2 Chronicles 30

Hezekiah sent word to all Israel and Judah, and he also wrote letters to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, inviting them to come to the house of the LORD in Jerusalem to keep the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel.

1And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel.

NoteHezekiah was king of Judah, the southern kingdom, around 715–686 BC. Israel and Judah had been separate kingdoms for roughly two hundred years; Ephraim and Manasseh were tribes of the northern kingdom, which Assyria had recently conquered. Hezekiah is inviting people in territory he does not rule. The Passover was the yearly meal and sacrifice commemorating Israel's escape from slavery in Egypt, when the deaths of the firstborn "passed over" Israelite houses marked with lamb's blood.

2The king, his officials, and the whole assembly in Jerusalem had agreed together to keep the Passover in the second month.

2For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the passover in the second month.

NoteThe Passover fell in the first month of the year (roughly March–April). The law of Moses allowed people who were ritually unclean or away traveling at that time to keep it one month later instead (Numbers 9:6–13); Hezekiah applies that provision to the whole nation at once.

3They could not keep it at the usual time, because not enough priests had made themselves ritually clean for the work, and the people had not gathered in Jerusalem.

3For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem.

Note"Ritually clean" does not mean washed. It was a state of ceremonial fitness required for approaching the sanctuary, lost through things like contact with a corpse and regained through set washings, waiting periods and offerings.

4This plan seemed right to the king and to the whole assembly.

4And the thing pleased the king and all the congregation.

5So they made a formal decision to send an announcement all through Israel, from Beersheba in the far south to Dan in the far north, telling the people to come to Jerusalem to keep the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel. They had not kept it in great numbers as it was written.

5So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel at Jerusalem: for they had not done it of a long time in such sort as it was written.

Note"From Beersheba to Dan" was a stock phrase for the entire land, end to end, the way one might say "from coast to coast."

6So the messengers went out with letters from the king and his officials all through Israel and Judah, carrying the king's command. The letters said: "People of Israel, turn back to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will turn back to those of you who are left, who escaped the hand of the kings of Assyria.

6So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.

NoteAssyria was the empire, centered in what is now northern Iraq, that destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel and deported much of its population around 722 BC. "Those of you who are left" means the northerners not carried off. "Israel" in the list of ancestors is Jacob, grandson of Abraham, whose other name was Israel.

7Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were unfaithful to the LORD, the God of their fathers. That is why he handed them over to ruin, as you can see for yourselves.

7And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which trespassed against the LORD God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see.

Note"Your fathers and your brothers" are the previous generations of the northern kingdom and its people already taken into exile, the ruin the surviving readers can see around them.

8Now do not be stubborn, as your fathers were. Give yourselves over to the LORD, and come into his sanctuary, which he has set apart forever. Serve the LORD your God, so that his burning anger will turn away from you.

8Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you.

Note"Stubborn" translates a Hebrew image of a stiff neck: an ox that will not turn when the yoke is pulled. The sanctuary is the temple in Jerusalem.

9If you turn back to the LORD, the people who took your brothers and your children away as prisoners will treat them with mercy, and they will come back to this land. For the LORD your God is kind and merciful, and he will not turn his face away from you if you return to him."

9For if ye turn again unto the LORD, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.

10The messengers went from city to city through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, but the people there laughed at them and made fun of them.

10So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh even unto Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them.

11Even so, some people from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun made themselves humble and came to Jerusalem.

11Nevertheless divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem.

12In Judah too, God's hand was at work, giving the people one mind to obey what the king and his officials had commanded, which came from the word of the LORD.

12Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes, by the word of the LORD.

13In the second month a large crowd gathered in Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It was a very great assembly.

13And there assembled at Jerusalem much people to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great congregation.

NoteThe Feast of Unleavened Bread ran for seven days immediately after the Passover meal. During it no yeast was used or even kept in the house, recalling the haste of the departure from Egypt, when there was no time to let bread rise.

14They got up and removed the altars that were in Jerusalem, and they took away all the altars used for burning incense and threw them into the Kidron Valley.

14And they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for incense took they away, and cast them into the brook Kidron.

NoteThese were altars for worship other than at the temple, set up in Jerusalem under Hezekiah's father Ahaz. The Kidron Valley is the steep ravine on the east side of Jerusalem; it served as the city's dumping ground, and objects thrown there were treated as refuse rather than reused.

15Then they killed the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites felt ashamed, so they made themselves ritually clean and brought burnt offerings into the house of the LORD.

15Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the second month: and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought in the burnt offerings into the house of the LORD.

NoteThe Passover lamb was killed at dusk on the fourteenth day of the month. "Burnt offerings" were animals burned whole on the altar, with no portion eaten. The priests and Levites were ashamed because ordinary people had arrived ready before they were.

