Lulwamisigwa kwe Nzano we Kupinda Pezhugwi
1 Hezekiya katumila ndaidzo ku Baiziraela bose ne ku Bajuda bose kakwalila Ifureimi ne Manase hwalo kuti bazhe ku Ng'umba ya Yahwe mu Jerusalema ne kuwoshongozhela Nzano we Kupinda pezhugwi wa Yahwe Ndzimu we Iziraela. 2 Ngobe mambo ne makulukota awe ne gubungano lose mu Jerusalema bakabe basunga kuti kulondolodziwe Nzano we Kupinda pezhugwi mu mwedzi we bubili. 3 Bakabe basingatubule kuulondolodza nge tjibaka tjawo ngobe kwakabe kusina bapirisiti bakaswika ngoti bakabe basazwitjenapadza ne bathu bakabe basakakubungana ku Jerusalema. 4 Ngono ndongoloso iyeyi yakabe ilingika yakalulwama mbeli kwa mambo ne gubungano lose. 5 Ndizo ndaulo yakadusiwa kuti kudang'we Baiziraela bose kudwa tjose ku Bheerisheba kunoti ku Dani, kuti bathu bazhe bawolondolodza Nzano we Kupinda pezhugwi wa Yahwe Ndzimu we Iziraela ku Jerusalema ngobe kwakabe kwabe tjibaka tjilefu basinga tjauzane sekwa bakadwiwa. 6 Nge ndaulo ya mambo batumwa bakayenda Iziraela yose ne Juda nge hwalo dzinodwa kuna mambo ne makulukota, hwalo dzakabe dzibalika sahwoku:
“Bathu be Iziraela, shandukilani kuna Yahwe Ndzimu wa Abhurahama na Isaki na Iziraela kuti ndizo babgwililebo kumuli imwi makasala, imwi makapudzumuka mu maboko a bomambo be Baasiriya. 7 Musinge bobatategulu benyu ne zwikamu zwenyu ibo bakabe ne kusagalikabgwe kuna Yahwe Ndzimu wa bobatategulu babo ngono kabathama zwishingisiwa zwe zwithu zwinotjenamisa sekwa koga mubona. 8 Musiwomeledze mitshibha sa botate benyu, muzwiyise pasi kuna Yahwe. Izhani ku bugalo gwabo gwakayengemala igo Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu gwabakathama kuti gugale gwakayengemala tjatjose, muzhe mubashingile kuti ndizo basitongomugwadzila moyo tjatjose. 9 Ha mungashandukila kuna Yahwe, zwikamu zwenyu ne bana benyu banowohwigwa ngoni ne basungi babo ngono banowobgwilila ku shango yabo ngobe Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu bana ngoni ne mahwilozogwadza. Abangamufupatile amushandukila ku bali.”
10 Batumwa bakayenda mizi mikulu yose mu mituthu yose ye njudzi dza Ifureimi na Manase ne kunoti ku bunandzwa ku ludzi gwa Zebuluni koga bathu bakabe bebaseka bebadadila. 11 Nekwakajalo, bamwe balume be Asheri ne Manase ne Zebuluni bakazwiyisa pasi bakayenda ku Jerusalema. 12 Simba le Ndzimu likabe lili mu bathu be Juda, wakabapa meya nng'ompela kuti babhatane bathame tjalaugwa ndi mambo ne makulukota ngekwe dama la Yahwe.
