² The king and his officials and the whole assembly in Jerusalem decided to celebrate^(A) the Passover in the second month. ³ They had not been able to celebrate it at the regular time because not enough priests had consecrated^(B) themselves and the people had not assembled in Jerusalem. ⁴ The plan seemed right both to the king and to the whole assembly. ⁵ They decided to send a proclamation throughout Israel, from Beersheba to Dan,^(C) calling the people to come to Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel. It had not been celebrated in large numbers according to what was written.

¹⁷ Since many in the crowd had not consecrated themselves, the Levites had to kill^(A) the Passover lambs for all those who were not ceremonially clean and could not consecrate their lambs^[a] to the Lord. ¹⁸ Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not purified themselves,^(B) yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the Lord, who is good, pardon everyone ¹⁹ who sets their heart on seeking God—the Lord, the God of their ancestors—even if they are not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary.” ²⁰ And the Lord heard^(C) Hezekiah and healed^(D) the people.^(E)

³ He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?^(A)

⁴ He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.^(A)