2 Chronicles 30

Passover Celebrated

1 And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, to keep the Passover to the LORD God of Israel. 2 For the king and his leaders and all the assembly in Jerusalem had agreed to keep the Passover in the second a month. 3 For they could not keep it b at 1 the regular time, c because a sufficient number of priests had not consecrated themselves, nor had the people gathered together at Jerusalem. 4 And the matter pleased the king and all the assembly. 5 So they 2 resolved to make a proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, that they should come to keep the Passover to the LORD God of Israel at Jerusalem, since they had not done it for a long time in the prescribed manner. 6 Then the d runners went throughout all Israel and Judah with the letters from the king and his leaders, and spoke according to the command of the king: "Children of Israel, e return to the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel; then He will return to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of f the kings of g Assyria. 7 "And do not be h like your fathers and your brethren, who trespassed against the LORD God of their fathers, so that He i gave them up to j desolation, as you see. 8 "Now do not be k stiff-necked, 3 as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the LORD; and enter His sanctuary, which He has sanctified forever, and serve the LORD your God, l that the fierceness of His wrath may turn away from you. 9 "For if you return to the LORD, your brethren and your children will be treated with m compassion by those who lead them captive, so that they may come back to this land; for the LORD your God is n gracious and merciful, and will not turn His face from you if you o return to Him."

10 So the runners passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulun; but p they laughed at them and mocked them. 11 Nevertheless q some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. 12 Also r the hand of God was on Judah to give them singleness of heart to obey the command of the king and the leaders, s at the word of the LORD.

13 Now many people, a very great assembly, gathered at Jerusalem to keep the Feast of t Unleavened Bread in the second month. 14 They arose and took away the u altars that were in Jerusalem, and they took away all the incense altars and cast them into the Brook v Kidron. 15 Then they slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites 4 were w ashamed, and 5 sanctified themselves, and brought the burnt offerings to the house of the LORD. 16 They stood in their x place 6 according to their custom, according to the Law of Moses the man of God; the priests sprinkled the blood received from the hand of the Levites. 17 For there were many in the assembly who had not 7 sanctified themselves; y therefore the Levites had charge of the slaughter of the Passover lambs for everyone who was not clean, to sanctify them to the LORD. 18 For a multitude of the people, z many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, a yet they ate the Passover contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, "May the good LORD provide atonement for everyone 19 "who b prepares his heart to seek God, the LORD God of his fathers, though he is not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary." 20 And the LORD listened to Hezekiah and healed the people. 21 So the children of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept c the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great gladness; and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD day by day, singing to the LORD, accompanied by loud instruments. 22 And Hezekiah gave encouragement to all the Levites d who taught the good knowledge of the LORD; and they ate throughout the feast seven days, offering peace offerings and e making confession to the LORD God of their fathers.

23 Then the whole assembly agreed to keep the feast f another seven days, and they kept it another seven days with gladness. 24 For Hezekiah king of Judah g gave to the assembly a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep, and the leaders gave to the assembly a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep; and a great number of priests h sanctified 8 themselves. 25 The whole assembly of Judah rejoiced, also the priests and Levites, all the assembly that came from Israel, the sojourners i who came from the land of Israel, and those who dwelt in Judah. 26 So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of j Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. 27 Then the priests, the Levites, arose and k blessed the people, and their voice was heard; and their prayer came up to l His holy dwelling place, to heaven.

