2 Chronicles 35:5-25

5 and serve ye in the saintuary by the families and (the) companies of (the) deacons,
6 and be ye hallowed, and offer ye (the) pask; also make ready your brethren, that they may do after the words, which the Lord spake by the hand of Moses. (and be ye consecrated, or purified, and kill ye the Passover lambs; and prepare for your kinsmen, to do after the words, which the Lord spoke through Moses.)
7 Furthermore Josiah gave to all the people, that was found there in the solemnity of pask, that is, to make the solemnity, lambs and kids of the flocks, and of residue sheep he gave thirty thousand, and of oxes three thousand; these things were given of the substance of the king. (And Josiah gave to all the people who were there for the Passover Feast, that is, to all who were there to keep the Feast, lambs and goat kids of the flocks, and he gave thirty thousand sheep, and three thousand oxen; these things were given out of the king's substance, or from his own possessions.)
8 And his dukes offered those things which they avowed by their free will, as well to the people, as to priests and deacons (And his leaders offered those things which they vowed by their own free will, to the people, as well as to the priests, and the Levites). And Hilkiah, and Zechariah, and Jehiel, princes of the house of the Lord, gave to [the] priests, to make (the) pask in common, two thousand and six hundred sheep, and three hundred oxen.
9 And Conaniah, and Shemaiah, and Nethaneel, and his brethren, and also Hashabiah, and Jeiel, and Jozabad, the princes of deacons, gave to other deacons, to make [the] pask, five thousand of sheep, and five hundred oxen. (And Conaniah, and Shemaiah, and Nethaneel, and his kinsmen, and also Hashabiah, and Jeiel, and Jozabad, the leaders of the Levites, gave to the other Levites, to make the Passover, five thousand sheep, and five hundred oxen.)
10 And the service was made ready; and [the] priests stood in their office, and deacons in their companies (and the Levites in their divisions), by the commandment of the king;
11 and pask was offered. And [the] priests sprinkled their hands with blood, and deacons drew off the skins of sacrificed beasts, (and so the Passover beasts were killed. And the priests sprinkled the blood with their hands, and the Levites drew off the skins of the sacrificed beasts,)
12 and they parted those sacrifices, for to give them by the houses and families of all men that were come thither to make (the) pask; and that those sacrifices should be offered to the Lord, as it is written in the book of Moses; and of oxen they did in like manner. (and they separated those sacrifices, in order to distribute them by the houses and the families of all those who were come there to keep the Passover; and so that those sacrifices should be offered to the Lord, as it is written in The Book of Moses; and they did in like manner with the oxen.)
13 And they roasted the pask lamb upon the fire, after that that is written in the law. And they seethed peaceable sacrifices in pans, and in cauldrons, and in pots, and in haste they dealed it to all the people; (And they roasted the Passover lamb upon the fire, after what is written in the Law. And they boiled the peace offerings in pans, and cauldrons, and pots, and then they gave it out hastily, or quickly, to all the people;)
14 but they made ready afterward to themselves, and to priests; for the priests were occupied unto [the] night in the offering of burnt sacrifices and of the inner fatnesses. Wherefore the deacons made ready their part at the last to themselves, and to the priests, the sons of Aaron. (and afterward the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests; for the priests were occupied into the night in offering the burnt sacrifices and the inner fatnesses. And so the Levites prepared their portion lastly for themselves, and for the priests, the sons of Aaron.)
15 And [the] singers, the sons of Asaph, stood in their order, by the commandment of David, and of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, the prophets of the king; but the porters kept their office by each gate, so that they went not away from their service, soothly (not) in a point, that is, they were in no time absent from their office; wherefore and the deacons, their brethren, made ready meats to them (and the guards, or the doorkeepers, kept watch at each gate, so that they went not away from their service, truly at no point, that is, they were never absent from their station; and so the Levites, their kinsmen, prepared their meats).
16 Therefore all the religion of the Lord was fulfilled rightfully in that day, that they made pask (And so all the service of the Lord was rightfully done on that day, so that they kept the Passover), and offered burnt sacrifices upon the altar of the Lord, by the commandment of king Josiah.
17 And the sons of Israel, that were found there, made pask in that time, and the solemnity of therf loaves seven days. (And the Israelites, who were found there, kept the Passover at that time, and then the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days.)
18 No pask was like this in Israel, from the days of Samuel, the prophet; but neither any of the kings of Israel made pask as Josiah did, to [the] priests and deacons, and to all Judah and Israel, that was found there, and to the dwellers of Jerusalem. (There was no Passover like this in Israel, since the days of the prophet Samuel; nor did any of the kings of Israel keep such a Passover as Josiah did, with the priests and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel, who were found there, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.)
19 This pask was hallowed in the eighteenth year of the realm of Josiah. (This Passover was kept in the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign.)
20 After that Josiah had repaired the temple, Necho, the king of Egypt, went up to fight in Charchemish beside Euphrates; and Josiah went forth into his meeting. (After that Josiah had repaired the Temple, Necho, the king of Egypt, went up to fight in Charchemish, which was on the banks of the Euphrates River; and Josiah went out against him.)
21 And Necho said by messengers sent to Josiah, King of Judah, what cause of strife is to me and to thee? I come not against thee today, but I fight against another household, to which God bade me go in haste; cease thou to do thus against God, that is with me, lest he slay thee. (And Necho sent messengers who said to Josiah, King of Judah, what cause of strife is there between me and thee? I did not come against thee today, but I fight against another household, to whom God hath ordered me to go in haste; cease thou to do thus against God, who is with me, lest he kill thee.)
22 But Josiah would not turn again, but he made ready battle against him; and he assented not to the words of Necho, by God's mouth, but he went for to fight in the field of Megiddo. (But Josiah would not turn back, but he prepared battle array against him; and he assented not to the words of Necho, which were from God's mouth, but he went out to fight in the field of Megiddo.)
23 And there he was wounded of archers, and Josiah said to his servants, Lead ye me out of the battle, for I am wounded greatly. (And there he was wounded by archers, and Josiah said to his servants, Lead ye me out of the battle, for I am greatly wounded.)
24 And they bare him over from that chariot into another chariot, that followed him, by custom of the king, and they brought him forth into Jerusalem; and he died there, and was buried in the sepulchre of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem bewailed him,
25 Jeremy most (of all), of whom all [the] singers and singeresses till into [the] present day rehearse (his) lamentations, either wailings, on Josiah (and Jeremiah bewailed him most of all, and all the singers and singeresses recite his lamentations, or his wailings, upon Josiah unto this present day); and it came forth as a law in Israel, Lo! it is said written in [the] Lamentations.

2 Chronicles 35:5-25 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 35

In this chapter we have an account of the keeping of the passover and its preparation, for which the priests and Levites were ordered to prepare, and to which Josiah, and his princes, gave liberally, and such an one was kept as had not been for ages past, 2Ch 35:1-19, and of Josiah's rash engagement in battle with the king of Egypt, in which he was slain, 2Ch 35:20-23 and of the great lamentations that were made for him, 2Ch 35:24-27.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.