16They took their assigned places, following their usual practice as set out in the law of Moses, the man of God. The priests sprinkled the blood, which they took from the hands of the Levites.

16And they stood in their place after their manner, according to the law of Moses the man of God: the priests sprinkled the blood, which they received of the hand of the Levites.

NotePriests were descendants of Aaron and alone could handle the blood at the altar; Levites were the wider tribe of Levi who assisted them with slaughtering, carrying and music. The blood of a sacrifice was caught in a basin and thrown against the base of the altar.

17Many people in the assembly had not made themselves ritually clean, so the Levites had the job of killing the Passover lambs for everyone who was not clean, to set those lambs apart for the LORD.

17For there were many in the congregation that were not sanctified: therefore the Levites had the charge of the killing of the passovers for every one that was not clean, to sanctify them unto the LORD.

NoteNormally the head of each household killed his own family's Passover lamb. Here the Levites did it on their behalf, because a person who was ritually unclean could not perform the act himself.

18A large number of the people, including many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not made themselves clean, yet they ate the Passover anyway, which was not what the law said to do. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, "May the good LORD pardon everyone

18For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim, and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The good LORD pardon every one

NoteThe law barred anyone ritually unclean from eating the Passover; the usual remedy was to wait and keep it a month later (Numbers 9:6–13). These people ate it anyway, out of sequence with the rule.

19who sets his heart on seeking God, the LORD, the God of his fathers, even if he is not clean according to the rules of purity for the sanctuary."

19That prepareth his heart to seek God, the LORD God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.

20And the LORD listened to Hezekiah and healed the people.

20And the LORD hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people.

NoteThe word translated "healed" covers repairing or setting right as well as curing illness. No sickness has been mentioned; it refers to the irregularity being put right.

21The people of Israel who were in Jerusalem kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great gladness. Day after day the Levites and the priests praised the LORD, singing and playing loud instruments to the LORD.

21And the children of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness: and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD day by day, singing with loud instruments unto the LORD.

NoteThe Hebrew calls these "instruments of strength", the loud temple instruments, chiefly cymbals, harps and lyres, played by the Levites.

22Hezekiah spoke words of encouragement to all the Levites who showed good understanding in the service of the LORD. For the seven days of the feast the people ate their share, offering fellowship offerings and giving thanks to the LORD, the God of their fathers.

22And Hezekiah spake comfortably unto all the Levites that taught the good knowledge of the LORD: and they did eat throughout the feast seven days, offering peace offerings, and making confession to the LORD God of their fathers.

Note"Spoke words of encouragement" renders a Hebrew phrase meaning literally "spoke to the heart." Fellowship offerings (also called peace offerings) were sacrifices in which only part of the animal was burned; the rest was cooked and eaten by the worshipers as a shared meal, which is why the people are described as eating their share.

23Then the whole assembly agreed to keep the feast for seven more days, and they kept those seven days with gladness.

23And the whole assembly took counsel to keep other seven days: and they kept other seven days with gladness.

NoteSeven extra days doubled the festival. The same doubling had happened at Solomon's dedication of the temple (2 Chronicles 7:8–9), which is why verse 26 reaches back to him for comparison.

24Hezekiah king of Judah gave the assembly a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep, and the officials gave the assembly a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep. A large number of priests made themselves ritually clean.

24For Hezekiah king of Judah did give to the congregation a thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep; and the princes gave to the congregation a thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep: and a great number of priests sanctified themselves.

NoteThese animals fed the crowd as well as supplying the altar; a festival on this scale needed meat for tens of thousands of visitors, and providing it was the king's and officials' responsibility.

25The whole assembly of Judah was glad, along with the priests and the Levites, and so was the whole group that had come from Israel, including the foreigners who had come from the land of Israel and those who lived in Judah.

25And all the congregation of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the congregation that came out of Israel, and the strangers that came out of the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah, rejoiced.

Note"Foreigners" translates a word for non-Israelites settled among the people rather than passing through. They lived under Israel's laws and could take part in the Passover if circumcised.

26There was great joy in Jerusalem, because nothing like this had happened there since the days of Solomon son of David, king of Israel.

26So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem.

NoteSolomon reigned some two and a half centuries before Hezekiah. The comparison is to the festival at the temple's dedication, the largest gathering in the book so far.

27Then the priests and the Levites stood up and blessed the people. Their voice was heard, and their prayer reached God's holy dwelling place in heaven.

27Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, even unto heaven.

NotePriests blessed the people with a set form of words (Numbers 6:24–26) at the close of worship. "Their voice was heard" and the prayer "reached" heaven are the writer's way of saying the blessing was accepted, not that anything was audible to the crowd.