12. Then the LEVITES arose, Mahath, the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites; and of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; and of the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah;

13. and of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel; and of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah;

14. and of the sons of Heman, Jehuel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.

15. They gathered their brothers, sanctified themselves, and went in, according to the commandment of the king by The LORD's words, to cleanse The LORD's house.

16. The priests went into the inner part of The LORD's house to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in The LORD's temple into the court of The LORD's house. The LEVITES took it from there to carry it out to the brook Kidron.

17. Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month they came to The LORD's porch. They sanctified The LORD's house in eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.

18. Then they went in to Hezekiah the king within the palace, and said, "We have cleansed all The LORD's house, including the altar of burnt offering with all its vessels, and the table of show bread with all its vessels.

19. Moreover all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign threw away when he was unfaithful, have we prepared and sanctified. Behold, they are before The LORD's altar."

20. Then Hezekiah the king arose early, gathered the princes of the city, and went up to The LORD's house.

21. They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. He commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on The LORD's altar.

22. So they killed the bulls, and the priests received the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar. They killed the rams, and sprinkled the blood on the altar. They also killed the lambs, and sprinkled the blood on the altar.

23. They brought near the male goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly; and they laid their hands on them.

24. Then the priests killed them, and they made a sin offering with their blood on the altar, to make atonement for all Israel; for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.

25. He set the LEVITES in The LORD's house with cymbals, with stringed instruments, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet; for the commandment was from the LORD by his prophets.

26. The LEVITES stood with David's instruments, and the priests with the trumpets.

27. Hezekiah commanded them to offer the burnt offering on the altar. When the burnt offering began, The LORD's song also began, along with the trumpets and David king of Israel's instruments.

28. All the assembly worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded. All this continued until the burnt offering was finished.

29. When they had finished offering, the king and all who were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped.

30. Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the LEVITES to sing praises to the LORD with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. They sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshiped.

31. Then Hezekiah answered, "Now you have consecrated yourselves to The LORD. Come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into The LORD's house." The assembly brought in sacrifices and thank offerings, and as many as were of a willing heart brought burnt offerings.

32. The number of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was seventy bulls, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs. All these were for a burnt offering to The LORD.

33. The consecrated things were six hundred head of cattle and three thousand sheep.

34. But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings. Therefore their brothers the LEVITES helped them, until the work was ended, and until the priests had sanctified themselves; for the LEVITES were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.

35. Also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace offerings, and with the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So the service of The LORD's house was set in order.

36. Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced, because of that which God had prepared for the people; for the thing was done suddenly.

1. Josiah kept a Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem. They killed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

2. He set the priests in their offices, and encouraged them in the service of The LORD's house.

3. 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 will no longer be a burden on your shoulders. Now serve the LORD your God, and his people Israel.

4. Prepare yourselves after your fathers' houses by your divisions, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son.

5. Stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the fathers' houses of your brothers the children of the people, and let there be for each a portion of a fathers' house of the LEVITES.

6. Kill the Passover, sanctify yourselves, and prepare for your brothers, to do according to The LORD's word by Moses."

7. Josiah gave to the children of the people, of the flock, lambs and young goats, all of them for the Passover offerings, to all who were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bulls. These were of the king's substance.

8. His princes gave for a freewill offering to the people, to the priests, and to the LEVITES. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the rulers of God's house, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings two thousand six hundred small livestock, and three hundred head of cattle.

9. Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethanel, his brothers, and Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad, the chiefs of the LEVITES, gave to the LEVITES for the Passover offerings five thousand small livestock and five hundred head of cattle.

10. So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the LEVITES by their divisions, according to the king's commandment.

11. They killed the Passover, and the priests sprinkled the blood which they received of their hand, and the LEVITES flayed them.

12. 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 to The LORD, as it is written in the book of Moses. They did the same with the cattle.

13. They roasted the Passover with fire according to the ordinance. The boiled the holy offerings in pots, in cauldrons, and in pans, and carried them quickly to all the children of the people.

14. Afterward they prepared for themselves and for the priests, because the priests the sons of Aaron were busy with offering the burnt offerings and the fat until night. Therefore the LEVITES prepared for themselves and for the priests the sons of Aaron.

15. The singers the sons of Asaph were in their place, according to the commandment of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer; and the gatekeepers were at every gate. They didn't need to depart from their service, because their brothers the LEVITES prepared for them.

16. So all the service of the LORD was prepared the same day, to keep the Passover, and to offer burnt offerings on The LORD's altar, according to the commandment of king Josiah.

17. The children of Israel who were present kept the Passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days.

18. There was no Passover like that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet, nor did any of the kings of Israel keep such a Passover as Josiah kept, with the priests, the LEVITES, and all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.