2 Chronicles 35

1 And Josiah kept, in Jerusalem, a passover unto Yahweh, —and they slaughtered the passover, on the fourteenth of the first month.

Josiah held a Passover for the Lord in Jerusalem, and the Passover lamb was killed on the fourteenth day of the first month.

2 And he set the priests over their charges, —and encouraged them unto the service of the house of Yahweh;

He assigned the priests to their respective duties and encouraged them in their ministry at the Lord's Temple.

3 and said to the Levites who gave instruction to all Israel as to the things which were hallowed unto Yahweh, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon son of David king of Israel did build, it is not yours as a burden on the shoulder, —Now, serve ye Yahweh your God, and his people Israel;

Josiah told the Levites who taught all Israel and were holy to the Lord, “Place the holy Ark in the Temple built by Solomon, son of David, king of Israel. It's not necessary for you to carry it around on your shoulders any more. Your responsibility now is to serve the Lord your God and his people Israel.

4 and prepare yourselves by your ancestral houses, according to your courses, —by the writing of David king of Israel, and by what hath been written by Solomon his son;

Get yourselves ready for service in your divisions, by families, according to the instructions given by David, king of Israel, and his son Solomon.

5 and stand ye in the holy place, by the divisions of the ancestral house, for your brethren, the sons of the people, and the partitioning of an ancestral house, for the Levites.

Then you are to stand in the sanctuary to assist the lay people according to family divisions, following the assignments according to your Levite family divisions.

6 So slaughter ye the passover, —and hallow yourselves, and prepare for your brethren, that they may do according to the word of Yahweh, by the hand of Moses.

Sacrifice the Passover lambs, purify yourselves, and be ready to help the people who come to fulfill the requirements given by the Lord through Moses.”

7 And Josiah presented to the sons of the people—of flocks, young sheep and the young of the goats, the whole for the passover offerings, for all present, to the number of thirty thousand, and, of bullocks, three thousand, —these, out of the substance of the king.

Josiah contributed as Passover offerings for all the people who were present 30,000 lambs and goats, and 3,000 bulls, all from his own flocks and herds.

8 And, his rulers, willingly, to the people and to the priests and to the Levites, presented, —Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel, chief rulers of the house of God, unto the priests, did give, for passover offerings, two thousand and six hundred, and, of bullocks, three hundred;

His officials contributed freely to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, who were in charge of God's Temple, gave the priests as Passover offerings 2,600 Passover lambs and 300 bulls.

9 and, Conaniah, and Shemaiah and Nethanel his brethren, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, rulers of the Levites, presented to the Levites, for passover offerings, five thousand, and, of bullocks, five hundred.

The leaders of the Levites, Conaniah, and Shemaiah and Nethanel his brothers, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, gave the Levites as Passover offerings 5,000 lambs and young goats and 500 bulls.

10 Thus was the service prepared, —and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their courses, according to the commandment of the king.

Once the preparations had been completed, the priests stood where they had been assigned and the Levites took their places in their divisions as the king had ordered.

11 So they slaughtered the passover, and the priests dashed [the blood received] at their hand, and the Levites were flaying [the offerings].

They killed the Passover lambs, the priests sprinkled the blood they were given on the altar, while the Levites skinned the sacrifices.

12 Then they removed the ascending-sacrifice, that they might give them—by the divisions of each ancestral house—unto the sons of the people, to offer unto Yahweh, as it is written in the Book of Moses, —and, in like manner, with the bullocks.

They put to one side the burnt offerings to be given to the families of the lay people, by division, to offer to the Lord, as required in the Book of Moses. They did the same thing with the bulls.

13 And they cooked the passover with fire, according to the regulation, —but, the hallowed things, cooked they in cauldrons and in pots and in bowls, and then took quickly, unto all the sons of the people.

They roasted the Passover sacrifices on the fire as requires, and they boiled the holy offerings in pots, caldrons, and pans, and took them quickly to the lay people.

