2 Kings 23:21-24:7

English Standard Version

Josiah Restores the Passover

²¹ And the king commanded all the people, ^(A)“Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, ^(B)as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” ^22 (C)For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. ²³ But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem.

²⁴ Moreover, Josiah put away ^(D)the mediums and the necromancers and ^(E)the household gods and ^(F)the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish ^(G)the words of the law that were written in the book ^(H)that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. ^25 (I)Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.

²⁶ Still the Lord did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, ^(J)because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. ²⁷ And the Lord said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight, ^(K)as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, ^(L)and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.”

Josiah's Death 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 (M)In his days ^(N)Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. King Josiah went to meet him, and Pharaoh Neco killed him at ^(O)Megiddo, as soon as he saw him. ^30 (P)And his servants carried him dead in a chariot from ^(Q)Megiddo and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. ^(R)And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's place.

Jehoahaz's Reign and Captivity

^31 (S)Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was ^(T)Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ³² And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(U)according to all that his fathers had done. ³³ And ^(V)Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at ^(W)Riblah in the land of ^(X)Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents^[a] of silver and a talent of gold. ³⁴ And ^(Y)Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and ^(Z)changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, ^(AA)and he came to Egypt and died there. ³⁵ And Jehoiakim ^(AB)gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco.

Jehoiakim Reigns in Judah

^36 (AC)Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. ³⁷ And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(AD)according to all that his fathers had done.

24 ^(AE)In his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. ² And the Lord sent against him bands of the ^(AF)Chaldeans and ^(AG)bands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, ^(AH)according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servants the prophets. ³ Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the Lord, to remove them out of his sight, ^(AI)for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, ⁴ and also ^(AJ)for the innocent blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord would not pardon. ^5 (AK)Now the rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ⁶ So Jehoiakim ^(AL)slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. ^7 (AM)And the king of Egypt did not come again out of his land, ^(AN)for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt ^(AO)from the Brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates.