2 *Chronicles 30

₁Hezekiah sent messengers to all the people of Israel and Judah and he also wrote letters to the people of Ephraim and Manasseh. Hezekiah told them to come to the temple in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover of the Lord, the God of Israel. ₂The king, his officials and all the people of Jerusalem who came together decided to celebrate the Passover in the 2nd month. ₃They could not celebrate it at the time when they always did it, because there were not enough priests who had consecrated themselves and because the people had not come together in Jerusalem before that time. ₄The king and the people who came together talked about it and said that it was the right time for the feast. ₅They decided to send a message to all the people in the land_of_Israel, from the town of Beersheba in the south to the town of Dan in the north. They told the people to come and celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem for the Lord, the God of Israel, because there were not many people who had celebrated the Passover as the Lord had told the people to do in his laws. ₆The king told the messengers to go to all the people in the land_of_Israel and Judah with a letter. In the letter the king and his officials wrote: ‘People of Israel, you must turn back to the Lord. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel. Then He will come back to you and help those of you who are still_alive and were not killed by the kings of Assyria. ₇Do not be like your fathers and the other Israelites. They were unfaithful to the Lord, the God of their forefathers. You have seen that God punished them harshly. ₈Do not be stubborn as your forefathers were. You must do what the Lord wants. You must come to his temple that He has consecrated forever and you must serve the Lord your God. Then He will not be angry with you anymore. ₉Yes, if you turn back to the Lord, the people who have caught your family and your sons, and have taken them away, will feel sorry for them. They will let them come back to this land. The Lord your God is merciful and good to people who suffer. If you turn back to Him, He will not look away from you. He will help you.’

₁₀The messengers went to all the towns in the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun. When they got there, everyone laughed at them and mocked them. ₁₁But some people from the tribes of Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves before the Lord and they came to Jerusalem. ₁₂God worked in the hearts of the people of Judah and He made everyone decide to do what the Lord said, and they all did what the king and his officials asked. ₁₃A big crowd of people came together in Jerusalem in the 2nd month to celebrate the Feast of the flat bread. There were a lot of people who came. ₁₄They took away all the other altars that were in Jerusalem and all the other incense-altars and they threw them away into the Kidron Valley. ₁₅On the 14th day of the 2nd month they killed the Passover lambs. The priests and the Levites became ashamed because all of them had not been purified. Then they purified themselves and they sacrificed the burnt-offerings at the temple. ₁₆They went to stand at their places where they had to stand as it is written in the laws of Moses, the man of God. The Levites gave the blood to the priests and the priests sprinkled the blood against the altar. ₁₇They had to do this because a lot of people who came had not purified themselves and they could not kill their own lambs. That is why the Levites had to kill the Passover lambs and consecrate them to the Lord. ₁₈A lot of the people from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not purified themselves. They ate the Passover in a wrong way, not as it is written in the laws of Moses. King Hezekiah prayed for them and said: ‘The Good Lord Himself will make atonement for everyone ₁₉who wants to serve God, the Lord. He is the God of their forefathers. He Himself will make atonement for everyone who has not purified himself as the laws of the temple say.’

₂₀The Lord did what Hezekiah asked Him to do. He forgave everything that the people had done wrong. ₂₁The Israelites in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of the flat bread for 7 days. They showed that they were very happy. The Levites and priests played the musical_instruments of the temple every day so that everyone could listen to it. This is how they praised the Lord. ₂₂Hezekiah thanked the Levites because they knew how to do the work of the Lord and they did it so well. The people celebrated the feast for 7 days. They sacrificed meal-offerings and they thanked the Lord, the God of their forefathers. ₂₃Then all the people who came together decided to celebrate for another 7 days and they were all happy every day that they could do it ₂₄because King Hezekiah of Judah gave the people 1 000 oxen and 7 000 sheep and goats to sacrifice. The officials also gave 1 000 bulls and 10 000 sheep and goats. There were many priests who had consecrated themselves, so there were more than enough. ₂₅All the people of Judah were happy, as well as the priests and Levites and all the people who came from Israel and all the strangers from the land_of_Israel who lived in Judah. ₂₆They were very happy because there had never been a feast like this in Jerusalem, from the time when Solomon, son of David, had been king_of_Israel. ₂₇Then the priests and the Levites got up and they blessed all the people. The Lord listened to them and did what they asked. Their prayers went up to God in his holy place in heaven.