II Chronicles 35

¹Forsothe Josie made pask to the Lord in Jerusalem, that was offrid in the fourtenthe dai of the firste monethe;

²and he ordeynede prestis in her offices; and he comaundide hem for to mynystre in the hows of the Lord.

³And he spak to the dekenes, at whos techyng al Israel was halewid to the Lord, Sette ye the arke in the seyntuarie of the temple, which Salomon, kyng of Israel, the sone of Dauid, bildide; for ye schulen no more bere it. But now serue `youre Lord God and his puple Israel,

⁴and make you redi bi youre housis and meynees in the departyngis of ech bi hym silf, as Dauid, king of Israel, comaundide, and Salomon, his sone, discryuede;

⁵and serue ye in the seyntuarie bi the meynees and cumpenyes of dekenes,

⁶and be ye halewid, and offre ye pask; also `make redi youre britheren, that thei moun `do bi the wordis, whiche the Lord spak in the hond of Moyses.

⁷Ferthermore Josie yaf to al the puple, that was foundun there in the solempnytee of pask, lambren, and kidis of the flockis, and of residue scheep `he yaf thritti thousynde, and of oxis thre thousynde; these thingis of al the catel of the kyng.

⁸And hise duykis offriden tho thingis whiche thei avowiden bi fre wille, as wel to the puple as to prestis and dekenes. Forsothe Elchie, and Zacharie, and Jehiel, princes of the hows of the Lord, yauen to preestis, to make pask in comyn, two thousynde and sixe hundrid scheep, and thre hundrid oxis.

⁹Forsothe Chononye, and Semei, and Nathanael and hise britheren, also Asabie, Jahiel, and Josabaz, princis of dekenes, yauen to othere dekenes, to make pask, fyue thousynde of scheep, and fyue hundrid oxis.

¹⁰And the seruyce was maad redi; and preestis stoden in her office, and dekenes in cumpenyes, bi comaundement of the kyng; and pask was offrid.

¹¹And preestis spreynten her hondis with blood, and dekenes drowen of the skynnes of sacrifices, and departiden tho sacrificis,

¹²for to yyue bi the housis and meyneis of alle men; and that tho schulden be offrid to the Lord, as it is writun in the book of Moises; and of oxis thei diden in lijk maner.

¹³And thei rostiden pask on the fier, bi that that is writun in the lawe. Sotheli thei sethiden pesible sacrifices in pannes, and cawdruns, and pottis, and in haste thei deliden to al the puple;

¹⁴but thei maden redi aftirward to hem silf, and to prestis; for preestis weren occupied `til to nyyt in the offryng of brent sacrifices and of ynnere fatnessis. Wherfor dekenes maden redi to hem silf and to preestis, the sones of Aaron, `the laste.

¹⁵Forsothe syngeris, the sones of Asaph, stoden in her ordre, bi the comaundement of Dauid, and of Asaph, and of Eman, and of Yditum, the profetis of the kyng; but the porteris kepten bi ech yate, so that thei yeden not awei fro the seruice, sotheli in a poynt; wherfor and dekenes, her britheren, maden redi metis to hem.

¹⁶Therfor al the religioun of the Lord was fillid riytfuli in that day, that thei maden pask, and offriden brent sacrifices on the auter of the Lord, bi the comaundement of kyng Josie.

¹⁷And the sones of Israel, that weren foundun there, maden pask in that tyme, and the solempnite of therf looues seuene daies.

¹⁸No pask was lijk this in Israel, fro the daies of Samuel, the prophete; but nethir ony of the kyngis of Israel made pask as Josie dide, to preestis and dekenes, and to al Juda and Israel, that was foundun, and to the dwelleris of Jerusalem.

¹⁹This pask was halewid in the eiytenthe yeer of `the rewme of Josie.

²⁰Aftir that Josie hadde reparelid the temple, Nechao, the kyng of Egipt, stiede to fiyte in Carcamys bisidis Eufrates; and Josie yede forth in to his metyng.

²¹And he seide bi messangeris sent to hym, Kyng of Juda, what is to me and to thee? Y come not ayens thee to dai, but Y fiyte ayens another hows, to which God bad me go in haste; ceesse thou to do ayens God, which is with me, lest he sle thee.

²²Josie nolde turne ayen, but made redi batel ayens hym; and he assentide not to the wordis of Nechao, bi Goddis mouth, but he yede for to fiyte in the feeld of Magedo.

²³And there he was woundide of archeris, and seide to hise children, `Lede ye me out of the batel, for Y am woundid greetli.

²⁴Whiche baren hym ouer fro the chare in to an other chare, that suede hym, bi custom of the kyng, and `baren out hym in to Jerusalem; and he diede, and was biried in the sepulcre of hise fadris. And al Juda and Jerusalem biweiliden hym,

²⁵Jeremye moost, of whom alle syngeris and syngeressis `til in to present dai rehersen `lamentaciouns, ether weilyngis, on Josie; and it cam forth as a lawe in Israel, Lo! it is seid writun in Lamentaciouns. Forsothe the residue of wordis of Josie, and of hise mercies, that ben comaundid in the lawe of the Lord, and hise werkis, `the firste and the laste, ben wryten in the book of kyngis of Israel and of Juda.

II Chronicles 35

¹Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the Lord in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

²And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the service of the house of the Lord,

³And said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which were holy unto the Lord, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build; it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders: serve now the Lord your God, and his people Israel,

⁴And prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers, after your courses, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son.

⁵And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the families of the fathers of your brethren the people, and after the division of the families of the Levites.

⁶So kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare your brethren, that they may do according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

⁷And Josiah gave to the people, of the flock, lambs and kids, all for the passover offerings, for all that were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bullocks: these were of the king’s substance.

⁸And his princes gave willingly unto the people, to the priests, and to the Levites: Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God, gave unto the priests for the passover offerings two thousand and six hundred small cattle, and three hundred oxen.

⁹Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel, his brethren, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave unto the Levites for passover offerings five thousand small cattle, and five hundred oxen.

¹⁰So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their courses, according to the king’s commandment.

¹¹And they killed the passover, and the priests sprinkled the blood from their hands, and the Levites flayed them.

¹²And they removed the burnt offerings, that they might give according to the divisions of the families of the people, to offer unto the Lord, as it is written in the book of Moses. And so did they with the oxen.

¹³And they roasted the passover with fire according to the ordinance: but the other holy offerings sod they in pots, and in caldrons, and in pans, and divided them speedily among all the people.

¹⁴And afterward they made ready for themselves, and for the priests: because the priests the sons of Aaron were busied in offering of burnt offerings and the fat until night; therefore the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests the sons of Aaron.

¹⁵And the singers the sons of Asaph were in their place, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer; and the porters waited at every gate; they might not depart from their service; for their brethren the Levites prepared for them.

¹⁶So all the service of the Lord was prepared the same day, to keep the passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of the Lord, according to the commandment of king Josiah.

¹⁷And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days.

¹⁸And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

¹⁹In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover kept.

²⁰After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates: and Josiah went out against him.

²¹But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war: for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not.

²²Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.

²³And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded.

²⁴His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

²⁵And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations.

²⁶Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his goodness, according to that which was written in the law of the Lord,

²⁷And his deeds, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.