1 Yoshiyahu keptPesachtoAdonaiin Yerushalayim. They slaughtered thePesachlamb on the fourteenth day of the first month.
2 He assigned thecohanimto their posts and encouraged them to perform the service of the house ofAdonai.
3 To theL’vi’imwho were teaching all Isra’el and were holy forAdonaihe said, “Put the holy ark in the house which Shlomo the son of David, king of Isra’el, built; after this, you will not have to carry it again. Now serveAdonaiyour God and his people Isra’el.
4 Organize yourselves by clans and duty divisions according to the arrangement written down by David king of Isra’el and Shlomo his son.
5 Stand in the Holy Place according to the divisions of the clans of your kinsmen the ordinary people, with part of a clan ofL’vi’imserving each clan [of Isra’el].
6 Then slaughter thePesachlamb, consecrate yourselves, prepare what your kinsmen need, and act according to the word ofAdonaigiven through Moshe.”
7 Yoshiyahu gave the ordinary people, to all who were present, 30,000 lambs and kids from the flock, all of them forPesachofferings, and 3,000 bulls. These were from the king’s personal property.
8 Also his leading men voluntarily gave to the people and to thecohanimandL’vi’im. Hilkiyah, Z’kharyahu and Yechi’el, the rulers of the house of God, gave thecohanim2,600 [lambs and kids] and 300 oxen forPesachofferings.
9 Konanyah, his brothers Sh’ma‘yah and N’tan’el, and Hashavyah, Ye‘i’el and Yozavad, the headL’vi’im, gave theL’vi’im5,000 [lambs and kids] and 500 oxen forPesachofferings.
10 So the service was prepared; thecohanimstood at their posts; and theL’vi’imworked in their divisions, in keeping with the king’s order.
11 They slaughtered thePesachlamb; thecohanimsplashed [the blood, which they received from theL’vi’im], and theL’vi’imskinned and butchered them.
12 They removed the portions to be burned, in order to give them to the divisions of the clans of the ordinary people to present toAdonai, as written in the scroll of Moshe. They did the same with the oxen.
13 They roasted thePesachlamb over fire, according to the rule; while they boiled the holy offerings in pots, kettles and pans and carried them quickly to all the ordinary people.
14 Afterwards, they prepared food for themselves and for thecohanim; because thecohanim, the descendants of Aharon, were busy till nightfall offering the fat and the portions to be burned up; this is why theL’vi’imprepared food both for themselves and for thecohanimthe descendants of Aharon.
15 The singers the sons of Asaf were at their posts, as ordered by David — Asaf, Heman and Y’dutun the king’s seer. The gatekeepers were at every gate, and they did not need to leave their posts, because their brothers theL’vi’imprepared [food] for them.
16 Thus all the service ofAdonaiwas prepared the same day for observingPesachand offering burnt offerings on the altar ofAdonai, in accordance with the order of King Yoshiyahu.
17 The people of Isra’el who were present observed thePesachat that time and the festival ofMatzotfor seven days.
18 NoPesachlike that had been kept in Isra’el since the days of Sh’mu’el the prophet, and none of the kings of Isra’el observe aPesachsuch as Yoshiyahu observed, with thecohanim,L’vi’im, all Y’hudah, those of Isra’el who were present, and the inhabitants of Yerushalayim.
19 ThisPesachwas observed in the eighteenth year of Yoshiyahu.
20 After all this, and after Yoshiyahu had restored the house, N’kho king of Egypt went up to attack Kark’mish by the Euphrates River. King Yoshiyahu went out to oppose him;
21 but N’kho sent envoys to him with this message: “Do I have a conflict with you, king of Y’hudah? No, I am not coming today to attack you, but to attack the dynasty with whom I am at war. God has ordered to speed me along; so don’t meddle with God, who is with me; so that he won’t destroy you.”
22 Nevertheless, Yoshiyahu was determined to go after him. He disguised himself in order to fight against him and wouldn’t listen to what N’kho said, which was from the mouth of God. Then he went to fight in the Megiddo Valley.
23 There archers shot King Yoshiyahu. The king said to his servants, “Take me away, because I’m badly wounded.”
24 So his servants took him out of the chariot, transferred him to his second chariot and brought him to Yerushalayim. But he died, and he was buried in the tombs of his ancestors. All Y’hudah and Yerushalayim mourned Yoshiyahu.
25 Yirmeyahu composed a lament for Yoshiyahu; and all the men and women singers have sung of Yoshiyahu in their laments till this day. They made singing them a law in Isra’el, and they are recorded in the Laments.
26 Other activities of Yoshiyahu and all his good deeds in keeping with what is written in theTorahofAdonai,
27 also his accomplishments from beginning to end, are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra’el and Y’hudah.