2 Chronicles 29-36

New American Bible (Revised Edition)

Chapter 29

Hezekiah’s Reforms. ^1 (A)Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah, daughter of Zechariah. ² He did what was right in the Lord’s sight, just as David his father had done. ³ In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the Lord’s house and repaired them.^{(B) 4} He summoned the priests and Levites, gathering them in the open space to the east, ⁵ and said to them: “Listen to me, you Levites! Sanctify yourselves now and sanctify the house of the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and clean out the filth from the sanctuary. ⁶ Our ancestors acted treacherously and did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, our God. They abandoned him, turned away their faces from the Lord’s dwelling, and turned their backs on him. ⁷ They also closed the doors of the vestibule, extinguished the lamps, and failed to burn incense and sacrifice burnt offerings in the sanctuary to the God of Israel.^{(C) 8 (D)}Therefore the anger of the Lord has come upon Judah and Jerusalem; he has made them an object of terror, horror, and hissing, as you see with your own eyes. ⁹ For our ancestors fell by the sword, and our sons, our daughters, and our wives have been taken captive because of this. ¹⁰ Now, I intend to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, that his burning anger may turn away from us. ¹¹ My sons, do not be negligent any longer, for it is you whom the Lord has chosen to stand before him, to minister to him, to be his ministers and to offer incense.”

¹² Then the Levites arose: Mahath, son of Amasai, and Joel, son of Azariah, of the Kohathites; of the descendants of Merari: Kish, son of Abdi, and Azariah, son of Jehallel; of the Gershonites: Joah, son of Zimmah, and Eden, son of Joah; ¹³ of the sons of Elizaphan: Shimri and Jeuel; of the sons of Asaph: Zechariah and Mattaniah; ¹⁴ of the sons of Heman: Jehuel and Shimei; of the sons of Jeduthun: Shemiah and Uzziel. ¹⁵ They gathered their kinfolk together and sanctified themselves; then they came as the king had ordered, in keeping with the words of the Lord, to cleanse the Lord’s house.

¹⁶ The priests entered the interior of the Lord’s house to cleanse it. Whatever they found in the Lord’s temple that was unclean they brought out to the court of the Lord’s house, where the Levites took it from them and carried it out to the Wadi Kidron. ¹⁷ They began the work of consecration on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they reached the vestibule of the Lord; they consecrated the Lord’s house over an eight-day period, and on the sixteenth day of the first month, they had finished.

¹⁸ Then they went inside to King Hezekiah and said: “We have cleansed the entire house of the Lord, the altar for burnt offerings with all its utensils, and the table for the showbread with all its utensils. ¹⁹ We have restored and consecrated all the articles which King Ahaz had thrown away during his reign because of his treachery; they are now before the Lord’s altar.”

The Rite of Expiation. ²⁰ Then King Hezekiah hastened to convoke the princes of the city and went up to the Lord’s house. ²¹ Seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven he-goats were presented as a purification offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. Hezekiah ordered the sons of Aaron, the priests, to offer them on the altar of the Lord. ²² They slaughtered the bulls, and the priests collected the blood and splashed it on the altar. Then they slaughtered the rams and splashed the blood on the altar; then they slaughtered the lambs and splashed the blood on the altar. ²³ Then the he-goats for the purification offering were led before the king and the assembly, who laid their hands upon them. ²⁴ The priests then slaughtered them and offered their blood on the altar to atone for the sin of all Israel. For the king had said, “The burnt offering and the purification offering are for all Israel.”

²⁵ He stationed the Levites in the Lord’s house with cymbals, harps, and lyres, according to the command of David, of Gad the king’s seer, and of Nathan the prophet; for this command was from the Lord through his prophets. ²⁶ The Levites were stationed with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. ²⁷ Then Hezekiah ordered the burnt offering to be sacrificed on the altar. At the very moment the burnt offering began, they also began the song of the Lord, to the accompaniment of the trumpets and the instruments of David, king of Israel. ²⁸ The entire assembly bowed down, and the song was sung and the trumpets sounded until the burnt offering had been completed. ²⁹ Once the burnt offering was completed, the king and all who were with him knelt and worshiped. ³⁰ King Hezekiah and the princes then told the Levites to sing the praises of the Lord in the words of David and of Asaph the seer. They sang praises till their joy was full, then fell down and worshiped.