13 Mbunga usi nshoma ukanokubungana ku Jerusalema kunolondolodza Nzano we Tjiwunga tjisina Mbidzo mu mwedzi we bubili. 14 Bakadusa zwibeso zose zwakabe zwishingisiwa zwili zwinodusigwa zwibhayilo ne zwinopisiwa motsha mu Jerusalema ngono bakanozwilashila ku nkuku we Kidironi. 15 Ngono mu zhuba le bugumi lina manna (14) le mwedzi we bubili bakabhaya pkhwizana dze Nzano we Kupinda pezhugwi. Bapirisiti ne Balevi bakabe basazwitjenapadza bakabhakhwa nge shoni ngono bakazwitjenapadza bakazhisa zwibhayilo zwinopisiwa ku Ng'umba ya Yahwe. 16 Bakadwapo betola magalo abo sekwa kuli iko mu nlayo wa Mushe nlume we Ndzimu. Bapirisiti bakanyasa malopa abakabe bepiwa ne Balevi. 17 Ngoti kwakabe kuna bathu banjinji mu gubungano bakabe basakazwitjenapadza, ndizo Balevi bakabe bakafanila kubhayila mmwe ne mmwe wakabe asi mbuyanana pkhwizana ye Nzano we Kupinda Pezhugwi kuti kube kwakayengemala kuna Yahwe. 18 Nenguba bunji gwe bathu bakabe bedwa ku Ifureimi ne Manase ne Isakari ne Zebuluni bakabe basazwitjenapadza, bakaja tjibhayilo tje Nzano we Kupinda Pezhugwi ikoku kusi iko kwakakwagwa mu nlayo. Koga Hezekiya wakabatembezelela eti, “Tshene Yahwe, ibo bakalulwama, bangazwiibhatigwa mmwe ne mmwe, 19 we moyo uwe umukushaka Ndzimu, Yahwe Ndzimu wa bobatategulu babe nenguba angabe asakatjenapala sekwa milayo inoshaka.” 20 Ngono Yahwe bakadabila Hezekiya ngono Yahwe bakatjidza bathu. 21 Kwakabe kwe mazhuba ali kutendeka bathu bakakubunganila ku Jerusalema belondolodza Nzano we Tjiwunga tjisina Mbidzo nge shatho hwulu ngono zhuba ne zhuba Balevi ne bapirisiti bakabe bekudza Yahwe nge mimoyo yabo yose. 22 Hezekiya wakalebeleka ekudza Balevi bose bakalakidza bunyambi mu nshingo wa Yahwe. Ndizo bathu bakaja zojiwa zwe nzano kwe mazhuba ali kutendeka, bedusa zwibhayilo zwe mbakisano ne kuyisa mboko kuna Yahwe Ndzimu wa botate babo.
23 Ipapo gubungano lose likadumana kuti badwilidzile nzano kwe mamwe mazhuba ali kutendeka nge kushatha. 24 Mambo Hezekiya kadusa mikono ili tjiwulu (1 000) ne pkhwizi ne mbudzi dzili zwiwulu zwili kutendeka (7 000) kuti bathu babhaye baje, ngono makulukota kabapa mimwe mikono ili tjiwulu (1 000) ne pkhwizi ne mbudzi dzili zwiwulu zwili gumi (10 000). Bapirisiti banji bakazwitjenapadza. 25 Gubungano lose le Juda likashatha kose ne bapirisiti ne Balevi na bose bakabe bazha bedwa ku Iziraela kubaligwa ne bazhi bakabe bedwa kuzhe kwe Iziraela na ibabo bakabe begala mu Juda. 26 Kwakabe ne kushatha kukulu mu Jerusalema ngobe tjinga kudwa tjibaka tja Solomoni nkololo wa Dafite mambo we Iziraela akuzotongobe ne tjakajali mu Jerusalema. 27 Bapirisiti ne Balevi bakama ne makumbo bakakombolela bathu ngono Ndzimu ukabahwa ngobe ntembezelo wabo wakaswika kudzimu ku bugalo gwawo gwakayengemala.
Preparations for Passover
1-3 The people had not been able to celebrate the Passover Festival at the proper time in the first month, because not enough priests were ritually clean and not many people had assembled in Jerusalem. So King Hezekiah, his officials, and the people of Jerusalem agreed to celebrate it in the second month, and the king sent word to all the people of Israel and Judah. He took special care to send letters to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, inviting them to come to the Temple in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover in honor of the Lord, the God of Israel. 4 The king and the people were pleased with their plan, 5 so they invited all the Israelites, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, to come together in Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover according to the Law, in larger numbers than ever before. 6 Messengers went out at the command of the king and his officials through all Judah and Israel with the following invitation:
“People of Israel, you have survived the Assyrian conquest of the land. Now return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and he will return to you. 7 Do not be like your ancestors and your Israelite relatives who were unfaithful to the Lord their God. As you can see, he punished them severely. 8 Do not be stubborn as they were, but obey the Lord. Come to the Temple in Jerusalem, which the Lord your God has made holy forever, and worship him so that he will no longer be angry with you. 9 If you return to the Lord, then those who have taken your relatives away as prisoners will take pity on them and let them come back home. The Lord your God is kind and merciful, and if you return to him, he will accept you.”
10 The messengers went to every city in the territory of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far north as the tribe of Zebulun, but people laughed at them and made fun of them. 11 Still, there were some from the tribes of Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun who were willing to come to Jerusalem. 12 God was also at work in Judah and united the people in their determination to obey his will by following the commands of the king and his officials.
Passover Is Celebrated
13 A great number of people gathered in Jerusalem in the second month to celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread. 14 They took all the altars that had been used in Jerusalem for offering sacrifices and burning incense and threw them into Kidron Valley. 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 became 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 worshiping 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.
A Second Celebration
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 1,000 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.