Information Retrieved -> 2 Chronicles 35 - 36(NLT)

Book Chapter Verse Text
2 Chronicles 35 1 Then Josiah announced that the Passover of the LORD would be celebrated in Jerusalem on the appointed day in early spring. The Passover lambs were slaughtered at twilight of that day.
2 Chronicles 35 2 Josiah also assigned the priests to their duties and encouraged them in their work at the Temple of the LORD.
2 Chronicles 35 3 He issued this order to the Levites, who had been set apart to serve the LORD and were teachers in Israel: "Since the Ark is now in Solomon's Temple and you do not need to carry it back and forth on your shoulders, spend your time serving the LORD your God and his people Israel.
2 Chronicles 35 4 Report for duty according to the family divisions of your ancestors, following the written instructions of King David of Israel and the instructions of his son Solomon.
2 Chronicles 35 5 Then stand in your appointed holy places and help the families assigned to you as they bring their offerings to the Temple.
2 Chronicles 35 6 Slaughter the Passover lambs, purify yourselves, and prepare to help those who come. Follow all the instructions that the LORD gave through Moses."
2 Chronicles 35 7 Then Josiah contributed from his personal property thirty thousand lambs and young goats for the people's Passover offerings, and three thousand bulls.
2 Chronicles 35 8 The king's officials also made willing contributions to the people, priests, and Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the administrators of God's Temple, gave the priests twenty-six hundred lambs and young goats and three hundred bulls as Passover offerings.
2 Chronicles 35 9 The Levite leaders--Conaniah and his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad--gave five thousand lambs and young goats and five hundred bulls to the Levites for their Passover offerings.
2 Chronicles 35 10 When everything was ready for the Passover celebration, the priests and the Levites took their places, organized by their divisions, according to the king's orders.
2 Chronicles 35 11 The Levites then slaughtered the Passover lambs and presented the blood to the priests, who sprinkled the blood on the altar while the Levites prepared the animals.
2 Chronicles 35 12 They divided the burnt offerings among the people by their family groups, so they could offer them to the LORD according to the instructions recorded in the Book of Moses. They did the same with the bulls.
2 Chronicles 35 13 Then they roasted the Passover lambs as prescribed; and they boiled the holy offerings in pots, kettles, and pans, and brought them out quickly so the people could eat them.
2 Chronicles 35 14 Afterward the Levites prepared a meal for themselves and for the priests, because the priests had been busy from morning till night offering the burnt offerings and the fat portions. The Levites took responsibility for all these preparations.
2 Chronicles 35 15 The musicians, descendants of Asaph, were in their assigned places, following the orders given by David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, the king's seer. The gatekeepers guarded the gates and did not need to leave their posts of duty, for their meals were brought to them by their fellow Levites.
2 Chronicles 35 16 The entire ceremony for the LORD's Passover was completed that day. All the burnt offerings were sacrificed on the altar of the LORD, as King Josiah had ordered.
2 Chronicles 35 17 All the Israelites present in Jerusalem celebrated Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days.
2 Chronicles 35 18 Never since the time of the prophet Samuel had there been such a Passover. None of the kings of Israel had ever kept a Passover as Josiah did, involving all the priests and Levites, all the people of Jerusalem, and people from all over Judah and Israel.
2 Chronicles 35 19 This Passover celebration took place in the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign.
2 Chronicles 35 20 After Josiah had finished restoring the Temple, King Neco of Egypt led his army up from Egypt to do battle at Carchemish on the Euphrates River, and Josiah and his army marched out to fight him.
2 Chronicles 35 21 But King Neco sent ambassadors to Josiah with this message: "What do you want with me, king of Judah? I have no quarrel with you today! I only want to fight the nation with which I am at war. And God has told me to hurry! Do not interfere with God, who is with me, or he will destroy you."
2 Chronicles 35 22 But Josiah refused to listen to Neco, to whom God had indeed spoken, and he would not turn back. Instead, he led his army into battle on the plain of Megiddo. He laid aside his royal robes so the enemy would not recognize him.