³¹ Hezekiah then said: “You have dedicated yourselves to the Lord. Approach, and bring forward the sacrifices and thank offerings for the house of the Lord.” Then the assembly brought forward the sacrifices and thank offerings and all their voluntary burnt offerings. ³² The number of burnt offerings that the assembly brought forward was seventy oxen, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs: all of these as a burnt offering to the Lord. ³³ As consecrated gifts there were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep. ³⁴ Since there were too few priests to skin all the victims for the burnt offerings, their fellow Levites assisted them until the task was completed and the priests had sanctified themselves. The Levites, in fact, were more careful than the priests to sanctify themselves.^{(E) 35} The burnt offerings were indeed many, along with the fat of the communion offerings and the libations for the burnt offerings. Thus the service of the house of the Lord was re-established. ³⁶ Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had re-established for the people, and at how suddenly this had been done.

Chapter 30

Invitation to Passover. ¹ Hezekiah sent word to all Israel and Judah, and even wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, saying that they should come to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel.^{(F) 2 (G)}The king, his princes, and the entire assembly in Jerusalem had agreed to celebrate the Passover during the second month. ³ They could not celebrate it at the regular time because the priests had not sanctified themselves in sufficient numbers, and the people were not gathered at Jerusalem. ⁴ This seemed right to the king and the entire assembly, ⁵ and they issued a decree to be proclaimed throughout all Israel from Beer-sheba to Dan, that everyone should come to celebrate the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel, in Jerusalem; for not many had kept it in the prescribed manner. ⁶ By the king’s command, the couriers, with the letters written by the king and his princes, went through all Israel and Judah. They said: “Israelites, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may return to you, the remnant left from the hands of the Assyrian kings. ⁷ Do not be like your ancestors and your kin who acted treacherously toward the Lord, the God of their ancestors, so that he handed them over to desolation, as you yourselves now see.^{(H) 8} Do not be stiff-necked, as your ancestors were; stretch out your hands to the Lord and come to his sanctuary that he has consecrated forever, and serve the Lord, your God, that he may turn his burning anger from you. ⁹ If you return to the Lord, your kinfolk and your children will find mercy with their captors and return to this land. The Lord, your God, is gracious and merciful and he will not turn away his face from you if you return to him.”^(I)

¹⁰ So the couriers passed from city to city in the land of Ephraim and Manasseh and as far as Zebulun, but they were derided and scoffed at. ¹¹ Nevertheless, some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. ¹² In Judah, however, the hand of God brought it about that the people were of one heart to carry out the command of the king and the princes by the word of the Lord. ¹³ Thus many people gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month; it was a very great assembly.

Passover Celebrated. ¹⁴ They proceeded to remove the altars that were in Jerusalem as well as all the altars of incense, and cast them into the Wadi Kidron.^{(J) 15} They slaughtered the Passover on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and Levites were shamed into sanctifying themselves and brought burnt offerings into the house of the Lord. ¹⁶ They stood in the places prescribed for them according to the law of Moses, the man of God. The priests splashed the blood given them by the Levites; ¹⁷ for many in the assembly had not sanctified themselves, and the Levites were in charge of slaughtering the Passover victims for all who were unclean so as to consecrate them to the Lord.^{(K) 18} The greater part of the people, in fact, chiefly from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves. Nevertheless they ate the Passover, contrary to the prescription; because Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the good Lord grant pardon to ¹⁹ all who have set their heart to seek God, the Lord, the God of their ancestors, even though they are not clean as holiness requires.” ²⁰ The Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people.

