Josiah Reigns in Judah
22 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he
reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the
daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. 2 And he did what was right in the sight of the
Lord, and walked in all the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to
the right hand or to the left.
Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law
3 Now it came to pass, in the eighteenth year of King
Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the scribe, the son of Azaliah, the son of
Meshullam, to the house of the Lord, saying: 4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high
priest, that he may count the money which has been brought into the house of
the Lord, which the doorkeepers have gathered from the people. 5 And let them
deliver it into the hand of those doing the work, who are the overseers in the
house of the Lord; let them give it to those who are in the house of the Lord
doing the work, to repair the damages of the house— 6 to carpenters and
builders and masons—and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house. 7
However there need be no accounting made with them of the money delivered into
their hand, because they deal faithfully.”
8 Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe,
“I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave
the book to Shaphan, and he read it. 9 So Shaphan the scribe went to the king,
bringing the king word, saying, “Your servants have gathered the money that was
found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of those who do the
work, who oversee the house of the Lord.” 10 Then Shaphan the scribe showed the
king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it
before the king.
11 Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the
Book of the Law, that he tore his clothes. 12 Then the king commanded Hilkiah
the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor[a] the son of Michaiah, Shaphan
the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying, 13 “Go, inquire of the
Lord for me, for the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of this
book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is aroused
against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do
according to all that is written concerning us.”
14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and
Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah,
the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. (She dwelt in Jerusalem in the
Second Quarter.) And they spoke with her. 15 Then she said to them, “Thus says
the Lord God of Israel, ‘Tell the man who sent you to Me, 16 “Thus says the
Lord: ‘Behold, I will bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants—all
the words of the book which the king of Judah has read— 17 because they have
forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to
anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore My wrath shall be aroused
against this place and shall not be quenched.’”’ 18 But as for the king of
Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, in this manner you shall speak to
him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Concerning the words which you have
heard— 19 because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the
Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its
inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and you tore your
clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you,” says the Lord. 20 “Surely,
therefore, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your
grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring
on this place.”’” So they brought back word to the king.
Josiah Restores True Worship
23 Now the king sent them to gather all the elders of Judah
and Jerusalem to him. 2 The king went up to the house of the Lord with all the
men of Judah, and with him all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—the priests and the
prophets and all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing
all the words of the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the house of
the Lord.
3 Then the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before
the Lord, to follow the Lord and to keep His commandments and His testimonies
and His statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of
this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand
for the covenant. 4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests
of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the
Lord all the articles that were made for Baal, for Asherah,[b] and for all the
host of heaven;[c] and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of
Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 Then he removed the idolatrous
priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high places
in the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem, and those who
burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to
all the host of heaven. 6 And he brought out the wooden image[d] from the house
of the Lord, to the Brook Kidron outside Jerusalem, burned it at the Brook
Kidron and ground it to ashes, and threw its ashes on the graves of the common
people. 7 Then he tore down the ritual booths of the perverted persons[e] that
were in the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the wooden
image. 8 And he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled
the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba;
also he broke down the high places at the gates which were at the entrance of
the Gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were to the left of the city
gate. 9 Nevertheless the priests of the high places did not come up to the
altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their
brethren.
10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the
Son[f] of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through
the fire to Molech. 11 Then he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had
dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the Lord, by the chamber
of Nathan-Melech, the officer who was in the court; and he burned the chariots
of the sun with fire. 12 The altars that were on the roof, the upper chamber of
Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made
in the two courts of the house of the Lord, the king broke down and pulverized
there, and threw their dust into the Brook Kidron. 13 Then the king defiled the
high places that were east of Jerusalem, which were on the south of the Mount
of Corruption, which Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the
abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and
for Milcom the abomination of the people of Ammon. 14 And he broke in pieces
the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images, and filled their places with
the bones of men.
15 Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place
which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, both that altar
and the high place he broke down; and he burned the high place and crushed it
to powder, and burned the wooden image. 16 As Josiah turned, he saw the tombs
that were there on the mountain. And he sent and took the bones out of the
tombs and burned them on the altar, and defiled it according to the word of the
Lord which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words. 17 Then he
said, “What gravestone is this that I see?”
So the men of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man
of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done
against the altar of Bethel.”
18 And he said, “Let him alone; let no one move his bones.”
So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came from
Samaria.
19 Now Josiah also took away all the shrines of the high
places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made
to provoke the Lord[g] to anger; and he did to them according to all the deeds
he had done in Bethel. 20 He executed all the priests of the high places who
were there, on the altars, and burned men’s bones on them; and he returned to
Jerusalem.