14 And, afterwards, prepared they for themselves and for the priests, because, the priests, the sons of Aaron, had been engaged in offering up the ascending-sacrifice and the fat pieces, until night, —the Levites, therefore prepared for themselves, and for the priests, the sons of Aaron.

After that they prepared food from the offerings for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were busy presenting burnt offerings and fat until night came. So the Levites did this work for themselves and for the priests, the descendants of Aaron.

15 the singers also, the sons of Asaph, were in their place, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the seer of the king, and, the doorkeepers, were at the several doors, —there was no need for them to remove from their service, for, their brethren the Levites, prepared for them.

The singers, the descendants of Asaph, were in their places following the instructions given by David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, the king's seer. The gatekeepers in charge at each gate did not need to leave, because their fellow Levites provided for them.

16 Thus was all the service of Yahweh prepared on that day; to keep the passover, and to offer up the ascending-sacrifice, upon the altar of Yahweh, —according to the commandment of King Josiah.

So on that day the whole Passover service of the Lord was took place, including the presenting of burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, as King Josiah had ordered.

17 So the sons of Israel who were present kept the passover at that time, —and the festival of unleavened cakes, seven days.

The Israelites who were there also celebrated Passover at that time, and also the Feast of Unleavened Bread for the following seven days.

18 And there had not been kept, a passover like it, in Israel, since the days of Samuel the prophet, —yea, none of the kings of Israel, had kept such a passover as was kept by Josiah and the priests and the Levites and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

No Passover like this had been held in Israel since the time of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel had ever held a Passover like the one that Josiah observed with the priests, the Levites, all of Judah, the Israelites who were there, and the people of Jerusalem.

19 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah, was kept this passover.

This Passover was observed in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah.

20 After all this—when Josiah had prepared the house, Neco king of Egypt came up, -to fight against Carchemish, by Euphrates, and Josiah went forth against him.

After all this work that Josiah had carried out in restoring the Temple, King Neco of Egypt was leading his army to fight at Carchemish near the Euphrates, and Josiah went to confront him.

21 But he sent unto him messengers, saying—What have I to do with thee, O king of Judah? not against thee, [have I come] this day, but against the house wherewith I have war, and, God, hath given word to speed me, —cease thou from [provoking] God who is with me, lest he destroy thee.

Neco sent messengers to him, saying, “What argument is there between you and me, king of Judah? I have not come to attack you today, because I'm fighting with another kingdom. God told me I should hurry, so stop obstructing God, who is with me, or he'll destroy you!”

22 Howbeit Josiah turned not his face from him, for, to fight against him, he had disguised himself, and he hearkened not unto the words of Neco, from the mouth of God, —so he came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.

But Josiah did not turn away and leave. Instead, he disguised himself so he could fight Neco in battle. He ignored Neco's message that came from God, and went to fight him on the Plain of Megiddo.

23 And the archers shot at King Josiah, —and the king said unto his servants, Take me away, for I am sore wounded.

There archers shot King Josiah. He called out those beside him, “Get me out of the battle, because I'm badly wounded!”

24 So his servants took him away out of the war-chariot, and conveyed him in a second chariot which he had, and carried him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in the sepulchres of his fathers, —and, all Judah and Jerusalem, were mourning over Josiah.

So they carried him out of his chariot, and took him back in his second chariot to Jerusalem, where he died. Josiah was buried in the tomb of his forefathers. All Judah and Jerusalem wept for him.

25 And Jeremiah chanted a dirge over Josiah, and all the singing men and singing women in their dirges have spoken concerning Josiah, until this day, and they appointed them by statute for Israel, —and, there they are, written among the dirges.

Then Jeremiah wrote a lament over Josiah, and to this day male and female choirs sing sad songs about Josiah. They have become a part of what is regularly sung in Israel, and they are recorded in the Book of Laments.

26 But, the rest of the story of Josiah, and his lovingkindness, —according to that which is written in the law of Yahweh:

The rest of what Josiah did, along with his acts of loyalty following what is written in the Law of the Lord,

27 even his story, first and last, there it is, written in the book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

all his actions, from beginning to end, are recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.