²¹ Thus the Israelites who were in Jerusalem celebrated the feast of Unleavened Bread with great rejoicing for seven days, and the Levites and the priests sang the praises of the Lord day after day with all their strength. ²² Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who had shown themselves well skilled in the service of the Lord. And when they had completed the seven days of festival, sacrificing communion offerings and singing praises to the Lord, the God of their ancestors, ²³ the whole assembly agreed to celebrate another seven days. So with joy they celebrated seven days more. ²⁴ King Hezekiah of Judah had contributed a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep to the assembly, and the princes a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep. The priests sanctified themselves in great numbers, ²⁵ and the whole assembly of Judah rejoiced, together with the priests and Levites and the rest of the assembly that had come from Israel, as well as the resident aliens from the land of Israel and those that lived in Judah. ²⁶ There was great rejoicing in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel, there had been nothing like it in the city. ²⁷ Then the levitical priests rose and blessed the people; their voice was heard and their prayer reached heaven, God’s holy dwelling.

Chapter 31

Liturgical Reforms. ¹ After all this was over, those Israelites who had been present went forth to the cities of Judah and smashed the sacred pillars, cut down the asherahs, and tore down the high places and altars throughout Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh, until they were all destroyed.^(L) Then the Israelites returned to their cities, each to his own possession.

² Hezekiah re-established the divisions of the priests and the Levites according to their former divisions, assigning to each priest and Levite his proper service, whether in regard to burnt offerings or communion offerings, thanksgiving or praise, or ministering in the gates of the encampment of the Lord. ³ From his own wealth the king allotted a portion for burnt offerings, those of morning and evening and those on sabbaths, new moons, and festivals, as is written in the law of the Lord.^{(M) 4} He also commanded the people living in Jerusalem to provide for the support of the priests and Levites, that they might firmly adhere to the law of the Lord.

⁵ As soon as the order was promulgated, the Israelites brought, in great quantities, the best of their grain, wine, oil, and honey, and all the produce of the fields; they gave a generous tithe of everything.^{(N) 6} Israelites and Judahites living in other cities of Judah also brought in tithes of oxen, sheep, and votive offerings consecrated to the Lord, their God; these they brought in and heaped up in piles.^{(O) 7} It was in the third month that they began to establish these heaps, and they completed them in the seventh month.^{[a] 8} When Hezekiah and the princes had come and seen the piles, they blessed the Lord and his people Israel. ⁹ Then Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites concerning the piles, ¹⁰ and the priest Azariah, head of the house of Zadok, answered him, “Since they began to bring the offerings to the house of the Lord, we have eaten, been satisfied, and had much left over, for the Lord has blessed his people. This great supply is what was left over.”^(P)

¹¹ Hezekiah then gave orders that chambers be constructed in the house of the Lord. When this had been done, ¹² they deposited the offerings, tithes, and votive offerings there for safekeeping. The overseer of these things was Conaniah the Levite, and his brother Shimei was second in command. ¹³ Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were supervisors subject to Conaniah the Levite and his brother Shimei by appointment of King Hezekiah and of Azariah, the prefect of the house of God. ¹⁴ Kore, the son of Imnah, a Levite and the keeper of the eastern gate, was in charge of the voluntary offerings made to God; he distributed the offerings made to the Lord and the most holy of the votive offerings. ¹⁵ Under him in the priestly cities were Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, who faithfully made the distribution to their brothers, great and small alike, according to their divisions.

¹⁶ There was also a register by ancestral houses of males three years of age^[b] and over, for all priests who were eligible to enter the house of the Lord according to the daily schedule to fulfill their service in the order of their divisions.^{(Q) 17} The priests were inscribed in their family records according to their ancestral houses, as were the Levites twenty years of age and over according to their various offices and divisions.^{(R) 18} A distribution was also made to all who were inscribed in the family records, for their little ones, wives, sons and daughters—thus for the entire assembly, since they were to sanctify themselves by sharing faithfully in the votive offerings. ¹⁹ The sons of Aaron, the priests who lived on the lands attached to their cities, had in every city men designated by name to distribute portions to every male of the priests and to every Levite listed in the family records.

