Josiah Succeeds Amon in Judah

34 ^(A)Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. ^2 (B)He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of his father David and did not turn aside to the right or the left. ³ For in the eighth year of his reign while he was still a youth, he began to ^(C)seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began ^(D)to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the ^[a]Asherim, the carved images, and the cast metal images. ⁴ They tore down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and he chopped down ^(E)the incense altars that were high above them; also he broke in pieces the Asherim, the carved images, and the cast metal images, and ^(F)ground them to powder, and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. ⁵ Then ^(G)he burned the bones of the priests on their altars and purged Judah and Jerusalem. ^6 (H)In the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, in their surrounding spaces, ⁷ he also tore down the altars and ^(I)crushed the ^[b]Asherim and the carved images into powder, and chopped down all the incense altars throughout the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Josiah Repairs the Temple

^8 (J)Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, Maaseiah ^(K)an official of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the secretary, to repair the house of the Lord his God. ⁹ They came to ^(L)Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the ^[c]doorkeepers, had collected ^[d]from ^(M)Manasseh and Ephraim, and from all the remnant of Israel, from all Judah and Benjamin and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ Then they handed it over to the workmen who had the oversight of the house of the Lord, and the workmen who were working in the house of the Lord ^[e]used it to restore and repair the house. ¹¹ They in turn gave it to the carpenters and the builders to buy quarried stone and timber for couplings, and to make beams for the houses ^(N)which the kings of Judah had let go to ruin. ^12 (O)The men did the work faithfully with foremen over them to supervise: Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites of the sons of Merari, Zechariah and Meshullam of the sons of the Kohathites, and ^(P)the Levites, all who were skillful with musical instruments. ¹³ They were also in charge of ^(Q)the burden bearers, and supervised all the workmen from job to job; and some of the Levites were scribes, and officials, and gatekeepers.

Hilkiah Discovers the Lost Book of the Law

¹⁴ When they were bringing out the money which had been brought into the house of the Lord, ^(R)Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord given by Moses. ¹⁵ Hilkiah responded 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 Then Shaphan brought the book to the king and ^[f]reported further word to the king, saying, “Everything that was ^[g]entrusted to your servants, they are doing. ¹⁷ They have also emptied out the money which was found in the house of the Lord, and have handed it over to the supervisors and the workmen.” ¹⁸ Moreover, Shaphan the scribe informed the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest gave me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.

¹⁹ When the king heard ^(S)the words of the Law, ^(T)he tore his clothes. ²⁰ Then the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, ^[h]Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, 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 which has been found; for ^(U)the wrath of the Lord which has poured out on us is great, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to act in accordance with everything that is written in this book.”

Huldah, the Prophetess, Speaks

²² So Hilkiah and those ^[i]whom the king had told went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of ^[j]Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, the keeper of the wardrobe (she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter); and they spoke to her regarding this. ²³ Then she said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Tell the man who sent you to Me, ²⁴ this is what the Lord says: “Behold, ^(V)I am bringing ^[k]evil on this place and on its inhabitants, all ^(W)the curses written in the book which they have read in the presence of the king of Judah. ^25 (X)Since they have abandoned Me and have burned incense to other gods, so that they may provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands, My wrath will be poured out on this place and it will not be quenched.”’ ²⁶ But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord, this is what you shall say to him: ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: In regard to the words which you have heard, ²⁷ “^(Y)Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and its inhabitants, and because you humbled yourself before Me, tore your clothes, and wept before Me, I have indeed heard you,” declares the Lord. ²⁸ “Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace, so your eyes will not see all the evil which I am bringing on this place and its inhabitants.”’” And they brought back word to the king.

^29 (Z)Then the king sent word and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. ³⁰ The king went up to the house of the Lord ^[l]with ^(AA)all the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests, the Levites, and all the people, from the greatest to the least; and he read in their ^[m]presence all the words of the Book of the Covenant which was found in the house of the Lord.

Josiah’s Good Reign

³¹ Then the king ^(AB)stood ^[n]in his place and ^(AC)made a covenant before the Lord to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments, His testimonies, and His statutes with all his heart and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that are written in this book. ³² Furthermore, he made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin stand with him. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem acted in accordance with the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. ³³ Josiah ^(AD)removed all the abominations from all the lands belonging to the sons of Israel, and made all who were present in Israel serve the Lord their God. Throughout his ^[o]lifetime they did not turn from following the Lord God of their fathers.

Satan Bound

20 Then I saw ^(A)an angel coming down from heaven, holding the ^(B)key of the abyss and a great chain ^[a]in his hand. ² And he took hold of the ^(C)dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and ^(D)bound him for a thousand years; ³ and he threw him into the ^(E)abyss and shut it and ^(F)sealed it over him, so that he would ^(G)not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.

