30:1 Hezekiah sent messages throughout Israel and Judah; he even wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, summoning them to come to the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem 1 and observe a Passover celebration for the Lord God of Israel. 30:2 The king, his officials, and the entire assembly in Jerusalem decided to observe the Passover in the second month. 30:3 They were unable to observe it at the regular 2 time because not enough priests had consecrated themselves and the people had not assembled in Jerusalem. 30:4 The proposal seemed appropriate to 3 the king and the entire assembly. 30:5 So they sent an edict 4 throughout Israel from Beer Sheba to Dan, summoning the people 5 to come and observe a Passover for the Lord God of Israel in Jerusalem, for they had not observed it on a nationwide scale as prescribed in the law. 6 30:6 Messengers 7 delivered the letters from the king and his officials throughout Israel and Judah.
This royal edict read: 8 “O Israelites, return to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so he may return 9 to you who have been spared from the kings of Assyria. 10 30:7 Don’t be like your fathers and brothers who were unfaithful to the Lord God of their ancestors, 11 provoking him to destroy them, 12 as you can see. 30:8 Now, don’t be stubborn 13 like your fathers! Submit 14 to the Lord and come to his sanctuary which he has permanently consecrated. Serve the Lord your God so that he might relent from his raging anger. 15 30:9 For if you return to the Lord, your brothers and sons will be shown mercy by their captors and return to this land. The Lord your God is merciful and compassionate; he will not reject you 16 if you return to him.”
30:10 The messengers journeyed from city to city through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun, but people mocked and ridiculed them. 17 30:11 But some men from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. 30:12 In Judah God moved the people to unite and carry out the edict the king and the officers had issued at the Lord’s command. 18 30:13 A huge crowd assembled in Jerusalem to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month. 19 30:14 They removed the altars in Jerusalem; they also removed all the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley. 20
30:15 They slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and Levites were ashamed, so they consecrated themselves and brought burnt sacrifices to the Lord’s temple. 30:16 They stood at their posts according to the regulations outlined in the law of Moses, the man of God. The priests were splashing the blood as the Levites handed it to them. 21 30:17 Because many in the assembly had not consecrated themselves, the Levites slaughtered 22 the Passover lambs of all who were ceremonially unclean and could not consecrate their sacrifice to the Lord. 23 30:18 The majority of the many people from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun were ceremonially unclean, yet they ate the Passover in violation of what is prescribed in the law. 24 For Hezekiah prayed for them, saying: “May the Lord, who is good, forgive 25 30:19 everyone who has determined to follow God, 26 the Lord God of his ancestors, even if he is not ceremonially clean according to the standards of the temple.” 27 30:20 The Lord responded favorably 28 to Hezekiah and forgave 29 the people.
1 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
2 tn Heb “at that time.”
3 tn Heb “and the thing was proper in the eyes of.”
4 tn Heb “and they caused to stand a word to cause a voice to pass through.”
5 tn The words “summoning the people” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
6 tn Heb “because not for abundance had they done as written.”
7 tn Heb “the runners.”
8 tn Heb “and according to the command of the king, saying.”
9 tn The jussive with vav conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.
10 tn Heb “to the survivors who are left to you from the palm of the kings of Assyria.”
11 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 19, 22).
12 tn Heb “and he made them a devastation” (or, perhaps, “an object of horror”).
13 tn Heb “don’t stiffen your neck” (a Hebrew idiom for being stubborn).
14 tn Heb “give a hand.” On the meaning of the idiom here, see HALOT 387 s.v. I יָד 2.
15 tn Heb “so that the rage of his anger might turn from you.” The jussive with vav conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.
16 tn Heb “turn [his] face from you.”
17 tn Heb “and they were mocking them and ridiculing them.”
18 tn Heb “also in Judah the hand of God was to give to them one heart to do the command of the king and the officials by the word of the
19 tn The Hebrew text adds here, “a very large assembly.” This has not been translated to avoid redundancy with the expression “a huge crowd” at the beginning of the verse.
20 tn Heb “and they arose and removed the altars which were in Jerusalem, and all the incense altars they removed and threw into the Kidron Valley.”
21 tn Heb “from the hand of the Levites.”
22 tn Heb “were over the slaughter of.”
23 tn Heb “of everyone not pure to consecrate to the
24 tn Heb “without what is written.”
25 tn Heb “make atonement for.”
26 tn Heb “everyone [who] has prepared his heart to seek God.”
27 tn Heb “and not according to the purification of the holy place.”
28 tn Heb “listened.”
29 tn Heb “healed.”