2 Chronicles 34-36

Complete Jewish Bible

34 Yoshiyahu was eight years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for thirty-one years in Yerushalayim. ² He did what was right from Adonai’s perspective, living entirely in the manner of David his ancestor and turning away neither to the right nor to the left.

³ For in the eighth year of his reign, when he was still young, he began seeking after the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year, he began cleansing Y’hudah and Yerushalayim from the high places, the sacred poles, and the carved and cast metal images. ⁴ In his presence they broke down the altars of the ba‘alim, and he chopped down the pillars for sun-worship mounted above them. He smashed the sacred poles and the carved and cast metal images, grinding them to dust, which he threw on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. ⁵ He burned the bones of the priests on their altars, thus cleansing Y’hudah and Yerushalayim. ⁶ He did likewise in the cities of M’nasheh, Efrayim, Shim‘on and even as far as Naftali, in their surrounding ruins. ⁷ He broke down the altars, beat the sacred poles and carved images to powder and chopped down the pillars for sun-worship throughout all the land of Isra’el. Then he returned to Yerushalayim.

⁸ In the eighteenth year of his reign, after he had cleansed the land and the house, he sent Shafan the son of Atzalyahu, Ma‘aseiyah the governor of the city and Yo’ach the son of Yo’achaz the recorder to repair the house of Adonai his God. ⁹ They went to Hilkiyahu the cohen hagadol and handed over to him the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the L’vi’im who guarded the doors had collected from M’nasheh, Efrayim, the rest of Isra’el and all Y’hudah and Binyamin. Then they returned to Yerushalayim. ¹⁰ They gave it to the supervisors of the work being done in the house of Adonai; and those doing the work in the house of Adonai used it to repair and restore the house — ¹¹ that is, they gave it to the carpenters and construction-workers to purchase worked stone, timber for the crossbeams and roof beams for the houses which the kings of Y’hudah had destroyed. ¹² The men did the work faithfully. Their supervisors were Yachat and ‘Ovadyahu, L’vi’im from the descendants of M’rari, also Z’kharyah and Meshulam from the descendants of the K’hatim to give direction; and other L’vi’im, all of whom could accompany singing with musical instruments. ¹³ They supervised those carrying the loads and everyone doing any kind of work; and there were also L’vi’im who were secretaries, officials and gatekeepers.

¹⁴ While bringing out the money that had been brought into the house of Adonai, Hilkiyahu the cohen found the scroll of the Torah of Adonai given by Moshe. ¹⁵ Hilkiyahu said to Shafan the secretary, “I have found the scroll of the Torah in the house of Adonai.” Hilkiyahu gave the scroll to Shafan. ¹⁶ Shafan the secretary brought the scroll to the king.

Turning to the king, he gave him this report: “Your servants are doing everything you ordered them to do. ¹⁷ They have poured out the money found in the house of Adonai and handed it over to the supervisors and workers.” ¹⁸ Then Shafan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiyahu the cohen hagadol gave me a scroll.” Shafan read it aloud before the king. ¹⁹ After the king had heard what was written in the Torah, he tore his clothes. ²⁰ Then the king issued this order to Hilkiyahu, Achikam the son of Shafan, ‘Avdon the son of Mikhah, Shafan the secretary and ‘Asayah the king’s servant: ²¹ “Go, and consult Adonai for me and for the people left in Isra’el and Y’hudah in regard to what is written in this scroll which has been found. For Adonai must be furious at us, since our ancestors did not observe the word of Adonai and do everything written in this scroll.” ²² So Hilkiyahu and those the king had ordered went to Huldah the prophet, the wife of Shalum the son of Tok’hat, the son of Hasrat, keeper of the wardrobe — she lived in the Second Quarter of Yerushalayim — and spoke with her about this. ²³ She told them, “Adonai the God of Isra’el says to tell the man who sent you to me ²⁴ that Adonai says this: ‘I am going to bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants, all the curses written in the scroll they read to the king of Y’hudah; ²⁵ because they have abandoned me and offered to other gods, in order to provoke me with everything they do. Therefore my anger is poured out on this place and will not be quenched.’

²⁶ “But you are to tell the king of Y’hudah, who sent you to consult Adonai, that Adonai the God of Isra’el also says this: ‘In regard to the words you have heard, ²⁷ because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants — you humbled yourself before me, tore your clothes and cried before me — I have also heard you,’ says Adonai. ²⁸ ‘Here, I will gather you to your ancestors; you will go to your grave in peace; and your eyes will not see all the calamity I am going to bring on this place and its inhabitants.’” So they brought back word to the king.

