15. The singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their places according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer. And the gatekeepers were at every gate; they did not need to leave their service, for their brethren the Levites prepared for them.
16. So all the Lord's service was prepared the same day to keep the Passover and to offer burnt offerings upon the Lord's altar, as King Josiah commanded.
17. And the Israelites who were present kept the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days.
18. No Passover like it had been kept in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet, even by any of the kings of Israel, as was kept by Josiah and the priests, the Levites, and all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
19. In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah this Passover was kept.
20. After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Neco king of Egypt went out to fight against Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out against him.
21. But [Neco] sent ambassadors to [Josiah], saying, What have I to do with you, you king of Judah? I come not against you this day, but against the house with which I am at war; and God has commanded me to make haste. Refrain from opposing God, Who is with me, lest He destroy you.
22. Yet Josiah would not turn away from him, but disguised himself in order to fight with him. He did not heed the words of Neco from the mouth of God, but came to fight with him in the valley of Megiddo.
23. And the archers shot King Josiah, and the king said to his servants, Take me away, for I am severely wounded.
24. So his servants took him out of the chariot and put him in his second chariot and brought him to Jerusalem. And he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.
25. Jeremiah gave a lament for Josiah, and all the singing men and women have spoken of Josiah in their laments to this day. They made them an ordinance in Israel; behold, they are written in the Laments. [Lam. 4:20.]