Scrutatio

Giovedi, 28 marzo 2024 - San Castore di Tarso ( Letture di oggi)

2 Chronicles 30


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1Hezekiah sent messengers to al Israel and Judah, and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh,bidding them come to the Temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover in honour of Yahweh, Godof Israel.2For the king and his officials and the whole congregation in Jerusalem had agreed to celebrate thePassover in the second month,3having been unable to celebrate it at the proper time, since the priests had not purified themselves insufficient number, and the people were not assembled in Jerusalem.4And since this arrangement seemed fitting to the king and the whole congregation,5they resolved to send a proclamation throughout Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, cal ing on the peopleto come to Jerusalem and celebrate a Passover in honour of Yahweh, God of Israel, since they had notcelebrated it in a body as prescribed.6So, by order of the king, courtiers set out with letters from the king and his officials for every part ofIsrael and Judah, saying, 'Israelites, return to Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, and he wil return tothose of you who are left and have escaped the grasp of the kings of Assyria.7Do not be like your fathers and brothers who were unfaithful to Yahweh, God of their ancestors; hebrought them to ruin, as you can see.8Do not be stubborn like your ancestors. Submit to Yahweh, come to his sanctuary which he hasconsecrated for ever, and serve Yahweh your God, so that his fierce anger may turn away from you.9For if you return to Yahweh, your brothers and your sons wil be treated mercifully by their captors andbe al owed to return to this country; for Yahweh your God is gracious and merciful and wil not turn his face awayfrom you, if you return to him.'10The courtiers went from town to town through the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh and as far asZebulon but the people laughed and scoffed at them;11even so, some people from Asher and Manasseh and Zebulon were humble enough to come toJerusalem,12while in Judah the hand of God was also at work inspiring a unanimous desire to obey the order ofthe king and the officials in accordance with the word of Yahweh.13A huge crowd assembled in Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of Unleavened Bread in the secondmonth. An immense crowd14set to work removing the altars then in Jerusalem; they also removed al the incense altars and threwthem into the Kidron Val ey.15They then slaughtered the Passover victims on the fourteenth day of the second month. Ashamed ofthemselves, the priests and Levites had in the meanwhile sanctified themselves and brought burnt offerings tothe Temple of Yahweh,16so they now stood in their positions prescribed in the Law of Moses man of God, the priestssprinkling the blood handed to them by the Levites.17Since many people in the congregation had not sanctified themselves, the Levites took care of theslaughter of the Passover victims to consecrate them to Yahweh for al who were not clean.18For a great many people, especial y from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulon, had notpurified themselves, since they did not eat the Passover as prescribed. But Hezekiah prayed for them as fol ows,'May Yahweh in his goodness pardon19everyone whose heart is set on seeking God, Yahweh, God of his ancestors, even if he has not beenpurified as holy things demand.'20Yahweh listened to Hezekiah and left the people unharmed.21Amid great rejoicing, the Israelites present in Jerusalem celebrated the feast of Unleavened Breadfor seven days, while day after day the Levites and the priests praised Yahweh with al their might.22Hezekiah then encouraged al the Levites who had such understanding of Yahweh. Having finishedthe seven-day festival, during which they sacrificed communion sacrifices and praised Yahweh, God of theirancestors,23the whole congregation decided to celebrate for a further seven days. So they joyful y celebrated foranother seven days,24Hezekiah king of Judah contributing a thousand bul s and seven thousand sheep for thecongregation, and the officials another thousand bul s and ten thousand sheep. And a large number of priestssanctified themselves.25The whole congregation of Judah, the priests, the Levites, the whole congregation coming fromIsrael and the foreigners coming from the territory of Israel as wel as those resident in Judah, rejoiced.26There was great rejoicing in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon son of David, king of Israel,nothing comparable had ever occurred in Jerusalem.27The levitical priests then stood up and blessed the people and their voice was heard, and their prayerreached his holy dwelling in heaven.