21 Then the king commanded all the people, saying, “Keep the
Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.”
22 Such a Passover surely had never been held since the days of the judges who
judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of
Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was held
before the Lord in Jerusalem. 24 Moreover Josiah put away those who consulted
mediums and spiritists, the household gods and idols, all the abominations that
were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might perform the
words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found
in the house of the Lord. 25 Now before him there was no king like him, who
turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his
might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him.
Impending Judgment on Judah
26 Nevertheless the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of
His great wrath, with which His anger was aroused against Judah, because of all
the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. 27 And the Lord said, “I
will also remove Judah from My sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast
off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, ‘My
name shall be there.’”[h]
Josiah Dies in Battle
28 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did,
are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 29 In
his days Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went to the aid of the king of Assyria, to
the River Euphrates; and King Josiah went against him. And Pharaoh Necho killed
him at Megiddo when he confronted him. 30 Then his servants moved his body in a
chariot from Megiddo, brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb.
And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, anointed him, and
made him king in his father’s place.
The Reign and Captivity of Jehoahaz
31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king,
and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the
daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord,
according to all that his fathers had done. 33 Now Pharaoh Necho put him in
prison at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem;
and he imposed on the land a tribute of one hundred talents of silver and a
talent of gold. 34 Then Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in
place of his father Josiah, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Pharaoh took
Jehoahaz and went to Egypt, and he[i] died there.
Jehoiakim Reigns in Judah
35 So Jehoiakim gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh; but he
taxed the land to give money according to the command of Pharaoh; he exacted
the silver and gold from the people of the land, from every one according to
his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Necho. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years
old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s
name was Zebudah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. 37 And he did evil in the
sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.
Josiah Reigns in Judah
34 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he
reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. 2 And he did what was right in the sight
of the Lord, and walked in the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside
to the right hand or to the left.
3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still
young, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he
began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the wooden images, the
carved images, and the molded images. 4 They broke down the altars of the Baals
in his presence, and the incense altars which were above them he cut down; and
the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images he broke in pieces,
and made dust of them and scattered it on the graves of those who had
sacrificed to them. 5 He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars,
and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. 6 And so he did in the cities of Manasseh,
Ephraim, and Simeon, as far as Naphtali and all around, with axes.[a] 7 When he
had broken down the altars and the wooden images, had beaten the carved images
into powder, and cut down all the incense altars throughout all the land of
Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.
Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law
8 In the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged
the land and the temple,[b] he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the
governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the
house of the Lord his God. 9 When they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they
delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites
who kept the doors had gathered from the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, from all
the remnant of Israel, from all Judah and Benjamin, and which they had brought
back to Jerusalem. 10 Then they put it in the hand of the foremen who had the
oversight of the house of the Lord; and they gave it to the workmen who worked
in the house of the Lord, to repair and restore the house. 11 They gave it to
the craftsmen and builders to buy hewn stone and timber for beams, and to floor
the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed. 12 And the men did the work
faithfully. Their overseers were Jahath and Obadiah the Levites, of the sons of
Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to
supervise. Others of the Levites, all of whom were skillful with instruments of
music, 13 were over the burden bearers and were overseers of all who did work
in any kind of service. And some of the Levites were scribes, officers, and
gatekeepers.
14 Now when they brought out the money that was brought into
the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord
given by Moses. 15 Then Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, “I
have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the
book to Shaphan. 16 So Shaphan carried the book to the king, bringing the king
word, saying, “All that was committed to your servants they are doing. 17 And
they have gathered the money that was found in the house of the Lord, and have
delivered it into the hand of the overseers and the workmen.” 18 Then Shaphan
the scribe told the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And
Shaphan read it before the king.
19 Thus it happened, when the king heard the words of the
Law, that he tore his clothes. 20 Then the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the
son of Shaphan, Abdon[c] the son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a
servant of the king, saying, 21 “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for those
who are left in Israel and Judah, concerning the words of the book that is
found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out on us, because our
fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do according to all that is
written in this book.”
22 So Hilkiah and those the king had appointed went to
Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath,[d] the son of
Hasrah,[e] keeper of the wardrobe. (She dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second
Quarter.) And they spoke to her to that effect.
23 Then she answered them, “Thus says the Lord God of
Israel, ‘Tell the man who sent you to Me, 24 “Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I
will bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants, all the curses that
are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah, 25
because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might
provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore My wrath will
be poured out on this place, and not be quenched.’”’ 26 But as for the king of
Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, in this manner you shall speak to
him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Concerning the words which you have
heard— 27 because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God
when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and
you humbled yourself before Me, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I
also have heard you,” says the Lord. 28 “Surely I will gather you to your
fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall
not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place and its
inhabitants.”’” So they brought back word to the king.
