¶ Moreover Josiah¹ kept a passover unto the LORD in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth² day of the first month.

And he set the priests in their charges³, and encouraged⁴ them to the service of the house of the LORD,

And said unto the Levites⁵ that taught all Israel, which were holy unto the LORD, Put⁶ the holy ark in the house⁷ which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build; it shall not be⁸ a burden upon your shoulders: serve now⁹ the LORD your God, and his people Israel,

And prepare yourselves by the houses¹⁰ of your fathers, after your courses¹¹, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according¹² to the writing of Solomon his son.

And stand¹³ in the holy place according to the divisions of the families of the fathers¹⁴ of your brethren the people, and after the division of the families of the Levites.

So kill¹⁵ the passover, and sanctify¹⁶ yourselves, and prepare your brethren, that they may do according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.

And Josiah¹⁷ gave¹⁸ to the people, of the flock, lambs and kids, all for the passover offerings, for all that were present, to the number of thirty thousand¹⁹, and three thousand bullocks: these were of the king's substance²⁰.

And his princes²¹ gave²² willingly unto the people, to the priests, and to the Levites: Hilkiah²³ and Zechariah and Jehiel, rulers²⁴ of the house of God, gave unto the priests for the passover offerings two thousand and six hundred small cattle, and three hundred oxen.

Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel, his brethren, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave²⁵ unto the Levites for passover offerings five thousand small cattle, and five hundred oxen.

¶ So the service was prepared, and the priests²⁶ stood in their place, and the Levites in their courses, according to the king's commandment.

And they killed the passover, and the priests²⁷ sprinkled the blood from their hands, and the Levites flayed them²⁸.

And they removed the burnt offerings, that they might give according to the divisions of the families of the people, to offer unto the LORD, as it is written²⁹ in the book of Moses. And so did they with the oxen.

And they roasted³⁰ the passover with fire according to the ordinance: but the other holy offerings sod³¹ they in pots, and in caldrons, and in pans, and divided them speedily³² among all the people.

And afterward they made ready for themselves, and for the priests: because the priests³³ the sons of Aaron were busied in offering of burnt offerings and the fat until night; therefore the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests the sons of Aaron.

And the singers the sons of Asaph were in their place³⁴, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer; and the porters³⁵ waited at every gate; they might not depart from their service; for their brethren the Levites prepared for them.

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

And the children of Israel that were present³⁶ kept the passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days.

And there was no passover³⁷ like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did³⁸ all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover kept.

¶ After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple³⁹, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates: and Josiah went out against him.

But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What⁴² have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war⁴³: for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee⁴⁴ from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not.

Nevertheless⁴⁵ Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised⁴⁶ himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth⁴⁷ of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo⁴⁸.

And the archers⁵¹ shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded⁵².

His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second⁵³ chariot that he had; and they⁵⁴ brought him to Jerusalem, and he died⁵⁵, and was buried in one of the⁵⁶ sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah⁵⁷ and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

And Jeremiah⁵⁸ lamented for Josiah: and all the singing⁵⁹ men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them⁶⁰ an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations.

Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his goodness⁶¹, according to that which was written in the law of the LORD,

And his deeds⁶², first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.