1 And Josiah kept a Passover unto Jehovah in Jerusalem, and they slaughtered the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

2 And he stationed the priests at their charges and encouraged them in the service of the house of Jehovah.

3 And he said to the Levites who were teaching all Israel, who were set apart unto Jehovah: Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, has built. It shall not be a burden on your shoulders. Now serve Jehovah your God and His people Israel.

4 Prepare yourselves according to your fathers’ houses, according to your divisions, according to the writings of David king of Israel and the writings of Solomon his son.

5 And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the fathers’ houses of your brethren, the sons of the people, and according to the division of the father’s house of the Levites.

6 Now slaughter the Passover, consecrate yourselves, and prepare them for your brethren, that they may do according to the Word of Jehovah by the hand of Moses.

7 And Josiah gave the sons of the people lambs and young goats from the flock, all for Passover for all who were present, to the number of thirty thousand, as well as three thousand oxen; these were from the king’s possessions.

8 And his rulers contributed willingly to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God, gave to the priests two thousand six hundred Passover lambs, and three hundred oxen.

9 Also Conaniah, his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, contributed to the Levites five thousand Passover lambs, and five hundred oxen.

10 Thus the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their places, and the Levites in their divisions, according to the king’s command.

11 And they slaughtered the Passover lambs; and the priests sprinkled the blood with their hands, while the Levites were flaying.

12 And they removed the burnt offerings to distribute them by the divisions of the fathers’ houses to the sons of the people, to offer unto Jehovah, as it is written in the Book of Moses; and also with the oxen.

13 They also roasted the Passover with fire according to the ordinance; and the other holy things they boiled in pots, in kettles, and in pans, and brought them quickly to all the sons of the people.

14 Then afterward they prepared for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron, were busy in offering burnt offerings and fat until night; therefore the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron.

15 And the singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their places, according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer. Also the gatekeepers were at each gate; they did not leave their service, because their brethren the Levites prepared for them.

16 Thus all the service of Jehovah was prepared the same day, to keep the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of Jehovah, according to the command of King Josiah.

17 And the children of Israel found there, kept the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days.

18 And there had not been kept in Israel any Passover like that since the days of Samuel the prophet; and none of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as Josiah kept, with the priests and the Levites, all Judah and Israel found there, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

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

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

21 But he sent messengers to him, saying, What have I to do with you, O king of Judah? I have not come against you this day, but against the house with which I have war; for God has commanded me to make haste. Refrain from meddling with God, who is with me, that you not be destroyed.

22 Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself so that he might fight with him, and did not heed the words of Necho from the mouth of God. So he came to fight in the Valley of Megiddo.

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

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

25 Jeremiah also lamented for Josiah. And to this day all the singing men and the singing women speak of Josiah in their lamentations. They made it an ordinance in Israel; and behold, they are written in the Lamentations.

26 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his goodness, according to what was written in the Law of Jehovah,

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