²⁰ Hezekiah did this in all Judah. He did what was good, upright, and faithful before the Lord, his God. ²¹ Everything that he undertook, for the service of the house of God or for the law and the commandment, was to seek his God. He did this with all his heart, and he prospered.^(S)

Chapter 32

Sennacherib’s Invasion. ¹ But after all this and all Hezekiah’s fidelity, there came Sennacherib, king of Assyria. He invaded Judah and besieged the fortified cities, intending to breach and take them.^{(T) 2} When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was coming with the intention of attacking Jerusalem, ³ he took the advice of his princes and warriors to stop the waters of the springs outside the city; they promised their help. ^4 (U)A large force was gathered and stopped all the springs and also the stream running nearby. For they said, “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find an abundance of water?” ⁵ He then looked to his defenses: he rebuilt the wall where it was broken down, raised towers upon it, and built another wall outside.^(V) He strengthened the Millo of the City of David and made a great number of spears and shields. ⁶ Then he appointed army commanders over the people. He gathered them together in his presence in the open space at the gate of the city and encouraged them with these words: ⁷ “Be strong and steadfast; do not be afraid or dismayed because of the king of Assyria and all the horde coming with him, for there is more with us than with him.^{(W) 8} He has only an arm of flesh, but we have the Lord, our God, to help us and to fight our battles.”^(X) And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah.

Threat of Sennacherib. ^9 (Y)After this, while Sennacherib, king of Assyria, himself remained at Lachish with all his forces, he sent his officials to Jerusalem with this message for Hezekiah, king of Judah, and all the Judahites who were in Jerusalem: ¹⁰ “Thus says Sennacherib, king of Assyria: In what are you trusting, now that you are under siege in Jerusalem? ¹¹ Is not Hezekiah deceiving you, delivering you over to a death of famine and thirst, by his claim that ‘the Lord, our God, will rescue us from the grasp of the king of Assyria’? ¹² Has not this same Hezekiah removed the Lord’s own high places and altars and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You shall bow down before one altar only, and on it alone you shall offer incense’? ¹³ Do you not know what my fathers and I have done to all the peoples of other lands? Were the gods of the nations in those lands able to rescue their lands from my hand? ¹⁴ Who among all the gods of those nations which my fathers put under the ban was able to rescue their people from my hand? Will your god, then, be able to rescue you from my hand? ¹⁵ Let not Hezekiah mislead you further and deceive you in any such way. Do not believe him! Since no other god of any other nation or kingdom has been able to rescue his people from my hand or the hands of my fathers, how much the less shall your god rescue you from my hand!”

¹⁶ His officials said still more against the Lord God and against his servant Hezekiah, ¹⁷ for he had written letters to deride the Lord, the God of Israel, speaking of him in these terms: “As the gods of the nations in other lands have not rescued their people from my hand, neither shall Hezekiah’s god rescue his people from my hand.”^{(Z) 18} In a loud voice they shouted in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them so that they might capture their city. ¹⁹ They spoke of the God of Israel as though he were one of the gods of the other peoples of the earth, a work of human hands. ²⁰ But because of this, King Hezekiah and Isaiah the prophet, son of Amoz, prayed and cried out to heaven.^(AA)

Sennacherib’s Defeat. ²¹ Then the Lord sent an angel, who destroyed every warrior, leader, and commander in the camp of the Assyrian king, so that he had to return shamefaced to his own country. And when he entered the temple of his god, some of his own offspring struck him down there with the sword.^{(AB) 22} Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, as from every other power; he gave them rest on every side. ²³ Many brought gifts for the Lord to Jerusalem and costly objects for Hezekiah, king of Judah, who thereafter was exalted in the eyes of all the nations.^(AC)

Hezekiah’s Later Reign. ²⁴ In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. He prayed to the Lord, who answered him by giving him a sign.^{(AD) 25} Hezekiah, however, did not respond with like generosity, for he had become arrogant. Therefore wrath descended upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem. ^26 (AE)But then Hezekiah humbled himself for his pride—both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and therefore the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them during the time of Hezekiah.

