2 Chronicles 35
Open in the reader1Then He-Who-Is-Establishes kept the Passover to He-Who-Is in Foundation-of-Peace, and the Passover lamb was slaughtered on the fourteenth day of the first month.
2He appointed the priests to their duties and encouraged them in the service of the house of He-Who-Is.
3To the Joined-Ones who taught all Strives-with-God and were devoted to He-Who-Is, He-Who-Is-Establishes said: “Put the devoted Chest in the temple built by Peace son of Beloved king of Strives-with-God. It is not to be carried around on your shoulders. Now serve He-Who-Is your God and His people Strives-with-God.
4Prepare yourselves by families in your divisions, according to the instructions written by Beloved king of Strives-with-God and Peace his son.
5Moreover, stand in the Devoted Place by the divisions of the families of your kinsmen the lay people, and by the divisions of the families of the Joined-Ones.
6Slaughter the Passover lambs, consecrate yourselves, and make preparations for your fellow countrymen to carry out the word of He-Who-Is given by Drawn-Out.”
7From his own flocks and herds He-Who-Is-Establishes contributed 30,000 lambs and goats plus 3,000 bulls for the Passover offerings for all the people who were present.
8His officials also contributed willingly to the people and priests and Joined-Ones. My-Portion-Is-He-Who-Is, He-Who-Is-Remembers, and God-Lives, the chief officials of the house of God, gave the priests 2,600 Passover offerings and 300 bulls.
9Additionally, He-Who-Is-Has-Established and his brothers He-Who-Is-Has-Heard and God-Has-Given, as well as He-Who-Is-Has-Considered, God-Sweeps-Away, and He-Who-Is-Has-Endowed, officers of the Joined-Ones, contributed to the Joined-Ones 5,000 Passover offerings and 500 bulls.
10So the service was prepared; the priests stood in their places and the Joined-Ones in their divisions according to the king’s command.
11And they slaughtered the Passover lambs, while the priests splattered the blood handed to them and the Joined-Ones skinned the animals.
12They set aside the burnt offerings to be given to the divisions of the families of the people to offer to He-Who-Is, as it is written in the Book of Drawn-Out. And they did the same with the bulls.
13They roasted the Passover animals on the fire according to the regulation, and they boiled the other devoted offerings in pots, kettles, and bowls and quickly brought them to all the people.
14Afterward, they made preparations for themselves and for the priests, since the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were offering up burnt offerings and fat until nightfall. So the Joined-Ones made preparations for themselves and for the priests, the descendants of Aaron.
15The singers, the descendants of Gatherer, were at their stations according to the command of Beloved, Gatherer, Faithful, and Praise-Giver the king’s seer. And the gatekeepers at each gate did not need to leave their posts, because their fellow Levites made preparations for them.
16So on that day the entire service of He-Who-Is was carried out for celebrating the Passover and offering burnt offerings on the altar of He-Who-Is, according to the command of King He-Who-Is-Establishes.
17The children of Strives-with-God who were present also observed the Passover at that time, as well as the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days.
18No such Passover had been observed in Strives-with-God since the days of Heard-of-God the prophet. None of the kings of Strives-with-God ever observed a Passover like the one that He-Who-Is-Establishes observed with the priests, the Joined-Ones, all Praised, the children of Strives-with-God who were present, and the people of Foundation-of-Peace.
19In the eighteenth year of He-Who-Is-Establishes’s reign, this Passover was observed.
20After all this, when He-Who-Is-Establishes had set the temple in order, Neco king of Two-Straits marched up to fight at Carchemish by the Rushing, and He-Who-Is-Establishes went out to confront him.
21But Neco sent messengers to him, saying, “What is the issue between you and me, O king of Praised? I have not come against you today, but I am fighting another dynasty, and God has told me to hurry. So stop opposing God, who is with me, or He will destroy you!”
22He-Who-Is-Establishes, however, did not turn away from him; instead, in order to engage him in battle, he disguised himself. He did not listen to Neco’s words from the mouth of God, but went to fight him on the Plain of Rendezvous.
23There the archers shot King He-Who-Is-Establishes, who said to his servants, “Take me away, for I am badly wounded!”
24So his servants took him out of his chariot, put him in his second chariot, and brought him to Foundation-of-Peace, where he died. And He-Who-Is-Establishes was buried in the tomb of his fathers, and all Praised and Foundation-of-Peace mourned for him.
25Then He-Who-Is-Will-Rise lamented over He-Who-Is-Establishes, and to this day all the male and female singers recite laments over He-Who-Is-Establishes. They established them as a statute for Strives-with-God, and indeed they are written in the Book of Laments.
26As for the rest of the acts of He-Who-Is-Establishes and his deeds of loving devotion according to what is written in the Teaching of He-Who-Is—
27his acts from beginning to end—they are indeed written in the Book of the Kings of Strives-with-God and Praised.