Manasseh Reigns in Judah

33 ^(A)Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. ² And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to ^(B)the abominations of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. ³ For he rebuilt the high places ^(C)that his father Hezekiah had broken down, and he erected altars to the Baals, and made ^(D)Asheroth, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. ⁴ And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, ^(E)“In Jerusalem shall my name be forever.” ⁵ And he built altars for all the host of heaven in ^(F)the two courts of the house of the Lord. ^6 (G)And he burned his sons as an offering ^(H)in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and ^(I)used fortune-telling and omens and sorcery, and dealt with ^(J)mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. ⁷ And ^(K)the carved image of the idol that he had made he set in the house of God, of which God said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, ^(L)I will put my name forever, ⁸ and I will no more remove the foot of Israel from the land ^(M)that I appointed for your fathers, if only they will be careful to do all that I have commanded them, all the law, the statutes, and the rules given through Moses.” ⁹ Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel.

Manasseh's Repentance

¹⁰ The Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention. ^11 (N)Therefore the Lord brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and ^(O)bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon. ¹² And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the Lord his God ^(P)and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. ¹³ He prayed to him, and ^(Q)God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. ^(R)Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.

¹⁴ Afterward he built an outer wall for the city of David west of ^(S)Gihon, in the valley, and for the entrance into ^(T)the Fish Gate, and carried it around ^(U)Ophel, and raised it to a very great height. He also put commanders of the army in all the fortified cities in Judah. ¹⁵ And ^(V)he took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built on the mountain of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside of the city. ¹⁶ He also restored the altar of the Lord and offered on it sacrifices of peace offerings and of thanksgiving, and he commanded Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel. ^17 (W)Nevertheless, the people still sacrificed at the high places, but only to the Lord their God.

¹⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and ^(X)his prayer to his God, and the words of ^(Y)the seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, behold, they are in the ^(Z)Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. ¹⁹ And his prayer, and how ^(AA)God was moved by his entreaty, and all his sin and his faithlessness, and the sites ^(AB)on which he built high places and set up the ^(AC)Asherim and the images, before ^(AD)he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the Chronicles of the Seers.^{[a] 20} So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his house, and Amon his son reigned in his place.

Amon's Reign and Death

^21 (AE)Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. ²² And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done. Amon sacrificed to all the images ^(AF)that Manasseh his father had made, and served them. ²³ And he did not humble himself before the Lord, ^(AG)as Manasseh his father had humbled himself, but this Amon incurred guilt more and more. ²⁴ And his servants conspired against him and put him to death in his house. ²⁵ But the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon. And the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.

Josiah Reigns in Judah

34 ^(AH)Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. ² And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father; and 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 yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the ^(AI)Asherim, and the carved and the metal images. ⁴ And they chopped down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and he cut down the ^(AJ)incense altars that stood above them. And he broke in pieces the ^(AK)Asherim and the carved and the metal images, and he made dust of them and ^(AL)scattered it over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. ^5 (AM)He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. ⁶ And in the ^(AN)cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, in their ruins^[b] all around, ⁷ he broke down the altars and beat the ^(AO)Asherim and the images ^(AP)into powder and cut down all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

The Book of the Law Found

^8 (AQ)Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had cleansed the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the ^(AR)governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz, ^(AS)the recorder, to repair the house of the Lord his God. ⁹ They came to ^(AT)Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the keepers of the threshold, had collected from ^(AU)Manasseh and Ephraim and from all the remnant of Israel and from all Judah and Benjamin and from the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ And they gave it to the workmen who were working in the house of the Lord. And the workmen who were working in the house of the Lord gave it for repairing and restoring the house. ¹¹ They gave it to the carpenters and the builders to buy quarried stone, and timber for binders and ^(AV)beams for the buildings that the kings of Judah had let go to ruin. ¹² And the men did the work faithfully. Over them were set Jahath and Obadiah the Levites, of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to have oversight. ^(AW)The Levites, all who were skillful with instruments of music, ¹³ were over ^(AX)the burden-bearers and directed all who did work in every kind of service, and some of the Levites were scribes and officials and gatekeepers.

¹⁴ While they were bringing out the money that had been brought into the house of the Lord, ^(AY)Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord given through^[c] Moses. ¹⁵ Then Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan. ¹⁶ Shaphan brought the book to the king, and further reported to the king, “All that was committed to your servants they are doing. ¹⁷ They have emptied out the money that was found in the house of the Lord and have given it into the hand of the overseers and the workmen.” ¹⁸ Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it before the king.