⁴ Then I saw ^(H)thrones, and ^(I)they sat on them, and ^(J)judgment was given to them. And I saw ^(K)the souls of those who had been beheaded because of ^[b]their ^(L)testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not ^(M)worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the ^(N)mark on their foreheads and on their hands; and they ^(O)came to life and ^(P)reigned with Christ for a thousand years. ⁵ The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. ^(Q)This is the first resurrection. ^6 (R)Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the ^(S)second death has no power, but they will be ^(T)priests of God and of Christ, and will ^(U)reign with Him for a thousand years.

Satan Freed and Doomed

⁷ When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be ^(V)released from his prison, ⁸ and will come out to ^(W)deceive the nations which are at the ^(X)four corners of the earth, ^(Y)Gog and Magog, to ^(Z)gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the ^(AA)sand of the ^[c]seashore. ⁹ And they ^(AB)came up on the ^[d]broad plain of the earth and surrounded the ^(AC)camp of the ^[e]saints and the ^(AD)beloved city, and ^(AE)fire came down from heaven and devoured them. ¹⁰ And ^(AF)the devil who ^(AG)deceived them was thrown into the ^(AH)lake of fire and ^[f]brimstone, where the ^(AI)beast and the ^(AJ)false prophet are also; and they will be ^(AK)tormented day and night forever and ever.

Judgment at the Throne of God

¹¹ Then I saw a great white ^(AL)throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose ^[g]presence ^(AM)earth and heaven fled, and ^(AN)no place was found for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, the ^(AO)great and the small, standing before the throne, and ^[h](AP)books were opened; and another ^[i]book was opened, which is ^(AQ)the book of life; and the dead ^(AR)were judged from the things which were written in the ^[j]books, ^(AS)according to their deeds. ¹³ And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and ^(AT)Death and Hades ^(AU)gave up the dead who were in them; and they were judged, each one of them ^(AV)according to their deeds. ¹⁴ Then ^(AW)Death and Hades were thrown into ^(AX)the lake of fire. This is the ^(AY)second death, the lake of fire. ¹⁵ And if ^[k]anyone’s name was not found written in ^(AZ)the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Priests to Be Disciplined

2 “And now, this commandment is for you, the priests. ² If you do ^(A)not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name,” says the Lord of armies, “then I will send the ^(B)curse upon you and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have ^(C)cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart. ³ Behold, I am going to ^(D)rebuke your ^[a]descendants, and I will ^(E)spread ^[b]dung on your faces, the ^[c]dung of your ^(F)feasts; and you will be taken away ^[d]with it. ⁴ Then you will know that I have sent this commandment to you, ^[e]so that My ^(G)covenant may ^[f]continue with Levi,” says the Lord of armies. ⁵ “My covenant with him was one of life and ^(H)peace, and I gave them to him as an object of ^[g]reverence; so he ^[h](I)revered Me and was in awe of My name. ^6 [i](J)True instruction was in his mouth and injustice was not found on his lips; he walked ^(K)with Me in peace and justice, and he ^(L)turned many back from wrongdoing. ⁷ For the lips of a priest should maintain ^(M)knowledge, and people should ^(N)seek ^[j]instruction from his mouth; for he is the ^(O)messenger of the Lord of armies. ⁸ But as for you, you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to ^(P)stumble ^[k]by the instruction; you have ^(Q)ruined the covenant of Levi,” says the Lord of armies. ⁹ “So ^(R)I also have made you despised and of ^(S)low reputation ^[l]in the view of all the people, since you are not keeping My ways but are showing ^(T)partiality in the ^[m]instruction.”

Sin in the Family

¹⁰ Do we not all have ^(U)one Father? ^(V)Is it not one God who has created us? Why do we deal ^(W)treacherously, each against his brother so as to profane the ^(X)covenant of our fathers? ¹¹ Judah has dealt ^(Y)treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has ^(Z)profaned the sanctuary of the Lord ^[n]which He loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. ¹² As for the man who does this, may the ^(AA)Lord eliminate from the tents of Jacob everyone who is awake and answers, or who ^(AB)presents ^[o]an offering to the Lord of armies.

¹³ And this is ^[p]another thing you do: you cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping and sighing, because He ^(AC)no longer gives attention to the ^[q]offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. ¹⁴ Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because the Lord has been a witness between you and the ^(AD)wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt ^(AE)treacherously, though she is your marriage companion and your wife by covenant. ^15 [r]But not one has ^(AF)done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And ^[s]why the one? He was seeking a ^(AG)godly offspring. Be careful then about your spirit, and see that none of you deals ^(AH)treacherously against the wife of your youth. ¹⁶ “For ^[t]I hate ^[u](AI)divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “and ^[v]him who covers his garment with ^(AJ)violence,” says the Lord of armies. “So be careful about your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.”

¹⁷ You have ^(AK)wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “^(AL)Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He ^(AM)delights in them,” or, “^(AN)Where is the God of ^(AO)justice?”