^27 (AF)Hezekiah possessed very great wealth and glory. He made treasuries for his silver, gold, precious stones, spices, jewels, and other precious things of all kinds; ²⁸ also storehouses for the harvest of grain, for wine and oil, and barns for the various kinds of cattle and flocks. ²⁹ He built cities for himself, and he acquired sheep and oxen in great numbers, for God gave him very great riches. ³⁰ This same Hezekiah stopped the upper outlet for water from Gihon and redirected it underground westward to the City of David. Hezekiah prospered in all his works.^{(AG) 31} Nevertheless, in respect to the ambassadors of the Babylonian officials who were sent to him to investigate the sign that had occurred in the land, God abandoned him as a test, to know all that was in his heart.

³² The rest of Hezekiah’s acts, including his good deeds, are recorded in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, son of Amoz, and in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ³³ Hezekiah rested with his ancestors; he was buried at the approach to the tombs^[c] of the descendants of David. All Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem paid him honor at his death. His son Manasseh succeeded him as king.

Chapter 33

Manasseh’s Impiety. ^1 (AH)Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. ² He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, following the abominable practices of the nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the Israelites. ³ He rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had torn down. He set up altars to the Baals, and also made asherahs. He bowed down to the whole host of heaven and served them. ⁴ He built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said: In Jerusalem shall my name be forever; ⁵ and he built altars to the whole host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. ⁶ It was he, too, who immolated his children by fire in the Valley of Ben-hinnom. He practiced soothsaying and divination, and reintroduced the consulting of ghosts and spirits.

He did much evil in the Lord’s sight and provoked him to anger. ⁷ An idol he had made he placed in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to his son Solomon: In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I shall set my name forever. ⁸ I will no longer make Israel step out of the land I assigned to your ancestors, provided that they are careful to observe all I commanded them, the entire law, the statutes, and the ordinances given by Moses.

⁹ Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem into doing even greater evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed at the coming of the Israelites. ¹⁰ The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.

Manasseh’s Conversion. ^11 (AI)Therefore the Lord brought against them the army commanders of the Assyrian king; they captured Manasseh with hooks, shackled him with chains, and transported him to Babylon.^{[d] 12} In his distress, he began to appease the Lord, his God. He humbled himself abjectly before the God of his ancestors, ¹³ and prayed to him.^[e] The Lord let himself be won over: he heard his prayer and restored him to his kingdom in Jerusalem. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is indeed God.

¹⁴ Afterward he built an outer wall for the City of David to the west of Gihon in the valley, extending to the Fish Gate and encircling Ophel; he built it very high. He stationed army officers in all the fortified cities of Judah. ¹⁵ He removed the foreign gods and the idol from the Lord’s house and all the altars he had built on the mount of the Lord’s house and in Jerusalem, and cast them outside the city.^{(AJ) 16} He restored the altar of the Lord, and sacrificed on it communion offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁷ Though the people continued to sacrifice on the high places, they now did so to the Lord, their God.

^18 (AK)The rest of the acts of Manasseh, his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, are written in the chronicles of the kings of Israel. ¹⁹ His prayer and how his supplication was heard, all his sins and his treachery, the sites where he built high places and set up asherahs and carved images before he humbled himself, all this is recorded in the chronicles of his seers. ²⁰ Manasseh rested with his ancestors and was buried in his own palace. His son Amon succeeded him as king.

Reign of Amon. ^21 (AL)Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. ²² He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, as his father Manasseh had done. Amon offered sacrifice to all the idols his father Manasseh had made, and served them. ²³ Moreover, he did not humble himself before the Lord as his father Manasseh had humbled himself; on the contrary, Amon only increased his guilt. ²⁴ His officials plotted against him and put him to death in his palace, ²⁵ but the people of the land then slew all who had plotted against King Amon, and the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his stead.