¹⁹ And when the king heard the words of the Law, ^(AZ)he tore his clothes. ²⁰ And the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying, ²¹ “Go, inquire of the Lord for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been found. For great is ^(BA)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.”

Huldah Prophesies Disaster

²² So Hilkiah and those whom the king had sent^[d] went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter) and spoke to her to that effect. ²³ And she said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, ²⁴ Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book that was read before the king of Judah. ²⁵ Because they have forsaken me and ^(BB)have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands, therefore ^(BC)my wrath will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched. ²⁶ But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that 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, and you have humbled yourself before me and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. ²⁸ Behold, 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 disaster that I will bring upon this place and its inhabitants.’” And they brought back word to the king.

^29 (BD)Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. ³⁰ And the king went up to the house of the Lord, with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the Levites, all the people both great and small. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord. ³¹ And the king ^(BE)stood in his place ^(BF)and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after 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 Then he made all who were present in Jerusalem and in Benjamin join in it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. ³³ And Josiah took away ^(BG)all the abominations from all the territory that belonged to the people of Israel and made all who were present in Israel serve the Lord their God. All his days they did not turn away from following the Lord, the God of their fathers.

Josiah Keeps the Passover

35 ^(BH)Josiah kept a Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem. And they slaughtered the Passover lamb ^(BI)on the fourteenth day of the first month. ² He appointed the priests to their offices ^(BJ)and encouraged them in the service of the house of the Lord. ³ And he said to the Levites ^(BK)who taught all Israel and who were holy to the Lord, “Put the holy ark in the house that Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built. You need not carry it on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and his people Israel. ⁴ Prepare yourselves ^(BL)according to your fathers' houses by your divisions, ^(BM)as prescribed in the writing of David king of Israel ^(BN)and the document of Solomon his son. ⁵ And ^(BO)stand in the Holy Place ^(BP)according to the groupings of the fathers' houses of your brothers the lay people, and according to the division of the Levites by fathers' household. ⁶ And slaughter the Passover lamb, and ^(BQ)consecrate yourselves, and prepare for your brothers, to do according to the word of the Lord by^[e] Moses.”

⁷ Then Josiah contributed to the lay people, as Passover offerings for all who were present, lambs and young goats from the flock to the number of 30,000, and 3,000 bulls; ^(BR)these were from the king's possessions. ⁸ And his officials contributed willingly to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites. ^(BS)Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the chief officers of the house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings 2,600 Passover lambs and 300 bulls. ⁹ Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethanel his brothers, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, the chiefs of the Levites, gave to the Levites for the Passover offerings 5,000 lambs and young goats and 500 bulls.

¹⁰ When the service had been prepared for, the priests ^(BT)stood in their place, ^(BU)and the Levites in their divisions according to the king's command. ^11 (BV)And they slaughtered the Passover lamb, and the priests ^(BW)threw the blood that they received from them ^(BX)while the Levites flayed the sacrifices. ¹² And they set aside the burnt offerings that they might distribute them according to the groupings 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 bulls. ^13 (BY)And they roasted the Passover lamb with fire according to the rule; and they ^(BZ)boiled the holy offerings in pots, in cauldrons, and in pans, and carried them quickly to all the lay people. ¹⁴ And afterward they prepared for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron, were offering the burnt offerings and the fat parts until night; so the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron. ¹⁵ The singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their place ^(CA)according to the command of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king's ^(CB)seer; ^(CC)and the gatekeepers were at each gate. They did not need to depart from their service, for their brothers the Levites prepared for them.