²⁹ Then the king summoned and assembled all the leaders of Y’hudah and Yerushalayim. ³⁰ The king went up to the house of Adonai with all the men of Y’hudah, those living in Yerushalayim, the cohanim, the L’vi’im and all the people, both great and small; and he read in their hearing everything written in the scroll of the covenant that had been found in the house of Adonai. ³¹ The king stood in his place and made a covenant in the presence of Adonai to live following Adonai, observing his mitzvot, instructions and laws wholeheartedly and with all his being, so as to perform the words of the covenant written in this scroll. ³² Then, after he had all the people in Yerushalayim and Binyamin stand in affirmation of it, the inhabitants of Yerushalayim acted in accordance with the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors.

³³ Yoshiyahu removed all the abominable idols from all the territories belonging to the people of Isra’el, and he made everyone in Isra’el serve Adonai their God. Throughout his lifetime, they did not stop following Adonai, the God of their ancestors.

35 Yoshiyahu kept Pesach to Adonai in Yerushalayim. They slaughtered the Pesach lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month. ² He assigned the cohanim to their posts and encouraged them to perform the service of the house of Adonai. ³ To the L’vi’im who were teaching all Isra’el and were holy for Adonai he said, “Put the holy ark in the house which Shlomo the son of David, king of Isra’el, built; after this, you will not have to carry it again. Now serve Adonai your God and his people Isra’el. ⁴ Organize yourselves by clans and duty divisions according to the arrangement written down by David king of Isra’el and Shlomo his son. ⁵ Stand in the Holy Place according to the divisions of the clans of your kinsmen the ordinary people, with part of a clan of L’vi’im serving each clan [of Isra’el]. ⁶ Then slaughter the Pesach lamb, consecrate yourselves, prepare what your kinsmen need, and act according to the word of Adonai given through Moshe.”

⁷ Yoshiyahu gave the ordinary people, to all who were present, 30,000 lambs and kids from the flock, all of them for Pesach offerings, and 3,000 bulls. These were from the king’s personal property. ⁸ Also his leading men voluntarily gave to the people and to the cohanim and L’vi’im. Hilkiyah, Z’kharyahu and Yechi’el, the rulers of the house of God, gave the cohanim 2,600 [lambs and kids] and 300 oxen for Pesach offerings. ⁹ Konanyah, his brothers Sh’ma‘yah and N’tan’el, and Hashavyah, Ye‘i’el and Yozavad, the head L’vi’im, gave the L’vi’im 5,000 [lambs and kids] and 500 oxen for Pesach offerings.

¹⁰ So the service was prepared; the cohanim stood at their posts; and the L’vi’im worked in their divisions, in keeping with the king’s order. ¹¹ They slaughtered the Pesach lamb; the cohanim splashed [the blood, which they received from the L’vi’im], and the L’vi’im skinned and butchered them. ¹² They removed the portions to be burned, in order to give them to the divisions of the clans of the ordinary people to present to Adonai, as written in the scroll of Moshe. They did the same with the oxen. ¹³ They roasted the Pesach lamb over fire, according to the rule; while they boiled the holy offerings in pots, kettles and pans and carried them quickly to all the ordinary people. ¹⁴ Afterwards, they prepared food for themselves and for the cohanim; because the cohanim, the descendants of Aharon, were busy till nightfall offering the fat and the portions to be burned up; this is why the L’vi’im prepared food both for themselves and for the cohanim the descendants of Aharon.

¹⁵ The singers the sons of Asaf were at their posts, as ordered by David — Asaf, Heman and Y’dutun the king’s seer. The gatekeepers were at every gate, and they did not need to leave their posts, because their brothers the L’vi’im prepared [food] for them.

¹⁶ Thus all the service of Adonai was prepared the same day for observing Pesach and offering burnt offerings on the altar of Adonai, in accordance with the order of King Yoshiyahu. ¹⁷ The people of Isra’el who were present observed the Pesach at that time and the festival of Matzot for seven days. ¹⁸ No Pesach like that had been kept in Isra’el since the days of Sh’mu’el the prophet, and none of the kings of Isra’el observe a Pesach such as Yoshiyahu observed, with the cohanim, L’vi’im, all Y’hudah, those of Isra’el who were present, and the inhabitants of Yerushalayim. ¹⁹ This Pesach was observed in the eighteenth year of Yoshiyahu.