The Crown of Thorns

19 So Pilate then took Jesus and ^[a](A)had Him flogged. ^2 (B)And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and placed it on His head, and put a purple ^[b]cloak on Him; ³ and they repeatedly came up to Him and said, “^(C)Hail, King of the Jews!” and ^(D)slapped Him in the face again and again. ⁴ And then Pilate ^(E)came out again and *said to them, “See, I am bringing Him out to you so that you will know that ^(F)I find no grounds at all for charges in ^[c]His case.” ⁵ Jesus then came out, ^(G)wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate *said to them, “Behold, the Man!” ⁶ So when the chief priests and the ^(H)officers saw Him, they shouted, saying, “Crucify, crucify!” Pilate *said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him; for ^(I)I find no grounds for charges in ^[d]His case!” ⁷ The Jews answered him, “^(J)We have a law, and by that law He ought to die, because He ^(K)made Himself out to be the Son of God!”

⁸ Therefore when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid; ⁹ and he ^(L)entered the ^[e]Praetorium again and *said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But ^(M)Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ So Pilate *said to Him, “Are you not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” ¹¹ Jesus answered him, “^(N)You would have no authority ^[f]over Me at all, if it had not been given to you from above; for this reason ^(O)the one who handed Me over to you has the greater sin.” ¹² As a result of this, Pilate ^[g]made efforts to release Him; but the Jews shouted, saying, “^(P)If you release this Man, you are not a friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king ^[h]opposes Caesar!”

¹³ Therefore when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and ^(Q)sat down on the judgment seat at a place called ^[i]The Pavement—but ^(R)in ^[j]Hebrew, Gabbatha. ¹⁴ Now it was ^(S)the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the ^[k](T)sixth hour. And he *said to the Jews, “Look, ^(U)your King!” ¹⁵ So they shouted, “^(V)Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!” Pilate *said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king except Caesar.”

The Crucifixion

¹⁶ So he then ^(W)handed Him over to them to be crucified.

^17 (X)They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, ^[l](Y)carrying His own cross, to the place called ^(Z)the Place of a Skull, which ^(AA)in ^[m]Hebrew is called, Golgotha. ¹⁸ There they crucified Him, and with Him ^(AB)two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between. ¹⁹ Now Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written: “^(AC)JESUS THE NAZARENE, ^(AD)THE KING OF THE JEWS.” ²⁰ Therefore many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written ^(AE)in ^[n]Hebrew, Latin, and in Greek. ²¹ So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘^(AF)The King of the Jews’; rather, write that He said, ‘I am ^(AG)King of the Jews.’” ²² Pilate answered, “^(AH)What I have written, I have written.”

²³ Then ^(AI)the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made ^(AJ)four parts: a part to each soldier, and the ^[o]tunic also; but the tunic was seamless, woven ^[p]in one piece. ²⁴ So they said to one another, “^(AK)Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be.” ^(AL)This happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: “They ^(AM)divided My garments among themselves, and they cast ^[q]lots for My clothing.” Therefore the soldiers did these things.

^25 (AN)Now beside the cross of Jesus stood ^(AO)His mother, His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and ^(AP)Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ So when Jesus saw His mother, and ^(AQ)the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He *said to His mother, “^(AR)Woman, behold, your son!” ²⁷ Then He *said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her into ^(AS)his own household.

²⁸ After this, Jesus, ^(AT)knowing that all things had already been accomplished, ^(AU)in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled, *said, “^(AV)I am thirsty.” ²⁹ A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so ^(AW)they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. ³⁰ Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “^(AX)It is finished!” And He bowed His head and ^(AY)gave up His spirit.

Care of the Body of Jesus

³¹ Now then, since it was ^(AZ)the day of preparation, to prevent ^(BA)the bodies from remaining on the cross on the Sabbath (^[r]for that Sabbath was a ^(BB)high day), the Jews requested of Pilate that their legs be broken, and the bodies be taken away. ³² So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man, and of the other who was ^(BC)crucified with Him; ³³ but after they came to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. ³⁴ Yet one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately ^(BD)blood and water came out. ³⁵ And he who has seen has ^(BE)testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe. ³⁶ For these things took place ^(BF)so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: “^(BG)Not a bone of Him shall be ^[s]broken.” ³⁷ And again another Scripture says, “^(BH)They will look at Him whom they pierced.”

³⁸ Now ^(BI)after these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a ^(BJ)secret one for ^(BK)fear of the ^[t]Jews, requested of Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His body. ^39 (BL)Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, ^(BM)bringing a ^[u]mixture of ^(BN)myrrh and aloes, about a ^[v](BO)hundred litras weight. ⁴⁰ So they took the body of Jesus and ^(BP)bound it in ^(BQ)linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. ⁴¹ Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden was a ^(BR)new tomb ^(BS)in which no one had yet been laid. ⁴² Therefore because of the Jewish day of ^(BT)preparation, since the tomb was ^(BU)nearby, they laid Jesus there.