2 Chronicles 30:13-22

All Israel Invited to the Passover

¹³Now many people were gathered at Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month, a very large assembly. ¹⁴They got up and removed the altars which were in Jerusalem; they also removed all the incense altars and threw them into the brook Kidron. ¹⁵Then they slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth of the second month. And the priests and Levites were ashamed of themselves, and consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the house of the Lord. ¹⁶They stood at their stations following their custom, according to the Law of Moses the man of God; the priests sprinkled the blood which they received from the hand of the Levites. ¹⁷For there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves; therefore, the Levites were in charge of the slaughter of the Passover lambs for everyone who was unclean, in order to consecrate them to the Lord. ¹⁸For a multitude of the people, many from Ephraim and Manasseh, and Issachar and Zebulun, had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover contrary to what was written. For Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the good Lord pardon ¹⁹everyone who prepares his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though not according to the purification rules of the sanctuary.” ²⁰So the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people. ²¹The sons of Israel present in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy, and the Levites and the priests were praising the Lord day after day with loud instruments to the Lord. ²²Then Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good insight in the things of the Lord. So they ate for the appointed seven days, sacrificing peace offerings and giving thanks to the Lord God of their fathers.