1And Josiah kept a passover unto Jehovah in Jerusalem : and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month . 2And he set the priests in their offices , and encouraged them to the service of the house of Jehovah . 3And he said unto the Levites that taught all Israel , that were holy unto Jehovah , Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build ; there shall no more be a burden upon your shoulders . Now serve Jehovah your God , and his people Israel ; 4and prepare yourselves after your fathers’ houses by your courses , according to the writing of David king of Israel , and according to the writing of Solomon his son . 5And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the fathers’ houses of your brethren the children of the people , and let there be for each a portion of a father ’s house of the Levites . 6And kill the passover , and sanctify yourselves , and prepare for your brethren, to do according to the word of Jehovah by Moses . 7And Josiah gave to the children of the people , of the flock , lambs and kids , all of them for the passover-offerings, unto all that were present , to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bullocks : these were of the king ’s substance . 8And his princes gave for a freewill-offering unto the people , to the priests , and to the Levites . Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel , the rulers of the house of God , gave unto the priests for the passover-offerings two thousand and six hundred small cattle , and three hundred oxen . 9Conaniah also , and Shemaiah and Nethanel , his brethren, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad , the chiefs of the Levites , gave unto the Levites for the passover-offerings five thousand small cattle , and five hundred oxen . 10So the service was prepared , and the priests stood in their place , and the Levites by their courses , according to the king ’s commandment . 11And they killed the passover , and the priests sprinkled the blood which they received of their hand , and the Levites flayed them . 12And they removed the burnt-offerings, that they might give them according to the divisions of the fathers’ houses of the children of the people , to offer unto Jehovah , as it is written in the book of Moses . And so did they with the oxen . 13And they roasted the passover with fire according to the ordinance : and the holy offerings boiled they in pots , and in caldrons , and in pans , and carried them quickly to all the children of the people . 14And 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. 15And the singers the sons of Asaph were in their place , according to the commandment of David , and Asaph, and Heman , and Jeduthun the king ’s seer ; and the porters were at every gate : they needed not to depart from their service ; for their brethren the Levites prepared for them . 16So all the service of Jehovah was prepared the same day , to keep the passover , and to offer burnt-offerings upon the altar of Jehovah , according to the commandment of king Josiah . 17And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover at that time , and the feast of unleavened bread seven days . 18And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet ; neither did any of the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept , and the priests , and the Levites , and all Judah and Israel that were present , and the inhabitants of Jerusalem . 19In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover kept .
The Role of the Levites and Priests
20After all this , when Josiah had prepared the temple , Neco king of Egypt went up to fight against Carchemish by the Euphrates : and Josiah went out against him . 21But 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 destroy thee not . 22Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him , but disguised himself , that he might fight with him , and hearkened not unto the words of Neco from the mouth of God , and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo . 23And the archers shot at king Josiah ; and the king said to his servants , Have me away ; for I am sore wounded . 24So his servants took him out of the chariot , and put him in the second chariot that he had , and brought him to Jerusalem ; and he died , and was buried in the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah . 25And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah : and all the singing men and singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations unto this day ; and they made them an ordinance in Israel : and , behold , they are written in the lamentations . 26Now the rest of the acts of Josiah , and his good deeds , according to that which is written in the law of Jehovah , 27and his acts , first and last, behold , they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah .