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2 Chronicles 30 2-2 Chronicles 30 15
The king, his officials, and all the community of Jerusalem decided to celebrate Passover a month later than usual.They were unable to celebrate it at the prescribed time because not enough priests could be purified by then, and the people had not yet assembled at Jerusalem.This plan for keeping the Passover seemed right to the king and all the people.So they sent a proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba in the south to Dan in the north, inviting everyone to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover of the Lord, the God of Israel. The people had not been celebrating it in great numbers as required in the Law.At the king’s command, runners were sent throughout Israel and Judah. They carried letters that said:“ O people of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that he will return to the few of us who have survived the conquest of the Assyrian kings.Do not be like your ancestors and relatives who abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and became an object of derision, as you yourselves can see.Do not be stubborn, as they were, but submit yourselves to the Lord. Come to his Temple, which he has set apart as holy forever. Worship the Lord your God so that his fierce anger will turn away from you.“ For if you return to the Lord, your relatives and your children will be treated mercifully by their captors, and they will be able to return to this land. For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful. If you return to him, he will not continue to turn his face from you.”The runners went from town to town throughout Ephraim and Manasseh and as far as the territory of Zebulun. But most of the people just laughed at the runners and made fun of them.However, some people from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and went to Jerusalem.At the same time, God’s hand was on the people in the land of Judah, giving them all one heart to obey the orders of the king and his officials, who were following the word of the Lord.So a huge crowd assembled at Jerusalem in midspring to celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread.They set to work and removed the pagan altars from Jerusalem. They took away all the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley.On the fourteenth day of the second month, one month later than usual, the people slaughtered the Passover lamb. This shamed the priests and Levites, so they purified themselves and brought burnt offerings to the Temple of the Lord.
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Exodus 12:2-14
“ From now on, this month will be the first month of the year for you.Announce to the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each family must choose a lamb or a young goat for a sacrifice, one animal for each household.If a family is too small to eat a whole animal, let them share with another family in the neighborhood. Divide the animal according to the size of each family and how much they can eat.The animal you select must be a one year old male, either a sheep or a goat, with no defects.“ Take special care of this chosen animal until the evening of the fourteenth day of this first month. Then the whole assembly of the community of Israel must slaughter their lamb or young goat at twilight.They are to take some of the blood and smear it on the sides and top of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the animal.That same night they must roast the meat over a fire and eat it along with bitter salad greens and bread made without yeast.Do not eat any of the meat raw or boiled in water. The whole animal— including the head, legs, and internal organs— must be roasted over a fire.Do not leave any of it until the next morning. Burn whatever is not eaten before morning.“ These are your instructions for eating this meal: Be fully dressed, wear your sandals, and carry your walking stick in your hand. Eat the meal with urgency, for this is the Lord’s Passover.On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn son and firstborn male animal in the land of Egypt. I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt, for I am the Lord!But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt.“ This is a day to remember. Each year, from generation to generation, you must celebrate it as a special festival to the Lord. This is a law for all time.
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Exodus 12:43-49
Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,“ These are the instructions for the festival of Passover. No outsiders are allowed to eat the Passover meal.But any slave who has been purchased may eat it if he has been circumcised.Temporary residents and hired servants may not eat it.Each Passover lamb must be eaten in one house. Do not carry any of its meat outside, and do not break any of its bones.The whole community of Israel must celebrate this Passover festival.“ If there are foreigners living among you who want to celebrate the Lord’s Passover, let all their males be circumcised. Only then may they celebrate the Passover with you like any native born Israelite. But no uncircumcised male may ever eat the Passover meal.This instruction applies to everyone, whether a native born Israelite or a foreigner living among you.”
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John 19:36
These things happened in fulfillment of the Scriptures that say,“ Not one of his bones will be broken,”
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Deuteronomy 16:3
Eat it with bread made without yeast. For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast, as when you escaped from Egypt in such a hurry. Eat this bread— the bread of suffering— so that as long as you live you will remember the day you departed from Egypt.
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Numbers 9:3
at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. Be sure to follow all my decrees and regulations concerning this celebration.”
