1. King Hezekiah sent messages to all the people of Israel and Judah. He wrote letters to the people of Ephraim and Manasseh also. He invited all these people to come to the Lord’S Temple in Jerusalem so that they all could celebrate the Passover for the Lord, the God of Israel.
2. King Hezekiah agreed with all his officials and all the assembly in Jerusalem to have the Passover in the second month.
3. They could not celebrate the Passover Festival at the regular time, because not enough priests had made themselves ready for holy service and the people had not gathered in Jerusalem.
4. The agreement satisfied King Hezekiah and all the assembly.
5. So they sent the announcement throughout Israel, from the town of Beersheba all the way to the town of Dan. They told the people to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover for the Lord, the God of Israel. Not many people had been celebrating it as it was described in the law.
6. So the messengers took the king’s letters all through Israel and Judah. This is what the letters said: “Children of Israel, turn back to the Lord, the God who Abraham, Isaac, and Israel obeyed. Then God will come back to you who are still alive and have escaped from the kings of Assyria.
18-19. Many people from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not prepared themselves in the right way for the Passover Festival. They did not celebrate the Passover the right way, as the Law of Moses says. But Hezekiah prayed for the people. So he said this prayer, “Lord God, you are good. These people sincerely wanted to worship you in the right way, but they did not make themselves clean as the law says. Please forgive these people. You are the Lord, the God our ancestors worshiped. Forgive them, even if some did not make themselves clean as the rules of the Most Holy Place say.”