  1. Cross References
    Numbers 9:10
    Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'If anyone of you or your posterity is unclean because of a corpse, or is far away on a journey, he may still keep the LORD's Passover.
    Numbers 9:11
    On the fourteenth day of the second month, at twilight, they may keep it. They shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
    2 Chronicles 30:13
    Now many people, a very great assembly, gathered at Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month.
    2 Chronicles 30:15
    Then they slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought the burnt offerings to the house of the LORD.
  2. Cross References
    Exodus 12:6
    Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight.
    Exodus 12:18
    In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.
  3. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 29:17
    Now they began to sanctify on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule of the LORD. So they sanctified the house of the LORD in eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.
    2 Chronicles 29:34
    But the priests were too few, so that they could not skin all the burnt offerings; therefore their brethren the Levites helped them until the work was ended and until the other priests had sanctified themselves, for the Levites were more diligent in sanctifying themselves than the priests.
  4. Cross References
    Esther 8:14
    The couriers who rode on royal horses went out, hastened and pressed on by the king's command. And the decree was issued in Shushan the citadel.
    Job 9:25
    Now my days are swifter than a runner; They flee away, they see no good.
    Jeremiah 51:31
    One runner will run to meet another, And one messenger to meet another, To show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on all sides.
  5. Cross References
    Jeremiah 4:1
    If you will return, O Israel," says the LORD, "Return to Me; And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight, Then you shall not be moved.
    Joel 2:13
    So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm.
  6. Cross References
    2 Kings 15:19
    Pul king of Assyria came against the land; and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to strengthen the kingdom under his control.
    2 Kings 15:29
    In the days of Pekah king of Israel, TiglathPile'ser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel Beth Maachah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria.
  7. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 28:20
    Also TiglathPile'ser king of Assyria came to him and distressed him, and did not assist him.
  8. Cross References
    Ezekiel 20:18
    But I said to their children in the wilderness, 'Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols.
  9. Cross References
    Isaiah 1:9
    Unless the LORD of hosts Had left to us a very small remnant, We would have become like Sodom, We would have been made like Gomorrah.
  10. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 29:8
    Therefore the wrath of the LORD fell upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He has given them up to trouble, to desolation, and to jeering, as you see with your eyes.
  11. Cross References
    Exodus 32:9
    And the LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people!
    Deuteronomy 10:16
    Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer.
    Acts 7:51
    You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.
  12. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 29:10
    Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that His fierce wrath may turn away from us.
  13. Cross References
    Psalms 106:46
    He also made them to be pitied By all those who carried them away captive.
  14. Cross References
    Exodus 34:6
    And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth.
    Micah 7:18
    Who is a God like You, Pardoning iniquity And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy.
  15. Cross References
    Isaiah 55:7
    Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.
  16. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 36:16
    But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, till there was no remedy.
  17. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 11:16
    And after the Levites left, those from all the tribes of Israel, such as set their heart to seek the LORD God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the LORD God of their fathers.
    2 Chronicles 30:18
    For a multitude of the people, many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, "May the good LORD provide atonement for everyone
    2 Chronicles 21:1
    And Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. Then Jehoram his son reigned in his place.
  18. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 3:5
    Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.
    Philippians 2:13
    For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
    Hebrews 13:20
    Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant.
    Hebrews 13:21
    Make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
  19. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 29:25
    And he stationed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with stringed instruments, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, of Gad the king's seer, and of Nathan the prophet; for thus was the commandment of the LORD by His prophets.
  20. Cross References
    Leviticus 23:6
    And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; seven days you must eat unleavened bread.
    Numbers 9:11
    On the fourteenth day of the second month, at twilight, they may keep it. They shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
  21. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 28:24
    So Ahaz gathered the articles of the house of God, cut in pieces the articles of the house of God, shut up the doors of the house of the LORD, and made for himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem.
  22. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 29:16
    Then the priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD to cleanse it, and brought out all the debris that they found in the temple of the LORD to the court of the house of the LORD. And the Levites took it out and carried it to the Brook Kidron.
  23. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 29:34
    But the priests were too few, so that they could not skin all the burnt offerings; therefore their brethren the Levites helped them until the work was ended and until the other priests had sanctified themselves, for the Levites were more diligent in sanctifying themselves than the priests.
  24. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 35:10
    So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their places, and the Levites in their divisions, according to the king's command.
    2 Chronicles 35:15
    And the singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their places, according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer. Also the gatekeepers were at each gate; they did not have to leave their position, because their brethren the Levites prepared portions for them.
  25. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 29:34
    But the priests were too few, so that they could not skin all the burnt offerings; therefore their brethren the Levites helped them until the work was ended and until the other priests had sanctified themselves, for the Levites were more diligent in sanctifying themselves than the priests.
  26. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 30:1
    And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, to keep the Passover to the LORD God of Israel.
    2 Chronicles 30:11
    Nevertheless some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.
    2 Chronicles 25:1
    Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.
  27. Cross References
    Exodus 12:43 - 49
    And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "This is the ordinance of the Passover: No foreigner shall eat it.
    Numbers 9:10
    Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'If anyone of you or your posterity is unclean because of a corpse, or is far away on a journey, he may still keep the LORD's Passover.
  28. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 19:3
    "Nevertheless good things are found in you, in that you have removed the wooden images from the land, and have prepared your heart to seek God."
  29. Cross References
    Exodus 12:15
    Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.
    Exodus 13:6
    Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the LORD.
    1 Kings 8:65
    At that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great assembly from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days and seven more days - fourteen days.
  30. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 33:10
    They shall teach Jacob Your judgments, And Israel Your law. They shall put incense before You, And a whole burnt sacrifice on Your altar.
    2 Chronicles 17:9
    So they taught in Judah, and had the Book of the Law of the LORD with them; they went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught the people.
    2 Chronicles 35:3
    Then he said to the Levites who taught all Israel, who were holy to the LORD: "Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built. It shall no longer be a burden on your shoulders. Now serve the LORD your God and His people Israel.
  31. Cross References
    Ezra 10:11
    "Now therefore, make confession to the LORD God of your fathers, and do His will; separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the pagan wives."
  32. Cross References
    1 Kings 8:65
    At that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great assembly from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days and seven more days - fourteen days.
    2 Chronicles 35:17
    And the children of Israel who were present kept the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days.
    2 Chronicles 35:18
    There had been no Passover kept in Israel like that since the days of Samuel the prophet; and none of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as Josiah kept, with the priests and the Levites, all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
  33. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 35:7
    Then Josiah gave the lay people lambs and young goats from the flock, all for Passover offerings for all who were present, to the number of thirty thousand, as well as three thousand cattle; these were from the king's possessions.
    2 Chronicles 35:8
    And his leaders gave willingly to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings two thousand six hundred from the flock, and three hundred cattle.
  34. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 29:34
    But the priests were too few, so that they could not skin all the burnt offerings; therefore their brethren the Levites helped them until the work was ended and until the other priests had sanctified themselves, for the Levites were more diligent in sanctifying themselves than the priests.
  35. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 30:11
    Nevertheless some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.
    2 Chronicles 30:18
    For a multitude of the people, many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, "May the good LORD provide atonement for everyone
  36. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 7:8 - 10
    At that time Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt.
  37. Cross References
    Numbers 6:23
    Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, 'This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them:
  38. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 26:15
    'Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land which You have given us, just as You swore to our fathers, "a land flowing with milk and honey."'
    Psalms 68:5
    A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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