2 ChroniclesChapter 30

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¹Then Hezekiah sent word to all Israel and Judah. He also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh. He asked them to come to the house of the LORD in Jerusalem. They were to keep the Passover of the LORD, the God of Israel. ²The king, his officials, and all the people in Jerusalem had decided to keep the Passover in the second month. ³That was because they had not been able to keep it at the usual time. Not enough priests had made themselves holy, and the people had not gathered in Jerusalem. ⁴This plan seemed right to the king and to all the people. ⁵So they decided to send out word all through Israel, from Beersheba to Dan. The people were to come to Jerusalem to keep the Passover of the LORD, the God of Israel. For they had not kept it with large crowds, the way it was written. ⁶At the king's command, runners went all through Israel and Judah. They carried letters from the king and his officials. The letters said, "People of Israel, come back to the LORD. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. Then he will come back to those of you who are left. You are the ones who escaped from the power of the kings of Assyria. ⁷Do not be like your fathers and brothers. They were unfaithful to the LORD, the God of their fathers. So he made them something people are shocked to see, as you can see. ⁸Do not be stubborn as your fathers were. Give yourselves to the LORD. Come to his holy place, which he has made holy forever. Serve the LORD your God. Then his fierce anger will turn away from you. ⁹If you come back to the LORD, the people who captured your brothers and sons will show them mercy. They will come back to this land. The LORD your God is kind and full of mercy. He will not turn his face away from you if you come back to him." ¹⁰The runners went from city to city through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulun. But the people laughed at them and made fun of them. ¹¹Still, some people from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves. They came to Jerusalem. ¹²Also, the power of God was on the people in Judah. He made them all of one heart to obey the king and his officials. They did what the LORD had said. ¹³In the second month, a very large crowd gathered in Jerusalem. They came to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread. ¹⁴They began by removing the altars in Jerusalem. They took away the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley. ¹⁵On the fourteenth day of the second month they killed the Passover lamb. The priests and Levites were ashamed. So they made themselves holy and brought burnt offerings to the house of the LORD. ¹⁶They stood at their places as the Law of Moses the man of God said. The Levites handed the blood to the priests, and the priests sprinkled it. ¹⁷Many people in the crowd had not made themselves holy. So the Levites were in charge of killing the Passover lambs for everyone who was unclean. They set the lambs apart as holy to the LORD. ¹⁸Many of the people had not made themselves clean. Many of them were from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun. Yet they ate the Passover, which was against what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them. He said, "May the LORD, who is good, provide atonement for everyone ¹⁹who sets his heart on seeking God, the LORD, the God of his fathers, even if he is not clean by the rules of the holy place." ²⁰The LORD heard Hezekiah, and he healed the people. ²¹The Israelites who were in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy. Every day the Levites and priests praised the LORD. They played loud instruments of praise to the LORD. ²²Hezekiah spoke kind words to all the Levites who served the LORD with skill. For seven days they ate their share of the feast. They offered peace offerings and gave thanks to the LORD, the God of their fathers. ²³Then all the people agreed to keep the feast seven more days. So they kept it seven more days with joy. ²⁴Hezekiah king of Judah gave a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for the people. The officials gave a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep for the people. And many priests made themselves holy. ²⁵All the people of Judah were full of joy. So were the priests and Levites, and all the people who had come from Israel. So were the foreigners who had come from Israel and those who lived in Judah. ²⁶There was great joy in Jerusalem. Nothing like this had happened there since the days of Solomon son of David king of Israel. ²⁷Then the priests and the Levites stood up to bless the people. God heard them. Their prayer reached his holy home in heaven.