Chapter 34

Josiah’s Reforms. ^1 (AM)Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. ² He did what was right in the Lord’s sight, walking in the way of David his father, not turning right or left. ^3 (AN)In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still a youth, he began to seek after the God of David his father. Then in his twelfth year^[f] he began to purify Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the asherahs, and the carved and molten images. ⁴ In his presence, the altars of the Baals were torn down; the incense stands erected above them he broke down; the asherahs and the carved and molten images he smashed and beat into dust, which he scattered over the tombs of those who had sacrificed to them; ⁵ and the bones of the priests he burned upon their altars. Thus he purified Judah and Jerusalem. ⁶ He did likewise in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and in the ruined villages of the surrounding country as far as Naphtali; ⁷ he tore down the altars and asherahs, and the carved images he beat into dust, and broke down the incense stands throughout the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

The Temple Restored. ^8 (AO)In the eighteenth year of his reign, in order to purify the land and the temple, he sent Shaphan, son of Azaliah, Maaseiah, the ruler of the city, and Joah, son of Joahaz, the chancellor, to restore the house of the Lord, his God. ⁹ They came to Hilkiah the high priest and turned over the money brought to the house of God which the Levites, the guardians of the threshold, had collected from Manasseh, Ephraim, and all the remnant of Israel, as well as from all of Judah, Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.^{(AP) 10} They turned it over to the master workers in the house of the Lord, and these in turn used it to pay the workers in the Lord’s house who were restoring and repairing it. ¹¹ They also gave it to the carpenters and the masons to buy hewn stone and timber for the tie beams and rafters of the buildings which the kings of Judah had allowed to fall into ruin. ¹² The men worked faithfully at their task; their overseers were Jahath and Obadiah, Levites of the line of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the Kohathites, who directed them. All those Levites who were skillful with musical instruments ¹³ were in charge of the men who carried the burdens, and they directed all the workers in every kind of labor. Some of the other Levites were scribes, officials, and gatekeepers.

The Finding of the Law. ^14 (AQ)When they brought out the money that had been deposited in the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the book of the law of the Lord given through Moses. ¹⁵ He reported this to Shaphan the scribe, saying, “I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord.” Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, ¹⁶ who brought it to the king at the same time that he made his report to him. He said, “Your servants are doing everything that has been entrusted to them; ¹⁷ they have smelted down the silver deposited in the Lord’s house and have turned it over to the overseers and the workers.” ¹⁸ Then Shaphan the scribe also informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book,” and then Shaphan read it in the presence of the king.

¹⁹ When the king heard the words of the law, he tore his garments. ²⁰ The king then issued this command to Hilkiah, to Ahikam, son of Shaphan, to Abdon, son of Michah, to Shaphan the scribe, and to Asaiah, the king’s servant: ²¹ “Go, consult the Lord for me and for those who are left in Israel and Judah, about the words of the book that has been found, for the anger of the Lord burns furiously against us, because our ancestors did not keep the word of the Lord and have not done all that is written in this book.” ²² Then Hilkiah and others from the king went to Huldah the prophet, wife of Shallum, son of Tokhath, son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; she lived in Jerusalem, in the Second Quarter. They spoke to her as they had been instructed, ²³ and she said to them: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Say to the man who sent you to me, ²⁴ Thus says the Lord: I am about to bring evil upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the curses written in the book that was read before the king of Judah. ²⁵ Because they have abandoned me and have burned incense to other gods, provoking me by all the works of their hands, my anger burns against this place and it cannot be extinguished.

²⁶ “But to the king of Judah who sent you to consult the Lord, give this response: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: As for the words you have heard, ²⁷ because you were heartsick and have humbled yourself before God when you heard his words concerning this place and its inhabitants; because you humbled yourself before me, tore your garments, and wept before me, I in turn have heard—oracle of the Lord. ²⁸ I will gather you to your ancestors and you shall go to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the evil I am about to bring upon this place and upon its inhabitants.”

