God of his fathers—even if he is not cleansed according to the purification rules of the sanctuary.”

20 and YHWH listens to Hezekiah and heals the people.

And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people.

21 And the sons of Israel, those found in Jerusalem, make the Celebration of Unleavened Things [for] seven days with great joy; and the Levites and the priests are giving praise to YHWH day by day with instruments of praise before YHWH.

The Israelites who were present in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy, and the Levites and priests praised the LORD day after day, accompanied by loud instruments of praise to the LORD.

22 And Hezekiah speaks to the heart of all the Levites, those giving good understanding concerning YHWH, and they eat the appointed thing [for] seven days; sacrificing sacrifices of peace-offerings, and making confession to YHWH, God of their fathers.

And Hezekiah encouraged all the Levites who performed skillfully before the LORD. For seven days they ate their assigned portion, sacrificing fellowship offerings and giving thanks to the LORD, the God of their fathers.

23 And all the assembly take counsel to keep [it] another seven days, and they keep [it for] seven days [with] joy;

The whole assembly agreed to observe seven more days, so they observed seven days with joy.

24 for Hezekiah king of Judah has presented one thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep to the assembly; and the heads have presented one thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep to the assembly; and priests sanctify themselves in abundance.

For Hezekiah king of Judah contributed a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for the assembly, and the officials contributed a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep for the assembly, and a great number of priests consecrated themselves.

25 And all the assembly of Judah rejoices, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the assembly, those coming in from Israel, and the sojourners—those coming in from the land of Israel and those dwelling in Judah,

Then the whole assembly of Judah rejoiced along with the priests and Levites and the whole assembly that had come from Israel, including the foreigners who had come from Israel and those who lived in Judah.

26 and there is great joy in Jerusalem; for from the days of Solomon son of David, king of Israel, there is not like this in Jerusalem,

So there was great rejoicing in Jerusalem, for nothing like this had happened there since the days of Solomon son of David king of Israel.

27 and the priests, the Levites, rise and bless the people, and their voice is heard, and their prayer comes into His holy habitation in the heavens.

Then the priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard their voice, and their prayer came into His holy dwelling place in heaven.