1 ¶ Josiah also kept the LORD’s passover in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month.

2 And he appointed the priests to their positions, and encouraged them to serve in the temple of the LORD,

3 And said to the Levites, who were holy to the LORD and taught all Israel, Put the holy ark in the temple that Solomon the son of David king of Israel built; it will no longer be a burden upon your shoulders: serve the LORD your God, and his people Israel,

4 And prepare yourselves according to the houses of your fathers, after your divisions, according to what was written by David the king of Israel, and Solomon his son.

5 And stand in the holy court as those representing the divisions of the families of the fathers of your kinsmen the people, and after the division of the families of the Levites.

6 So 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.

7 Then Josiah gave to the people, lambs and kids from the flock, as passover offerings, for all who were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bullocks: all from the king’s possessions.

8 And his officials also gave willingly to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites: Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel, chief officers of the house of God, gave to the priests for passover offerings two thousand and six hundred lambs and kids, and three hundred oxen.

9 Also Conaniah, and his brothers Shemaiah and Nethaneel, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, leaders of the Levites, gave to the Levites five thousand lambs and kids for passover offerings, and five hundred oxen.

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

11 And they killed the passover lambs, and the priests sprinkled the blood with their hands, while the Levites skinned them.

12 And they removed the burnt offerings, that they might distribute them according to the divisions of the families of the people, to offer to the LORD, as it is written in the book of Moses. And they did the same with the oxen.

13 And they roasted the passover lambs with fire according to the ordinance: and they cooked the other holy offerings in pots, and in caldrons, and in pans, and distributed them quickly among all the people.

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

15 And the singers the sons of Asaph were in their place, as ordered by David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer; and the gatekeepers were at every gate; they did not need to leave their work; because their brethren the Levites prepared for them.

16 So the whole service of the LORD was prepared that day, to keep the passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of the LORD, according to the commandment of king Josiah.

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

18 And there was no passover like it kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; no other king of Israel kept such a passover as Josiah kept, with the priests, and the Levites, all Judah and the people of Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

19 This passover was kept in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah.

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

21 But Necho sent ambassadors to him, saying, What do I have to do with you, you king of Judah? I have not come against you this day, but against the house with which I am at war: and God commanded me to make haste: Refrain from opposing God, who is with me, so that he does not destroy you.

22 Nevertheless Josiah would not turn away from him, but disguised himself, so that he might fight with him, and did not listen to the words of Necho from the mouth of God, but went to fight in the valley of Megiddo.

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

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

25 And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women speak of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, making it a standing custom in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations.

26 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and the good he did, according to what is written in the law of the LORD,

27 And his acts, from first to last, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.