And Ezekias sent to all Israel and Iouda, and he wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasse, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem to keep the phasek (the Passover) to the Lord, the God of Israel.
for they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not purified themselves in sufficient number, and the people had not been gathered at Jerusalem.
And they established a decree that a proclamation should pass through all Israel, from Bersabee to Dan, that they should come and keep the phasek (the Passover) to the Lord, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem; for a multitude had not kept it as it is written.
So the runners went with the letters from the king and the rulers to all Israel and Iouda, according to the command of the king, saying: 'Sons of Israel, turn back to the God of Abraam and Isaak and Israel, and he will bring back those who have escaped, those who are left from the hand of the king of Assour.
'And do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who fell away from the Lord, the God of their fathers, and he delivered them over to desolation, as you see.
'And now do not harden your necks; give glory to the Lord God, and enter into his sanctuary which he sanctified forever, and serve the Lord your God, and he will turn the fierceness of his anger away from you.
'For when you turn back to the Lord, your brothers and your children will find compassion before all who took them captive, and he will bring them back to this land; for the Lord our God is merciful and compassionate, and he will not turn his face away from us if we turn back to him.'
And the runners went passing from city to city in the hill country of Ephraim and Manasse and as far as Zaboulon; but they became as those who laughed them to scorn and mocked them.
And in Iouda the hand of the Lord came to give them one heart to come and to act according to the command of the king and of the rulers, by the word of the Lord.
And they rose up and tore down the altars that were in Jerusalem; and all the things on which they burned incense to the false gods they pulled down and threw into the brook Kedron.
And they sacrificed the passover on the fourteenth of the second month; and the priests and the Levites were put to shame, and they purified themselves and brought whole burnt offerings into the house of the Lord.
And they stood at their station according to their ordinance, according to the commandment of Moyses the man of God; and the priests were receiving the blood from the hand of the Levites.
For a multitude of the assembly had not purified themselves, and the Levites were there to sacrifice the passover for everyone who was not able to be purified to the Lord.
For the greater part of the people from Ephraim and Manasse and Issachar and Zaboulon had not purified themselves, but they ate the passover contrary to what is written. And Ezekias prayed concerning them, saying: May the Lord who is good make atonement for
And the sons of Israel who were found in Ierousalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness, hymning the Lord day by day; and the priests and the Levites with instruments to the Lord.
And Ezekias spoke to the heart of all the Levites and of those who had good understanding toward the Lord; and they completed the feast of unleavened bread seven days, sacrificing sacrifices of deliverance and making confession to the Lord, the God of their fathers.
For Ezekias made a firstfruits offering for Ioudas, for the assembly, a thousand calves and seven thousand sheep; and the rulers made a firstfruits offering for the people a thousand calves and ten thousand sheep; and the holy things of the priests were in abundance.
And the whole assembly rejoiced—the priests and the Levites and the whole assembly of Ioudas and those found from Israel and the proselytes who had come from the land of Israel and those dwelling in Ioudas.