2 Chronicles 35 23 But the enemy archers hit King Josiah with their arrows and wounded him. He cried out to his men, "Take me from the battle, for I am badly wounded!"
2 Chronicles 35 24 So they lifted Josiah out of his chariot and placed him in another chariot. Then they brought him back to Jerusalem, where he died. He was buried there in the royal cemetery. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him.
2 Chronicles 35 25 The prophet Jeremiah composed funeral songs for Josiah, and to this day choirs still sing these sad songs about his death. These songs of sorrow have become a tradition and are recorded in The Book of Laments.
2 Chronicles 35 26 The rest of the events of Josiah's reign and his acts of devotion done according to the written law of the LORD,
2 Chronicles 35 27 from beginning to end, are recorded in The Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.
2 Chronicles 36 1 Then the people of the land took Josiah's son Jehoahaz and made him the next king in Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 36 2 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, but he reigned only three months.
2 Chronicles 36 3 Then he was deposed by Neco, the king of Egypt, who demanded a tribute from Judah of 7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold.
2 Chronicles 36 4 The king of Egypt appointed Eliakim, the brother of Jehoahaz, as the next king of Judah and Jerusalem, and he changed Eliakim's name to Jehoiakim. Then Neco took Jehoahaz to Egypt as a prisoner.
2 Chronicles 36 5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. But he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God.
2 Chronicles 36 6 Then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and captured it, and he bound Jehoiakim in chains and led him away to Babylon.
2 Chronicles 36 7 Nebuchadnezzar also took some of the treasures from the Temple of the LORD, and he placed them in his palace in Babylon.
2 Chronicles 36 8 The rest of the events of Jehoiakim's reign, including all the evil things he did and everything found against him, are recorded in The Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. Then his son Jehoiachin became the next king.
2 Chronicles 36 9 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, but he reigned in Jerusalem only three months and ten days. Jehoiachin did what was evil in the LORD's sight.
2 Chronicles 36 10 In the spring of the following year, Jehoiachin was summoned to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. Many treasures from the Temple of the LORD were taken to Babylon at that time. And Nebuchadnezzar appointed Jehoiachin's uncle, Zedekiah, to be the next king in Judah and Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 36 11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years.
2 Chronicles 36 12 He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and he refused to humble himself in the presence of the prophet Jeremiah, who spoke for the LORD.
2 Chronicles 36 13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, even though he had taken an oath of loyalty in God's name. Zedekiah was a hard and stubborn man, refusing to turn to the LORD, the God of Israel.
2 Chronicles 36 14 All the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful. They followed the pagan practices of the surrounding nations, desecrating the Temple of the LORD in Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 36 15 The LORD, the God of their ancestors, repeatedly sent his prophets to warn them, for he had compassion on his people and his Temple.
2 Chronicles 36 16 But the people mocked these messengers of God and despised their words. They scoffed at the prophets until the LORD's anger could no longer be restrained and there was no remedy.
2 Chronicles 36 17 So the LORD brought the king of Babylon against them. The Babylonians killed Judah's young men, even chasing after them into the Temple. They had no pity on the people, killing both young and old, men and women, healthy and sick. God handed them all over to Nebuchadnezzar.
2 Chronicles 36 18 The king also took home to Babylon all the utensils, large and small, used in the Temple of God, and the treasures from both the LORD's Temple and the royal palace. He also took with him all the royal princes.
2 Chronicles 36 19 Then his army set fire to the Temple of God, broke down the walls of Jerusalem, burned all the palaces, and completely destroyed everything of value.
2 Chronicles 36 20 The few who survived were taken away to Babylon, and they became servants to the king and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power.
2 Chronicles 36 21 So the message of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah was fulfilled. The land finally enjoyed its Sabbath rest, lying desolate for seventy years, just as the prophet had said.
2 Chronicles 36 22 In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, the LORD fulfilled Jeremiah's prophecy by stirring the heart of Cyrus to put this proclamation into writing and to send it throughout his kingdom:
2 Chronicles 36 23 "This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build him a Temple at Jerusalem in the land of Judah. All of you who are the LORD's people may return to Israel for this task. May the LORD your God be with you!"
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