¹And Hezekiah sent word to all of Israel and Judah, and he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, to come to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover of the Lord God of Israel. ²For the king had been counselled, with his officials and all the convocation in Jerusalem, to celebrate the Passover in the second month. ³For they were not able to celebrate it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently and the people had not been gathered in Jerusalem. ⁴And the matter was right in the eyes of the king and in the eyes of the whole convocation. ⁵So they established the matter, to proclaim the announcement throughout all Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, to come to celebrate the Passover to the Lord God of Israel in Jerusalem, because for a long time they had not done what is written. ⁶And the couriers went with the letters handed to them by the king and his officials, through all Israel and Judah, and in accordance with the king's commandment, saying, “You sons of Israel, return to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, in order that he may return to the remnant of yours who escaped from the grip of the kings of Assyria. ⁷And do not be like your fathers and like your brothers who acted perversely against the Lord God of their fathers, when he made them a desolation, as you see. ⁸Do not now be stiff-necked like your fathers; offer the hand of obedience to the Lord and come to his sanctuary which he has sanctified age-abidingly, and serve the Lord your God, so that the fury of his anger is turned away from you. ⁹For in returning to the Lord, your brothers and your sons will find compassion from their captors, so that they can return to this land, for the Lord your God is merciful and compassionate, and he will not turn his face away from you, if you return to him.” ¹⁰And the couriers would cross from city to city in the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, but the people would mock them and scorn them. ¹¹But men from Asher and Manasseh and from Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. ¹²Also in Judah there was the hand of God to give them unanimity to carry out the commandment of the king and the officials on the Lord's business. ¹³So a large number of people assembled in Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread in the second month – a very large convocation. ¹⁴And they arose and removed the altars which were in Jerusalem, and they removed all the incense altars, and they threw them in the Kidron Brook. ¹⁵And they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month, and the priests and the Levites felt shame, and they sanctified themselves, and they brought burnt offerings to the house of the Lord. ¹⁶And they stood in their post according to their custom, in accordance with the law of Moses, the man of God, whereas the priests sprinkled the blood which was handed to them by the Levites. ¹⁷For there were many in the convocation who had not sanctified themselves, and the Levites were in charge of the slaughter of the Passover lambs for all who were not clean, to sanctify them to the Lord. ¹⁸For a large number of the people, many from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not purified themselves, for they had eaten the Passover lamb in a way not as written, but Hezekiah prayed for them and said, “May the good Lord forgive this for ¹⁹everyone who has prepared his heart to seek God – the Lord God of his fathers – but is not clean according to the standards of holy cleanness.” ²⁰And the Lord heard Hezekiah, and he healed the people. ²¹And the sons of Israel who were present in Jerusalem celebrated the Festival of the Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy, and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord each day accompanied by powerful instruments played to the Lord. ²²And Hezekiah spoke warmheartedly to all the Levites who officiated with great skill towards the Lord, and they ate the sacrificed animal of the occasion for seven days, as they sacrificed peace-offerings and made confession to the Lord God of their fathers. ²³And the whole convocation decided to celebrate another seven days, and they celebrated those seven days with joy. ²⁴For Hezekiah king of Judah contributed one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep to the convocation, while the officials contributed one thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep to the convocation, and the priests sanctified themselves in abundance. ²⁵And the whole convocation of Judah rejoiced, as did the priests and the Levites, and the whole convocation which came from Israel, and the temporary residents who came from the land of Israel, and those who lived in Judah. ²⁶So there was great rejoicing in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon, the son of David, the king of Israel, there had not been anything like this in Jerusalem. ²⁷Then the Levite priests arose and blessed the people and their voice was heard, and their prayer came to his holy dwelling place in the heavens.