2 Chronicles 30
Hezekiah urges Judah to repent and celebrate Passover
Hezekiah summoned all of Israel, Judah, Ephraim, and Manasseh to the Existing One’s house in Jerusalem to keep the Passover of Israel’s God the Existing One. They were supposed to keep the Passover in the second month, but they couldn’t do it then because they didn’t have enough purified priests and they hadn’t assembled in Jerusalem yet, so this plan seemed good to the king and his assembly. So they ordered that all of Israel (from Beersheba to Dan) should come to keep the Passover in Jerusalem since they hadn’t been keeping it as often as they should have been. So mail carriers followed the king’s orders and delivered his letters all throughout Israel and Judah, saying, “Israelites, return to the Existing One, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel so that he might once again look at the few of us who escaped the clutches of Assyria’s kings. Don’t be like your fathers and brothers who were faithless toward their ancestors’s God the Existing One. As you can see, he eradicated them. Don’t be stubborn like your fathers were, but let the Existing One have his way: Come to his eternally sacred sanctuary and serve your God the Existing One so that he might withdraw his intense fury from you. If you come back to the Existing One, our enemy will have compassion on your brothers and your children and allow them to come back home. Your God the Existing One is forgiving and compassionate and won’t turn you away if you go back to him.”
So the messengers went from city to city throughout the country of Ephraim and Manasseh and all the way to Zebulun, but they just got laughed at and made fun of. However, there were some men from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun who humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. God’s hand was giving Judah a unified heart to follow the king’s orders.
Judah celebrates Passover
A ton of people showed up in Jerusalem to keep the Flatbread Feast in the second month. They got to work and removed the altars that were in Jerusalem, taking away the incense and throwing them into the Kidron brook. They slaughtered the Passover lamb on the 14th day of the second month. The priests and Levites felt ashamed, so they purified themselves and brought burnt offerings into the Existing One’s house. They took their stations just like Moses’s Law had ordered. The priests threw the blood that the Levites handed them, because there were many people in the assembly who hadn’t purified themselves. So the Levites had to slaughter the Passover lamb for everyone who was dirty, purify them for the Existing One. A majority of the people (mostly from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun) hadn’t purified themselves and ate the Passover even though they weren't supposed to. That’s because Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, “May the good Existing One pardon everyone who determines to seek him even if they aren’t following the sanctuary’s purification procedures.” The Existing One heard Hezekiah and healed the people. The Israelites where were present in Jerusalem kept the Flatbread Feast for seven days and everyone was delighted. The Levites and priests praised the Existing One day after day, singing to him as loudly as they could. Hezekiah encouraged all the Levites who were good at serving the Existing One. Everyone ate the festival’s food for seven days, sacrificing peace offerings and thanking the Existing One, their forefathers’s God.
Then the whole assembly agreed to extend the feast for another seven days. So they kept it going for another seven days full of gladness. Judah’s King Hezekiah gave the assembly 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep for the offerings and the princes gave the assembly 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep. The priests purified themselves in great numbers. The entire assembly celebrated, including Judah, the priests, the Levites, Israel, and the travelers. There was a lot of joy in Jerusalem, because there hadn’t been anything like this in all of Israel since the reign of King Solomon (David’s son). Then the priests and Levites stood up, blessed the people, and their prayer rose to heaven where God heard their voices.