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.
12. The Levites roasted the Passover sacrifices and then boiled them in pots and cauldrons, making a pleasant smell.
13. Then they distributed the meat to all the people. After that was done, they took meat for themselves and for the priests, the descendants of Aaron,
14. because the priests were kept busy until night burning the fat of the sacrifices.
19. All the people of Israel who were present at that time kept the Passover and observed the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days.
20. Since the days of the prophet Samuel, the Passover had never been celebrated so faithfully.
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.