²⁰ After all this, and after Yoshiyahu had restored the house, N’kho king of Egypt went up to attack Kark’mish by the Euphrates River. King Yoshiyahu went out to oppose him; ²¹ but N’kho sent envoys to him with this message: “Do I have a conflict with you, king of Y’hudah? No, I am not coming today to attack you, but to attack the dynasty with whom I am at war. God has ordered to speed me along; so don’t meddle with God, who is with me; so that he won’t destroy you.” ²² Nevertheless, Yoshiyahu was determined to go after him. He disguised himself in order to fight against him and wouldn’t listen to what N’kho said, which was from the mouth of God. Then he went to fight in the Megiddo Valley. ²³ There archers shot King Yoshiyahu. The king said to his servants, “Take me away, because I’m badly wounded.” ²⁴ So his servants took him out of the chariot, transferred him to his second chariot and brought him to Yerushalayim. But he died, and he was buried in the tombs of his ancestors. All Y’hudah and Yerushalayim mourned Yoshiyahu. ²⁵ Yirmeyahu composed a lament for Yoshiyahu; and all the men and women singers have sung of Yoshiyahu in their laments till this day. They made singing them a law in Isra’el, and they are recorded in the Laments.

²⁶ Other activities of Yoshiyahu and all his good deeds in keeping with what is written in the Torah of Adonai, ²⁷ also his accomplishments from beginning to end, are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra’el and Y’hudah.

36 Then the people of the land took Y’ho’achaz the son of Yoshiyahu and made him king in his father’s place, in Yerushalayim.

² Y’ho’achaz was twenty-three years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for three months in Yerushalayim. ³ But the king of Egypt deposed him in Yerushalayim and imposed a penalty on the land of three-and-a-third tons of silver and sixty-six pounds of gold. ⁴ Then the king of Egypt made Elyakim his brother king over Y’hudah and Yerushalayim, changing his name to Y’hoyakim; N’kho took Yo’achaz his brother and carried him off to Egypt.

⁵ Y’hoyakim was twenty-five years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for eleven years in Yerushalayim. He did what was evil from the perspective of Adonai his God. ⁶ N’vukhadnetzar king of Bavel attacked him and bound him in chains to carry him off to Bavel. ⁷ N’vukhadnetzar also carried the articles in the house of Adonai away to Bavel and put them in his temple in Bavel. ⁸ Other activities of Y’hoyakim, including all the abominations he did publicly and those discovered later, are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra’el and Y’hudah. Then Y’hoyakhin his son took his place as king.

⁹ Y’hoyakhin was eight years old when he began his reign, and he ruled in Yerushalayim for three months and ten days. He did what was evil from Adonai’s perspective. ¹⁰ In the spring, King N’vukhadnetzar sent and had him brought to Bavel together with the valuable articles from the house of Adonai, and made Tzedekyah his brother king over Y’hudah and Yerushalayim.

¹¹ Tzedekyah was twenty-one years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for eleven years in Yerushalayim. ¹² He did what was evil from the perspective of Adonai his God. He did not humble himself before Yirmeyahu the prophet speaking on behalf of Adonai.

¹³ He also rebelled against King N’vukhadnetzar, who had made him swear loyalty to him by God; instead, he became stiffnecked and hardhearted, refusing to turn to Adonai the God of Isra’el. ¹⁴ In addition, the chief cohanim and the people grew increasingly unfaithful, following all the abominable practices of the other nations; and they polluted the house of Adonai, which he had consecrated in Yerushalayim. ¹⁵ Time after time, and frequently, Adonai, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers; because he had compassion on his people and on the place where he lived. ¹⁶ But they ridiculed God’s messengers, treating his words with contempt and scoffing at his prophets, until the anger of Adonai rose up against his people to the extent that there was no longer any remedy.

¹⁷ Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Kasdim, who put their young men to the sword in the house of their sanctuary. They had no compassion on either young men or young women, old men or gray-haired; God handed all of them over to him. ¹⁸ All the articles in the house of God, great and small; the supplies in the house of Adonai; and the supplies of the king and his leading men — all these he brought to Bavel. ¹⁹ Then they burned down the house of God, broke down the wall of Yerushalayim, put to flames all its palaces and destroyed everything in it of worth. ²⁰ Those who had escaped the sword he carried off to Bavel, and they became slaves to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia. ²¹ Thus was fulfilled the word of Adonai spoken by Yirmeyahu, “until the land has been paid her Shabbats” — for as long as it lay desolate, it kept Shabbat, until seventy years had passed.

²² Now in the first year of Koresh king of Persia, so that the word of Adonai spoken by Yirmeyahu might be fulfilled, Adonai activated the spirit of Koresh king of Persia to proclaim throughout his entire kingdom, and put in writing as well: ²³ “Here is what Koresh king of Persia says: Adonai, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms on earth, and he has charged me to build him a house in Yerushalayim, in Y’hudah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, may Adonai his God be with him! He may go up . . . .”