3. He also instructed the Levites, the Temple servants, to purify themselves for the Lord's service, so that they could put the sacred Covenant Box of the Lord in the Temple that King Solomon, the son of David, had built.
4. Josiah said to them, “You must no longer carry it from place to place, but you are to serve the Lord your God and minister to his people Israel. Get ready by family and clan to carry out your duties
5. according to the directions given by King David and the splendid way that they were carried out by his son King Solomon. Take your places in the Temple in proper order according to your family divisions as Levites serving the Lord for the people of Israel.
6. Kill the Passover lambs and goats and prepare the sacrifices for your fellow-Israelites. Then celebrate the Passover according to the instructions that the Lord gave to Moses.”
7. Josiah gave to the people who were present 30,000 young sheep and goats and 3,000 calves. These were a gift from the royal estates to carry out the promise he had made to the people, the priests, and the Levites.
8. The officials in charge of the Temple — Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel — also gave the priests 2,600 sheep and 300 calves for sacrifices during the festival.
9. And the army commanders — Conaniah, Shemaiah and his brother Nethanel, Hashabiah, Ochiel, and Joram — contributed 5,000 sheep and 700 calves for the Levites to offer as sacrifices.
21-22. None of the former kings of Israel had ever celebrated a Passover like this one celebrated by King Josiah in Jerusalem in the eighteenth year of his reign; it was celebrated by the priests, the Levites, and all the people of Judah and Israel.
23. The Lord was pleased with everything Josiah did, for he was a deeply religious man.
24. But the ancient records also tell the story of those who sinned and rebelled against the Lord during Josiah's reign. They sinned more than any other nation or kingdom and did things that offended the Lord so much that his judgement fell on the people of Israel.
25. After Josiah had done all these things, the king of Egypt led an army to fight at Carchemish on the River Euphrates. Josiah tried to stop him,
26. but the king of Egypt sent Josiah this message: “The war I am fighting does not concern you, King of Judah.
27. The Lord God did not send me to fight you; my battle is on the Euphrates. The Lord is with me, and he is urging me on; so withdraw your troops and don't oppose the Lord.”
28. But Josiah did not go back to his chariot and withdraw. He refused to listen to what the Lord had said through the prophet Jeremiah and decided to fight.
29. He went into battle on the plain of Megiddo, and the Egyptian commanders attacked him.
30. King Josiah ordered his servants, “Take me off the battlefield; I'm badly wounded.” So they took him out of the line of battle immediately,
31. and he got into a second chariot and was taken back to Jerusalem. There he died and was buried in the royal tomb.
32. All the people of Judah mourned for him.The prophet Jeremiah composed a lament for King Josiah. It has become a custom in Israel for the leaders and their wives to sing this song when they mourn for him.
33. These things are recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah. Everything that Josiah did, how he gained his fame and his understanding of the Law, what he did earlier and what is told here, is all recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel and Judah.
34. The people of Judah chose Josiah's son Joahaz and made him king. Joahaz was 23 years old,
35. and he ruled over Judah and Jerusalem for three months. Then the king of Egypt deposed him