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Celebration of the Passover

35Josiah kept a passover to the Lord in Jerusalem; they slaughtered the passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month. ²He appointed the priests to their offices and encouraged them in the service of the house of the Lord. ³He said to the Levites who taught all Israel and who were holy to the Lord, ‘Put the holy ark in the house that Solomon son of David, king of Israel, built; you need no longer carry it on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and his people Israel. ⁴Make preparations by your ancestral houses by your divisions, following the written directions of King David of Israel and the written directions of his son Solomon. ⁵Take position in the holy place according to the groupings of the ancestral houses of your kindred the people, and let there be Levites for each division of an ancestral house.^{* 6}Slaughter the passover lamb, sanctify yourselves, and on behalf of your kindred make preparations, acting according to the word of the Lord by Moses.’

10 When the service had been prepared for, the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their divisions according to the king’s command. ¹¹They slaughtered the passover lamb, and the priests dashed the blood that they received^* from them, while the Levites did the skinning. ¹²They set aside the burnt-offerings so that they might distribute them according to the groupings of the ancestral houses of the people, to offer to the Lord, as it is written in the book of Moses. And they did the same with the bulls. ¹³They roasted the passover lamb with fire according to the ordinance; and they boiled the holy offerings in pots, in cauldrons, and in pans, and carried them quickly to all the people. ¹⁴Afterwards they made preparations for themselves and for the priests, because the priests the descendants of Aaron were occupied in offering the burnt-offerings and the fat parts until night; so the Levites made preparations for themselves and for the priests, the descendants of Aaron. ¹⁵The singers, the descendants of Asaph, were in their place according to the command of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and the king’s seer Jeduthun. The gatekeepers were at each gate; they did not need to interrupt their service, for their kindred the Levites made preparations for them.

16 So all the service of the Lord was prepared that day, to keep the passover and to offer burnt-offerings on the altar of the Lord, according to the command of King Josiah.

Psalm 35

1  Contend, O Lord, with those that contend with me; ♦︎
   fight against those that fight against me.
2  Take up shield and buckler ♦︎
   and rise up to help me.
3  Draw the spear and bar the way
      against those who pursue me; ♦︎
   say to my soul, ‘I am your salvation.’
4  Let those who seek after my life be shamed and disgraced; ♦︎
   let those who plot my ruin fall back and be put to confusion.
5  Let them be as chaff before the wind, ♦︎
   with the angel of the Lord thrusting them down.
6  Let their way be dark and slippery, ♦︎
   with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.
7  For they have secretly spread a net for me without a cause; ♦︎
   without any cause they have dug a pit for my soul.
8  Let ruin come upon them unawares; ♦︎
   let them be caught in the net they laid;
      let them fall in it to their destruction.
9  Then will my soul be joyful in the Lord ♦︎
   and glory in his salvation.
10  My very bones will say, ‘Lord, who is like you? ♦︎
   You deliver the poor from those that are too strong for them,
      the poor and needy from those who would despoil them.’
11  False witnesses rose up against me; ♦︎
   they charged me with things I knew not.
12  They rewarded me evil for good, ♦︎
   to the desolation of my soul.
13  But as for me, when they were sick I put on sackcloth ♦︎
   and humbled myself with fasting;
14  When my prayer returned empty to my bosom, ♦︎
   it was as though I grieved for my friend or brother;
15  I behaved as one who mourns for his mother, ♦︎
   bowed down and brought very low.
16  But when I stumbled, they gathered in delight;
      they gathered together against me; ♦︎
   as if they were strangers I did not know
      they tore at me without ceasing.
17  When I fell they mocked me; ♦︎
   they gnashed at me with their teeth.
18  O Lord, how long will you look on? ♦︎
   Rescue my soul from their ravages,
      and my poor life from the young lions.
19  I will give you thanks in the great congregation; ♦︎
   I will praise you in the mighty throng.
20  Do not let my treacherous foes rejoice over me, ♦︎
   or those who hate me without a cause
      mock me with their glances.
21  For they do not speak of peace, ♦︎
   but invent deceitful schemes against those that are quiet in the land.
22  They opened wide their mouths and derided me, saying ♦︎
   ‘We have seen it with our very eyes.’
23  This you have seen, O Lord; do not keep silent; ♦︎
   go not far from me, O Lord.
24  Awake, arise, to my cause, ♦︎
   to my defence, my God and my Lord!
25  Give me justice, O Lord my God,
      according to your righteousness; ♦︎
   let them not triumph over me.
26  Let them not say to themselves,
      ‘Our heart’s desire!’ ♦︎
   Let them not say, ‘We have swallowed him up.’
27  Let all who rejoice at my trouble be put to shame and confusion; ♦︎
   let those who boast against me
      be clothed with shame and dishonour.
28  Let those who favour my cause rejoice and be glad; ♦︎
   let them say always,
      ‘Great is the Lord, who delights in his servant’s well-being.’
29  So shall my tongue be talking of your righteousness ♦︎
   and of your praise all the day long.

Psalm 35

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

Of David.
¹ Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me;
   fight against those who fight against me!
² Take hold of shield and buckler,
   and rise up to help me!
³ Draw the spear and javelin
   against my pursuers;
say to my soul,
   ‘I am your salvation.’

⁴ Let them be put to shame and dishonour
   who seek after my life.
Let them be turned back and confounded
   who devise evil against me.
⁵ Let them be like chaff before the wind,
   with the angel of the Lord driving them on.
⁶ Let their way be dark and slippery,
   with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.

⁷ For without cause they hid their net^* for me;
   without cause they dug a pit^* for my life.
⁸ Let ruin come on them unawares.
And let the net that they hid ensnare them;
   let them fall in it—to their ruin.

⁹ Then my soul shall rejoice in the Lord,
   exulting in his deliverance.

The Plot to Kill Jesus

22Now the festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was near. ²The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to put Jesus^* to death, for they were afraid of the people.

3 Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve; ⁴he went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers of the temple police about how he might betray him to them. ⁵They were greatly pleased and agreed to give him money. ⁶So he consented and began to look for an opportunity to betray him to them when no crowd was present.

The Preparation of the Passover

7 Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. ⁸So Jesus^* sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it.’ ⁹They asked him, ‘Where do you want us to make preparations for it?’ ¹⁰‘Listen,’ he said to them, ‘when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house he enters ¹¹and say to the owner of the house, “The teacher asks you, ‘Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ ” ¹²He will show you a large room upstairs, already furnished. Make preparations for us there.’ ¹³So they went and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.