Once again, we follow Good News Bible in joining these two verses.

So the things that had to do with the sacrifices to the Lord were accomplished that day …: The conjunction So introduces these two verses as a summary. Here the sacrifices (literally “the sacrifice”) refers to the Passover animals that were killed and to the sacrifices offered on the Temple altar.

The passover was kept: See 1 Esdras 1.1. For languages that cannot use a passive verb here, this clause may be rendered “The people celebrated the Passover Festival.”

And the sacrifices were offered on the altar of the Lord: For the sacrifices, which is plural in Greek, see 1 Esdras 1.6. The altar of the Lord may be translated “the altar in front of the [Lord’s] Temple.” For languages that do not have passive verbs, this clause may be rendered “and the priests offered the sacrifices on the Lord’s altar.”

According to the command of King Josiah: See 2 Kgs 23.21.

Here are alternative models for combining verses 17 and 18, but translators should also study the models of Good News Bible and Contemporary English Version:

• So that day, everything that was supposed to be done regarding sacrifices to the Lord was [in fact] done. The people observed Passover, and the priests offered sacrifices on the Lord’s altar. It was just as King Josiah had commanded.

• So on that day, they did everything that they were supposed to do regarding the sacrifices to the Lord. The people celebrated the Passover Festival, and the priests offered sacrifices on the altar at the Lord’s Temple. It was just as….

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Esdras. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.