This they reported to the king.

Covenant Renewal. ^29 (AR)The king then had all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem summoned before him. ³⁰ The king went up to the house of the Lord with all the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: priests, Levites, and all the people, great and small. He read aloud to them all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord. ³¹ The king stood by the column^[g] and made a covenant in the presence of the Lord to follow the Lord and to observe his commandments, statutes, and decrees with his whole heart and soul, carrying out the words of the covenant written in this book. ³² He thereby committed all who were in Jerusalem and Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem acted according to the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors. ³³ Josiah removed every abomination from all the territories belonging to the Israelites, and he obliged all who were in Israel to serve the Lord, their God. During his lifetime they did not turn away from following the Lord, the God of their ancestors.^(AS)

Chapter 35

The Passover. ^1 (AT)Josiah celebrated in Jerusalem a Passover to honor the Lord; the Passover sacrifice was slaughtered on the fourteenth day of the first month.^{(AU) 2} He reappointed the priests to their duties and confirmed them in the service of the Lord’s house. ³ He said to the Levites who were to instruct all Israel, and who were consecrated to the Lord: “Put the holy ark in the house built by Solomon, son of David, king of Israel. It shall no longer be a burden on your shoulders. Serve now the Lord, your God, and his people Israel.^{(AV) 4} Prepare yourselves by your ancestral houses and your divisions according to the prescriptions of David, king of Israel, and the prescriptions of his son Solomon. ⁵ Stand in the sanctuary according to the branches of the ancestral houses of your kin, the common people, so that the distribution of the Levites and the families may be the same.^{(AW) 6} Slaughter the Passover sacrifice, sanctify yourselves, and be at the disposition of your kin, that all may be done according to the word of the Lord given through Moses.”^(AX)

⁷ Josiah contributed to the common people a flock of lambs and young goats,^(AY) thirty thousand in number, each to serve as a Passover victim for all who were present, and also three thousand oxen; these were from the king’s property. ⁸ His princes also gave a voluntary offering to the people, the priests, and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, prefects of the house of God, gave to the priests two thousand six hundred Passover victims along with three hundred oxen.^{(AZ) 9} Conaniah and his brothers Shemaiah, Nethanel, Hashabiah, Jehiel, and Jozabad, the rulers of the Levites, contributed to the Levites five thousand Passover victims, together with five hundred oxen.

¹⁰ When the service had been arranged, the priests took their places, as did the Levites in their divisions according to the king’s command. ¹¹ The Passover sacrifice was slaughtered, whereupon the priests splashed some of the blood and the Levites proceeded with the skinning. ¹² They separated out what was destined for the burnt offering and gave it to various groups of the ancestral houses of the common people to offer to the Lord, as is written in the book of Moses. They did the same with the oxen. ¹³ They cooked the Passover on the fire as prescribed, and also cooked the sacred portions in pots, caldrons, and pans, then brought them quickly to all the common people.^{(BA) 14} Afterward they prepared the Passover for themselves and for the priests. Indeed the priests, the sons of Aaron, were busy sacrificing burnt offerings and the fatty portions until night; therefore the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron. ¹⁵ The singers, the sons of Asaph, were at their posts as commanded by David and by Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, the king’s seer. The gatekeepers were at every gate; there was no need for them to leave their stations, for their fellow Levites prepared for them. ¹⁶ Thus the entire service of the Lord was arranged that day so that the Passover could be celebrated and the burnt offerings sacrificed on the altar of the Lord, as King Josiah had commanded. ¹⁷ The Israelites who were present on that occasion kept the Passover and the feast of the Unleavened Bread for seven days. ^18 (BB)No such Passover had been observed in Israel since the time of Samuel the prophet; no king of Israel had observed a Passover like that celebrated by Josiah, the priests, and Levites, all of Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁹ It was in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign that this Passover was observed.

