15. And on the fourteenth day of the month they killed the lambs for the Passover sacrifice. The priests and Levites who were not ritually clean were so ashamed that they dedicated themselves to the Lord, and now they could sacrifice burnt offerings in the Temple.
16. They took their places in the Temple according to the instructions in the Law of Moses, the man of God. The Levites gave the blood of the sacrifices to the priests, who sprinkled it on the altar.
17. Because many of the people were not ritually clean, they could not kill the Passover lambs, so the Levites did it for them, and dedicated the lambs to the Lord.
18. In addition, many of those who had come from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not performed the ritual of purification, and so they were observing Passover improperly. King Hezekiah offered this prayer for them:
19. “O Lord, the God of our ancestors, in your goodness forgive those who are worshipping you with all their heart, even though they are not ritually clean.”
20. The Lord answered Hezekiah's prayer; he forgave the people and did not harm them.
21. For seven days the people who had gathered in Jerusalem celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread with great joy, and day after day the Levites and the priests praised the Lord with all their strength.
22. Hezekiah praised the Levites for their skill in conducting the worship of the Lord.After the seven days during which they offered sacrifices in praise of the Lord, the God of their ancestors,
23. they all decided to celebrate for another seven days. So they celebrated with joy.
24. King Hezekiah contributed 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep for the people to kill and eat, and the officials gave them another thousand bulls and 10,000 sheep. A large number of priests went through the ritual of purification.
25. So everyone was happy — the people of Judah, the priests, the Levites, the people who had come from the north, and the foreigners who had settled permanently in Israel and Judah.
26. The city of Jerusalem was filled with joy, because nothing like this had happened since the days of King Solomon, the son of David.
27. The priests and the Levites asked the Lord's blessing on the people. In his home in heaven God heard their prayers and accepted them.