1 Then Hizkiyahu sent to all Isra’el and Y’hudah, and wrote letters also to Efrayim and M’nasheh, summoning them to the house ofAdonaiin Yerushalayim, to keep thePesachtoAdonaithe God of Isra’el.
2 For the king, his officials and the entire Yerushalayim community had agreed to keep thePesachin the second month.
3 They had not been able to observe it at the proper time because thecohanimhad not consecrated themselves in sufficient number; also the people had not assembled in Yerushalayim.
4 The idea had seemed right to the king and to the whole community;
5 so they issued a decree that it should be proclaimed throughout all Isra’el, from Be’er-Sheva to Dan, that they should come to keep thePesachtoAdonaithe God of Isra’el at Yerushalayim; for only a few had been observing it as prescribed.
6 So runners went with the letters from the king and his officers throughout all Isra’el and Y’hudah. They conveyed the king’s order: “People of Isra’el! Turn back toAdonai, the God of Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov! Then he will return to those of you who remain, who escaped capture by the kings of Ashur.
7 Don’t be like your ancestors, or like your kinsmen who sinned againstAdonaithe God of their ancestors, with the result that he allowed them to become an object of horror, as you see.
8 Don’t be stiffnecked now, as your ancestors were. Instead, yield yourselves toAdonai; enter his sanctuary, which he has made holy forever; and serveAdonaiyour God; so that his fierce anger will turn away from you.
9 For if you turn back toAdonai, your kinsmen and children will find that those who took them captive will have compassion on them, and they will come back to this land.Adonaiyour God is compassionate and merciful; he will not turn his face away from you if you return to him.”
10 So the runners passed from city to city through the territory of Efrayim and M’nasheh, as far as Z’vulun; but the people laughed at them and made fun of them.
11 Nevertheless, some from Asher, M’nasheh and Z’vulun were humble enough to come to Yerushalayim.
12 Also in Y’hudah the hand of God was at work, uniting their hearts to do what the king and the leaders had ordered in accordance with the word ofAdonai.
13 Thus, many people assembled in Yerushalayim to keep the festival ofMatzotin the second month, a huge crowd.
14 First they set about removing the altars that were in Yerushalayim, and they also removed all the altars for incense and threw them inVadiKidron.
15 Then they slaughtered thePesachlamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. Ashamed of themselves, thecohanimandL’vi’imhad consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings into the house ofAdonai.
16 Now they stood at their stations, as prescribed in theTorahof Moshe the man of God; thecohanimsplashed the blood given to them by theL’vi’im.
17 For there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves; therefore theL’vi’imwere responsible for slaughtering thePesachlambs and consecrating them toAdonaion behalf of everyone who was not clean.
18 For a large number of the people, especially from Efrayim, M’nasheh, Yissakhar and Z’vulun, had not cleansed themselves but ate thePesachlamb anyway, despite what is written. For Hizkiyahu had prayed for them, “MayAdonai, who is good, pardon
19 everyone who sets his heart on seeking God,Adonai, the God of his ancestors, even if he hasn’t undergone the purification prescribed in connection with holy things.”
20 Adonaiheard Hizkiyahu and healed the people.
21 The people of Isra’el there in Yerushalayim observed the festival ofMatzotfor seven days with great joy; while every day theL’vi’imandcohanimpraisedAdonai, singing toAdonaiwith the accompaniment of loud instruments.
22 Hizkiyahu spoke encouragingly to all theL’vi’imwho were well skilled in the service ofAdonai. Thus they ate throughout the festival for the seven days, offering sacrifices of peace offerings and giving thanks toAdonai, the God of their ancestors.
23 Then the whole assembly decided to celebrate for yet another seven days, and they observed those seven days too with joy.
24 For Hizkiyahu king of Y’hudah gave the assembly a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for offerings, while the leaders gave the assembly a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep; and great numbers ofcohanimconsecrated themselves.
25 All the people who had assembled from Y’hudah rejoiced, as did thecohanimandL’vi’im, those assembled from Isra’el, and the foreigners who had come from the territory of Isra’el or who lived in Y’hudah.
26 So there was great joy in Yerushalayim; for since the time of Shlomo the son of David, king of Isra’el, there had been nothing like it in Yerushalayim.
27 Then thecohanim, who wereL’vi’im, stood up and blessed the people; [Adonai] heard their voice, and their prayer came up to the holy place where he lives, heaven.