< 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 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.
2 And the king takes counsel, and his heads, and all the assembly in Jerusalem, to make the Passover in the second month,
The king and his officials and the whole assembly in Jerusalem had decided to observe 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.
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 And the thing is right in the eyes of the king, and in the eyes of all the assembly,
The plan seemed right to both 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 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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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;
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.
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.”
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.”
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,
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.
11 only, certain from Asher, and Manasseh, and from Zebulun, have been humbled, and come to Jerusalem.
Only some men from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun weren't too proud to go 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;
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.
13 and many people are gathered to Jerusalem to make the Celebration of Unleavened Things in the second month—a mighty assembly for multitude.
Many people gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month—a really large crowd.
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 went and removed the pagan altars in Jerusalem as well as the incense altars and threw 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.
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.
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 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.
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 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.
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
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
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 sincerely wants to follow the Lord God, the God of their forefathers, even though they're not clean according to the sanctuary requirements.”
20 and YHWH listens to Hezekiah and heals the people.
The Lord accepted Hezekiah's prayer and permitted them this violation.
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 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.
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.
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.
23 And all the assembly take counsel to keep [it] another seven days, and they keep [it for] seven days [with] joy;
Everyone then agreed to continue to celebrate the festival for seven more days. So for another seven days they celebrated, full of 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.
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.
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,
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.
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,
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.
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.
The priests and the Levites stood up to bless the people, and God heard them—their prayer ascended to where he lived in heaven.