Josiah Restores True Worship
29 Then the king sent and gathered all the elders of Judah
and Jerusalem. 30 The king went up to the house of the Lord, with all the men
of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem—the priests and the Levites, and all the
people, great and small. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book
of the Covenant which had been found in the house of the Lord. 31 Then the king
stood in his place and made a covenant before the Lord, to follow the Lord, and
to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his
heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written
in this book. 32 And he made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin
take a stand. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of
God, the God of their fathers. 33 Thus Josiah removed all the abominations from
all the country that belonged to the children of Israel, and made all who were
present in Israel diligently serve the Lord their God. All his days they did
not depart from following the Lord God of their fathers.
Josiah Keeps the Passover
35 Now Josiah kept a Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem, and
they slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of the first month. 2
And he set the priests in their duties and encouraged them for the service of
the house of the Lord. 3 Then he said to the Levites who taught all Israel, who
were holy to the Lord: “Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of
David, king of Israel, built. It shall no longer be a burden on your shoulders.
Now serve the Lord your God and His people Israel. 4 Prepare yourselves
according to your fathers’ houses, according to your divisions, following the
written instruction of David king of Israel and the written instruction of
Solomon his son. 5 And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of
the fathers’ houses of your brethren the lay people, and according to the
division of the father’s house of the Levites. 6 So slaughter the Passover
offerings, consecrate yourselves, and prepare them for your brethren, that they
may do according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.”
7 Then Josiah gave the lay people lambs and young goats from
the flock, all for Passover offerings for all who were present, to the number
of thirty thousand, as well as three thousand cattle; these were from the
king’s possessions. 8 And his leaders gave willingly to the people, to the
priests, and to the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, rulers of the
house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings two thousand six
hundred from the flock, and three hundred cattle. 9 Also Conaniah, his brothers
Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the
Levites, gave to the Levites for Passover offerings five thousand from the
flock and five hundred cattle.
10 So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in
their places, and the Levites in their divisions, according to the king’s
command. 11 And they slaughtered the Passover offerings; and the priests
sprinkled the blood with their hands, while the Levites skinned the animals. 12
Then they removed the burnt offerings that they might give them to the
divisions of the fathers’ houses of the lay people, to offer to the Lord, as it
is written in the Book of Moses. And so they did with the cattle. 13 Also they
roasted the Passover offerings with fire according to the ordinance; but the
other holy offerings they boiled in pots, in caldrons, and in pans, and divided
them quickly among all the lay people. 14 Then afterward they prepared portions
for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron,
were busy in offering burnt offerings and fat until night; therefore the
Levites prepared portions for themselves and for the priests, the sons of
Aaron. 15 And the singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their places, according
to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer. Also the
gatekeepers were at each gate; they did not have to leave their position,
because their brethren the Levites prepared portions for them.
16 So all the service of the Lord was prepared the same day,
to keep the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord,
according to the command of King Josiah. 17 And the children of Israel who were
present kept the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread for
seven days. 18 There had been no Passover kept in Israel like that since the
days of Samuel the prophet; and none of the kings of Israel had kept such a
Passover as Josiah kept, with the priests and the Levites, all Judah and Israel
who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 19 In the eighteenth year
of the reign of Josiah this Passover was kept.
Josiah Dies in Battle
20 After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple,
Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by the Euphrates; and
Josiah went out against him. 21 But he sent messengers to him, saying, “What
have I to do with you, king of Judah? I have not come against you this day, but
against the house with which I have war; for God commanded me to make haste.
Refrain from meddling with God, who is with me, lest He destroy you.” 22
Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself so
that he might fight with him, and did not heed the words of Necho from the
mouth of God. So he came to fight in the Valley of Megiddo.
23 And the archers shot King Josiah; and the king said to
his servants, “Take me away, for I am severely wounded.” 24 His servants
therefore took him out of that chariot and put him in the second chariot that
he had, and they brought him to Jerusalem. So he died, and was buried in one of
the tombs of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.
25 Jeremiah also lamented for Josiah. And to this day all
the singing men and the singing women speak of Josiah in their lamentations.
They made it a custom in Israel; and indeed they are written in the Laments.
26 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his goodness,
according to what was written in the Law of the Lord, 27 and his deeds from
first to last, indeed they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and
Judah.
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