¹⁶ So all the service of the Lord was prepared that 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 people of Israel who were present kept the Passover at that time, ^(CD)and the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days. ^18 (CE)No Passover like it had been kept in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as was kept by Josiah, and the priests and the Levites, and 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 Killed in Battle

^20 (CF)After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Neco king of Egypt went up to fight at ^(CG)Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to meet him. ²¹ But he sent envoys to him, saying, “What have we to do with each other, king of Judah? I am not coming against you this day, but against the house with which I am at war. And God has commanded me to hurry. Cease opposing God, who is with me, lest he destroy you.” ²² Nevertheless, Josiah did not turn away from him, but ^(CH)disguised himself in order to fight with him. He did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, but came to fight in the plain of ^(CI)Megiddo. ²³ And the archers shot King Josiah. And the king said to his servants, ^(CJ)“Take me away, for I am badly wounded.” ²⁴ So his servants took him out of the chariot and carried him in his second chariot and brought him to Jerusalem. And he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. ^(CK)All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. ^25 (CL)Jeremiah also uttered a lament for Josiah; and all ^(CM)the singing men and singing women have spoken of Josiah in their laments to this day. They made these a rule in Israel; behold, they are written in the Laments. ²⁶ Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his good deeds according to what is written in the Law of the Lord, ²⁷ and his acts, first and last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

Jesus Heals a Centurion's Servant

7 After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, ^(A)he entered Capernaum. ² Now a centurion had a servant^[a] who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. ³ When the centurion^[b] heard about Jesus, ^(B)he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. ⁴ And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, ^(C)“He is worthy to have you do this for him, ⁵ for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us ^(D)our synagogue.” ⁶ And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, ^(E)do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. ⁷ Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But ^(F)say the word, and let my servant be healed. ⁸ For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ⁹ When Jesus heard these things, ^(G)he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such ^(H)faith.” ¹⁰ And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.

Jesus Raises a Widow's Son

¹¹ Soon afterward^[c] he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. ¹² As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, ^(I)the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. ¹³ And when the Lord saw her, ^(J)he had compassion on her and ^(K)said to her, “Do not weep.” ¹⁴ Then he came up and touched ^(L)the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, ^(M)arise.” ¹⁵ And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus^{[d] (N)}gave him to his mother. ¹⁶ Fear seized them all, and ^(O)they glorified God, saying, ^(P)“A great prophet has arisen among us!” and ^(Q)“God has visited his people!” ¹⁷ And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

Messengers from John the Baptist

^18 (R)(S)The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, ¹⁹ calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one ^(T)who is to come, or ^(U)shall we look for another?” ²⁰ And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one ^(V)who is to come, or ^(W)shall we look for another?’” ²¹ In that hour ^(X)he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and ^(Y)on many who were blind he bestowed sight. ²² And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: ^(Z)the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, ^(AA)lepers^[e] are cleansed, and ^(AB)the deaf hear, ^(AC)the dead are raised up, ^(AD)the poor have good news preached to them. ²³ And blessed is the one who is ^(AE)not offended by me.”

²⁴ When John's messengers had gone, Jesus^[f] began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out ^(AF)into the wilderness to see? ^(AG)A reed shaken by the wind? ²⁵ What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings' courts. ²⁶ What then did you go out to see? ^(AH)A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ²⁷ This is he of whom it is written,

²⁸ I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” ²⁹ (^(AJ)When all the people heard this, and ^(AK)the tax collectors too, they declared God just,^{[g] (AL)}having been baptized with ^(AM)the baptism of John, ^30 (AN)but the Pharisees and ^(AO)the lawyers ^(AP)rejected ^(AQ)the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)

³¹ “To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? ³² They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,

³³ For John the Baptist has come ^(AR)eating no bread and ^(AS)drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ ³⁴ The Son of Man has come ^(AT)eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, ^(AU)a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ ³⁵ Yet ^(AV)wisdom is justified by all her children.”

A Sinful Woman Forgiven

^36 (AW)One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at table. ^37 (AX)And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, ³⁸ and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and ^(AY)wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. ³⁹ Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If ^(AZ)this man were ^(BA)a prophet, he ^(BB)would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” ⁴⁰ And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”

⁴¹ “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred ^(BC)denarii, and the other fifty. ^42 (BD)When they could not pay, he ^(BE)cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” ⁴³ Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” ⁴⁴ Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; ^(BF)you gave me no water for my feet, but ^(BG)she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ^45 (BH)You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to ^(BI)kiss my feet. ^46 (BJ)You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. ⁴⁷ Therefore I tell you, her sins, ^(BK)which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” ⁴⁸ And he said to her, ^(BL)“Your sins are forgiven.” ⁴⁹ Then those who were at table with him began to say among^[h] themselves, ^(BM)“Who is this, who even forgives sins?” ⁵⁰ And he said to the woman, ^(BN)“Your faith has saved you; ^(BO)go in peace.”