2 Chronicles 30 1-2 Chronicles 30 27
Then Hezekiah sent word throughout all Israel and Judah, and he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh to come to the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem to observe the Passover of Yahweh, the God of Israel.For the king and his officials and the entire congregation in Jerusalem decided to observe the Passover of the Lord in the second month,because they were not able to observe it at the appropriate time. Not enough of the priests had consecrated themselves and the people hadn’t been gathered together in Jerusalem.The proposal pleased the king and the congregation,so they affirmed the proposal and spread the message throughout all Israel, from Beer-sheba to Dan, to come to observe the Passover of Yahweh, the God of Israel in Jerusalem, for they hadn’t observed it often, as prescribed.So the couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the hand of the king and his officials, and according to the king’s command, saying,“ Israelites, return to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel so that He may return to those of you who remain, who have escaped from the grasp of the kings of Assyria.Don’t be like your fathers and your brothers who were unfaithful to Yahweh, the God of their ancestors so that He made them an object of horror as you yourselves see.Don’t become obstinate now like your fathers did. Give your allegiance to Yahweh, and come to His sanctuary that He has consecrated forever. Serve the Lord your God so that He may turn His burning anger away from you,for when you return to Yahweh, your brothers and your sons will receive mercy in the presence of their captors and will return to this land. For Yahweh your God is gracious and merciful; He will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.”The couriers traveled from city to city in the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun, but the inhabitants laughed at them and mocked them.But some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.Also, the power of God was at work in Judah to unite them to carry out the command of the king and his officials by the word of the Lord.A very large assembly of people was gathered in Jerusalem to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread in the second month.They proceeded to take away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and they took away the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley.They slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and Levites were ashamed, and they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the Lord’s temple.They stood at their prescribed posts, according to the law of Moses, the man of God. The priests sprinkled the blood received from the hand of the Levites,for there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves, and so the Levites were in charge of slaughtering the Passover lambs for every unclean person to consecrate the lambs to the Lord.A large number of the people— many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun— were ritually unclean, yet they had eaten the Passover contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah had interceded for them, saying,“ May the good Lord provide atonement on behalf ofwhoever sets his whole heart on seeking God, Yahweh, the God of his ancestors, even though not according to the purification rules of the sanctuary.”So the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people.The Israelites who were present in Jerusalem observed the Festival of Unleavened Bread seven days with great joy, and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day after day with loud instruments.Then Hezekiah encouraged all the Levites who performed skillfully before the Lord. They ate at the appointed festival for seven days, sacrificing fellowship offerings and giving thanks to Yahweh, the God of their ancestors.The whole congregation decided to observe seven more days, so they observed seven days with joy,for Hezekiah king of Judah contributed 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep for the congregation. Also, the officials contributed 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep for the congregation, and many priests consecrated themselves.Then the whole assembly of Judah with the priests and Levites, the whole assembly that came from Israel, the foreigners who came from the land of Israel, and those who were living in Judah, rejoiced.There was great rejoicing in Jerusalem, for nothing like this was known since the days of Solomon son of David, the king of Israel.Then the priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard their voice, and their prayer came into His holy dwelling place in heaven.
Exodus 12:6-36
You are to keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembly of the community of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight.They must take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where they eat them.They are to eat the meat that night; they should eat it, roasted over the fire along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.Do not eat any of it raw or cooked in boiling water, but only roasted over fire— its head as well as its legs and inner organs.Do not let any of it remain until morning; you must burn up any part of it that does remain before morning.Here is how you must eat it: you must be dressed for travel, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it in a hurry; it is the Lord’s Passover.“ I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and strike every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. I am Yahweh; I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt.The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a distinguishing mark for you; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will be among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.“ This day is to be a memorial for you, and you must celebrate it as a festival to the Lord. You are to celebrate it throughout your generations as a permanent statute.You must eat unleavened bread for seven days. On the first day you must remove yeast from your houses. Whoever eats what is leavened from the first day through the seventh day must be cut off from Israel.You are to hold a sacred assembly on the first day and another sacred assembly on the seventh day. No work may be done on those days except for preparing what people need to eat— you may do only that.“ You are to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread because on this very day I brought your divisions out of the land of Egypt. You must observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent statute.You are to eat unleavened bread in the first month, from the evening of the fourteenth day of the month until the evening of the twenty-first day.Yeast must not be found in your houses for seven days. If anyone eats something leavened, that person, whether a foreign resident or native of the land, must be cut off from the community of Israel.Do not eat anything leavened; eat unleavened bread in all your homes.”Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them,“ Go, select an animal from the flock according to your families, and slaughter the Passover animal.Take a cluster of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and brush the lintel and the two doorposts with some of the blood in the basin. None of you may go out the door of his house until morning.When the Lord passes through to strike Egypt and sees the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts, He will pass over the door and not let the destroyer enter your houses to strike you.“ Keep this command permanently as a statute for you and your descendants.When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as He promised, you are to observe this ritual.When your children ask you,‘ What does this ritual mean to you?’you are to reply,‘ It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and spared our homes.’” So the people bowed down and worshiped.Then the Israelites went and did this; they did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.Now at midnight the Lord struck every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and every firstborn of the livestock.During the night Pharaoh got up, he along with all his officials and all the Egyptians, and there was a loud wailing throughout Egypt because there wasn’t a house without someone dead.He summoned Moses and Aaron during the night and said,“ Get up, leave my people, both you and the Israelites, and go, worship Yahweh as you have asked.Take even your flocks and your herds as you asked and leave, and also bless me.”Now the Egyptians pressured the people in order to send them quickly out of the country, for they said,“ We’re all going to die!”So the people took their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls wrapped up in their clothes on their shoulders.The Israelites acted on Moses’ word and asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing.And the Lord gave the people such favor in the Egyptians’ sight that they gave them what they requested. In this way they plundered the Egyptians.
