Dawn on a high dirt road through the terraced hills of Ephraim: two couriers run small and far off with leather letter cases across their chests, a small flat-roofed village on a far ridge with one thin cooking smoke, under a calm sky warming from violet to gold.

The Book of

2 Chronicles 30

Samaria had fallen. Hezekiah wrote to the scattered survivors of the north: come home to the LORD.

27 verses≈ 6 min1 personBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

Tap any post to go deeper

In this chapter

Where we are

1SolomonWisdom asked at Gibeon
2–5The templeBuilt on Mount Moriah
6–7DedicationIf My people humble themselves
8–9Solomon's gloryThe queen of Sheba
10–16DivisionRehoboam to Asa
17–20JehoshaphatThe battle is God's
21–24Dark yearsJehoram to Joash
25–28Proud kingsAmaziah to Ahaz
29–32HezekiahDoors opened, Passover keptChapter 30
33–35Manasseh to JosiahMercy and the Book found
36Exile and returnMay he go up

Hezekiah Proclaims a Passover

Then Hezekiah sent word throughout all Israel and Judah, and he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh inviting them to come to the house of the LORD in Jerusalem to keep the Passover of the LORD, the God of Israel.

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

For the king and his officials and the whole assembly in Jerusalem had decided to keep the Passover in the second month, since they had been unable to keep it at the regular time, because not enough priests had consecrated themselves and the people had not been gathered in Jerusalem.

This plan pleased the king and the whole assembly.

Stylised map · locations approximate

On the map

From Beersheba to Dan

The couriers carried the king’s letters through all Judah and through the hill country of the old northern tribes, now an Assyrian province. Many in Ephraim, Manasseh and Zebulun mocked them. Yet some from Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun came, and at the feast there were many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun.

So they established a decree to circulate a proclamation throughout Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, that the people should come to keep the Passover of the LORD, the God of Israel, in Jerusalem. For they had not observed it in great numbers as prescribed.

From HezekiahTo Children of Israel

At the command of the king, the couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his officials, which read: “Children of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that He may return to those of you who remain, who have escaped the grasp of the kings of Assyria.

Do not be like your fathers and brothers who were unfaithful to the LORD, the God of their fathers, so that He made them an object of horror, as you can see.

Now do not stiffen your necks as your fathers did. Submit to the LORD and come to His sanctuary, which He has consecrated forever. Serve the LORD your God, so that His fierce anger will turn away from you. For if you return to the LORD, your brothers and sons will receive mercy in the presence of their captors and will return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful; He will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.”

2 Chronicles 30:6–9

For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful; He will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.

2 Chronicles 30:9

Reflect

Scorned or humbled

The same letter reached two kinds of people. Some “scorned and mocked” the couriers; some “humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.” God’s invitation still comes the same way. Which response is closer to yours today, and what would coming look like? Write it down.

Hezekiah Celebrates the Passover

In the second month, a very great assembly gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread. They proceeded to remove the altars in Jerusalem and to take away the incense altars and throw them into the Kidron Valley.

And on the fourteenth day of the second month they slaughtered the Passover lamb. The priests and Levites were ashamed, and they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the house of the LORD.

They stood at their prescribed posts, according to the Law of Moses the man of God. The priests splattered the blood, which they received from the hand of the Levites.

Since there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves, the Levites were in charge of slaughtering the Passover lambs for every unclean person to consecrate the lambs to the LORD.

Evening in the temple court: young King Hezekiah in a deep-blue robe stands with both hands lifted and face turned up, praying aloud, while around him dusty pilgrims from the north, some eating from a shared clay dish of roast lamb and flat bread, look up at him, priests watching from beside the altar.

A large number of the people—many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun—had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah interceded for them, saying, “May the LORD, who is good, provide atonement for everyone who sets his heart on seeking God—the LORD, the God of his fathers—even if he is not cleansed according to the purification rules of the sanctuary.”

2 Chronicles 30:20

Question

Quick question

Passover belonged to the fourteenth day of the first month, but Judah kept it a month late.

Why did Judah keep this Passover in the second month?

The Israelites who were present in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy, and the Levites and priests praised the LORD day after day, accompanied by loud instruments of praise to the LORD. And Hezekiah encouraged all the Levites who performed skillfully before the LORD. For seven days they ate their assigned portion, sacrificing peace offerings and giving thanks to the LORD, the God of their fathers.

The whole assembly agreed to observe seven more days, so they observed seven days with joy. For Hezekiah king of Judah contributed a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for the assembly, and the officials contributed a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep for the assembly, and a great number of priests consecrated themselves.

Dusk over Jerusalem during the feast, all in the lower third: on flat roofs and in a small open square, families of Judah and of the north and a few foreigners in their own dress sit together around clay dishes and lamps, eating and laughing, the long, plain stone temple small on the height, under a deep clear evening sky with the first stars.

Then the whole assembly of Judah rejoiced along with the priests and Levites and the whole assembly that had come from Israel, including the foreigners who had come from Israel and those who lived in Judah. So there was great rejoicing in Jerusalem, for nothing like this had happened there since the days of Solomon son of David king of Israel.

0:19

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Then the priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard their voice, and their prayer came into His holy dwelling place in heaven.

Pray

Gracious and merciful

Thank the LORD that He is “gracious and merciful” and does not turn His face from those who return to Him. Pray for the scattered and the far-off, that they would hear His invitation and come. Ask for a heart set on seeking Him above every rule kept for its own sake.

You’ve experienced

2 Chronicles 30

0 of 36 chapters read

A verse to carry with you

For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful; He will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.

2 Chronicles 30:9

or swipe left