Josiah’s End. ²⁰ After Josiah had done all this to restore the temple, Neco, king of Egypt, came up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to meet him. ²¹ Neco sent messengers to him, saying: “What quarrel is between us, king of Judah? I have not come against you this day, for my war is with another kingdom, and God has told me to hasten. Do not interfere with God who is with me; let him not destroy you.” ²² But Josiah would not withdraw from him, for he was seeking a pretext to fight with him. Therefore he would not listen to the words of Neco that came from the mouth of God, but went out to fight in the plain of Megiddo. ²³ Then the archers shot King Josiah, who said to his servants, “Take me away, I am seriously wounded.”^{(BC) 24} His servants took him from his own chariot, placed him in the one he had in reserve, and brought him to Jerusalem, where he died. He was buried in the tombs of his ancestors, and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned him. ²⁵ Jeremiah also composed a lamentation for Josiah, which is recited to this day by all the male and female singers in their lamentations for Josiah. These have been made an ordinance for Israel, and can be found written in the Lamentations.^[h]

^26 (BD)The rest of the acts of Josiah, his good deeds in accord with what is written in the law of the Lord, ²⁷ and his words, first and last, are recorded in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.

Chapter 36

Jehoahaz. ^1 (BE)The people of the land took Jehoahaz, son of Josiah, and made him king in Jerusalem to succeed his father. ² Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. ³ The king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem and fined the land one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. ⁴ Then the king of Egypt made Eliakim, the brother of Jehoahaz, king over Judah and Jerusalem, changing his name to Jehoiakim. Neco took Jehoahaz his brother away and brought him to Egypt.

Jehoiakim. ⁵ Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, his God.^{(BF) 6 (BG)}Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, attacked and bound him in chains to take him to Babylon.^{[i] 7} Nebuchadnezzar also carried away to Babylon some of the vessels of the house of the Lord and put them in his palace in Babylon. ⁸ The rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, the abominable things that he did, and what therefore happened to him, are recorded in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. His son Jehoiachin succeeded him as king.^(BH)

Jehoiachin. ⁹ Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight.^{(BI) 10} At the turn of the year, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and had him brought to Babylon, along with precious vessels from the house of the Lord. He made his brother Zedekiah^[j] king over Judah and Jerusalem.^(BJ)

Zedekiah. ¹¹ Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.^{(BK) 12} He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, his God, and he did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke for the Lord.^{(BL) 13} He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. He became stiff-necked and hardened his heart rather than return to the Lord, the God of Israel.^{(BM) 14} Likewise all the princes of Judah, the priests, and the people added treachery to treachery, practicing all the abominations of the nations and defiling the Lord’s house which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.

The Fall of Judah. ¹⁵ Early and often the Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent his messengers to them, for he had compassion on his people and his dwelling place.^{(BN) 16} But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until the Lord’s anger against his people blazed up beyond remedy.^{(BO) 17} Then he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in their own sanctuary, with compassion for neither young men nor young women, neither the old nor the infirm; all of them he delivered into his power.^{(BP) 18} All the utensils of the house of God, large and small, the treasures of the Lord’s house, and the treasures of the king and his princes, all these he brought to Babylon.^{(BQ) 19} They burnt the house of God, tore down the walls of Jerusalem, burnt down all its palaces, and destroyed all its precious objects.^{(BR) 20} Those who escaped the sword he carried captive to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the Persian kingdom came to power. ²¹ All this was to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah: Until the land has retrieved its lost sabbaths, during all the time it lies waste it shall have rest while seventy years are fulfilled.

Decree of Cyrus. ^22 [k]In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in order to realize the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord roused the spirit of Cyrus, King of Persia, to spread this proclamation throughout his kingdom, both by word of mouth and in writing:^{(BS) 23} “Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given to me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has also charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. All among you, therefore, who belong to his people, may their God be with them; let them go up.”