The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Yoshiyahu kept Pesach to ADONAI in Yerushalayim. They slaughtered the Pesach lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month.
1
And Josiah kept a Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem; on the fourteenth day of the first month they put the Passover lamb to death.
2 He assigned the cohanim to their posts and encouraged them to perform the service of the house of ADONAI.
2
And he gave the priests their places, making them strong for the work of the house of God.
3 To the L'vi'im who were teaching all Isra'el and were holy for ADONAI he 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 serve ADONAI your God and his people Isra'el.
3
And he said to the Levites, the teachers of all Israel, who were holy to the Lord, See, the holy ark is in the house which Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel, made; it will no longer have to be transported on your backs: now be the servants of the Lord your God and his people Israel,
4 Organize yourselves by clans and duty divisions according to the arrangement written down by David king of Isra'el and Shlomo his son.
4
And make yourselves ready in your divisions, by your families, as it is ordered in the writings of David, king of Israel, and of Solomon 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 of L'vi'im serving each clan [of Isra'el].
5
And take your positions in the holy place, grouped in the families of your brothers, the children of the people, and for every division let there be a part of a family of the Levites.
6 Then slaughter the Pesach lamb, consecrate yourselves, prepare what your kinsmen need, and act according to the word of ADONAI given through Moshe."
6
And put the Passover lamb to death, and make yourselves holy, and make it ready for your brothers, so that the orders given by the Lord through Moses may be done.
7 Yoshiyahu gave the ordinary people, to all who were present, 30,000 lambs and kids from the flock, all of them for Pesach offerings, and 3,000 bulls. These were from the king's personal property.
7
And Josiah gave lambs and goats from the flock as Passover offerings for all the people who were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand oxen: these were from the king's private property.
8 Also his leading men voluntarily gave to the people and to the cohanim and L'vi'im. Hilkiyah, Z'kharyahu and Yechi'el, the rulers of the house of God, gave the cohanim 2,600 [lambs and kids] and 300 oxen for Pesach offerings.
8
And his captains freely gave an offering to the people, the priests, and the Levites. Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel, the rulers of the house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings two thousand, six hundred small cattle and three hundred oxen.
9 Konanyah, his brothers Sh'ma'yah and N'tan'el, and Hashavyah, Ye'i'el and Yozavad, the head L'vi'im, gave the L'vi'im 5,000 [lambs and kids] and 500 oxen for Pesach offerings.
9
And Conaniah and Shemaiah and Nethanel, his brothers, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, the chiefs of the Levites, gave to the Levites for the Passover offerings five thousand small cattle and five hundred oxen.
10 So the service was prepared; the cohanim stood at their posts; and the L'vi'im worked in their divisions, in keeping with the king's order.
10
So everything was made ready and the priests took their places with the Levites in their divisions, as the king had said.
11 They slaughtered the Pesach lamb; the cohanim splashed [the blood, which they received from the L'vi'im], and the L'vi'im skinned and butchered them.
11
And they put the Passover lambs to death, the blood being drained out by the priests when it was given to them, and the Levites did the skinning.
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 to ADONAI, as written in the scroll of Moshe. They did the same with the oxen.
12
And they took away the burned offerings, so that they might give them to be offered to the Lord for the divisions of the families of the people, as it is recorded in the book of Moses. And they did the same with the oxen.
13 They roasted the Pesach lamb 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.
13
And the Passover lamb was cooked over the fire, as it says in the law; and the holy offerings were cooked in pots and basins and vessels, and taken quickly to all the people.
14 Afterwards, they prepared food for themselves and for the cohanim; because the cohanim, the descendants of Aharon, were busy till nightfall offering the fat and the portions to be burned up; this is why the L'vi'im prepared food both for themselves and for the cohanim the descendants of Aharon.
14
And after that, they made ready for themselves and for the priests; for the priests, the sons of Aaron, were offering the burned offerings and the fat till night; so the Levites made ready what was needed for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron.
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 the L'vi'im prepared [food] for them.
15
And the sons of Asaph, the makers of melody, were in their places, as ordered by David and Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, the king's seer; and the door-keepers were stationed at every door: there was no need for them to go away from their places, for their brothers the Levites made ready for them.
16 Thus all the service of ADONAI was prepared the same day for observing Pesach and offering burnt offerings on the altar of ADONAI, in accordance with the order of King Yoshiyahu.
16
So everything needed for the worship of the Lord was made ready that same day, for the keeping of the Passover and the offering of burned offerings on the altar of the Lord, as King Josiah had given orders.
17 The people of Isra'el who were present observed the Pesach at that time and the festival of Matzot for seven days.
17
And all the children of Israel who were present kept the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread at that time for seven days.
18 No Pesach like 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 a Pesach such as Yoshiyahu observed, with the cohanim, L'vi'im, all Y'hudah, those of Isra'el who were present, and the inhabitants of Yerushalayim.
18
No Passover like it had been kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; and not one of the kings of Israel had ever kept a Passover like the one kept by Josiah and the priests and the Levites and all those of Judah and Israel who were present, and the people of Jerusalem.
19 This Pesach was observed in the eighteenth year of Yoshiyahu.
19
In the eighteenth year of the rule of Josiah this Passover was kept.
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;
20
After all this, and after Josiah had put the house in order, Neco, king of Egypt, went up to make war at Carchemish by the river Euphrates; and Josiah went out against 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."
21
But he sent representatives to him, saying, What have I to do with you, O king of Judah? I have not come against you this day, but against those with whom I am at war; and God has given me orders to go forward quickly: keep out of God's way, for he is with me, or he will send destruction on 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.
22
However, Josiah would not go back; but keeping to his purpose of fighting against him, and giving no attention to the words of Neco, which came from God, he went forward to the fight in the valley of Megiddo.
23 There archers shot King Yoshiyahu. The king said to his servants, "Take me away, because I'm badly wounded."
23
And the bowmen sent their arrows at King Josiah, and the king said to his servants, Take me away, for I am 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.
24
So his servants took him out of the line of war-carriages, and put him in his second carriage and took him to Jerusalem, where he came to his end, and they put his body in the resting-place of his fathers. And in all Judah and Jerusalem there was great weeping for Josiah.
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.
25
And Jeremiah made a song of grief for Josiah; and to this day Josiah is named by all the makers of melody, men and women, in their songs of grief; they made it a rule in Israel; and the songs are recorded among the songs of grief.
26 Other activities of Yoshiyahu and all his good deeds in keeping with what is written in the Torah of ADONAI,
26
Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and the good he did, in keeping with what is recorded in the law of the Lord,
27 also his accomplishments from beginning to end, are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra'el and Y'hudah.
27
And all his acts, first and last, are recorded in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.