Judah’s King Josiah

34 Josiah was eight years old^(A) when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. ² He did what was right in the Lord’s sight and walked in the ways of his ancestor David;^(B) he did not turn aside to the right or the left.

Josiah’s Reform

³ In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still a youth, Josiah began to seek the God of his ancestor David,^(C) and in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherah poles, the carved images,^(D) and the cast images. ⁴ Then in his presence the altars of the Baals were torn down, and he chopped down the shrines^[a] that were above them. He shattered the Asherah poles, the carved images, and the cast images, crushed them to dust, and scattered^(E) them over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.^{(F) 5} He burned the bones of the priests on their altars.^(G) So he cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. ⁶ He did the same in the cities^(H) of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far as Naphtali and on their surrounding mountain shrines.^{[b] 7} He tore down the altars, and he smashed the Asherah poles and the carved images to powder. He chopped down all the shrines throughout the land of Israel and returned to Jerusalem.^(I)

Josiah’s Repair of the Temple

⁸ In the eighteenth year of his reign,^(J) in order to cleanse the land and the temple, Josiah sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, along with Maaseiah the governor^(K) of the city and the court historian Joah son of Joahaz, to repair the temple of the Lord his God.

⁹ So they went to the high priest Hilkiah^(L) and gave him the silver brought into God’s temple. The Levites and the doorkeepers had collected it from Manasseh, Ephraim,^(M) and from the entire remnant of Israel, and from all Judah, Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ They gave it to those doing the work—those who oversaw the Lord’s temple. They gave it to the workmen who were working in the Lord’s temple, to repair and restore the temple; ¹¹ they gave it to the carpenters and builders and also used it to buy quarried stone and timbers—for joining and making beams—for the buildings that Judah’s kings had destroyed.

¹² The men were doing the work with integrity. Their overseers were Jahath and Obadiah, Levites from the Merarites, and Zechariah and Meshullam from the Kohathites as supervisors. The Levites were all skilled with musical instruments.^{(N) 13} They were also over the porters and were supervising all those doing the work task by task. Some of the Levites were secretaries, officers, and gatekeepers.

The Recovery of the Book of the Law

¹⁴ When they brought out the silver that had been deposited in the Lord’s temple, the priest Hilkiah found the book of the law of the Lord written by the hand of Moses.^{(O) 15} Consequently,^(P) Hilkiah told the court secretary Shaphan, “I have found the book of the law in the Lord’s temple,” and he gave the book to Shaphan.

¹⁶ Shaphan took the book to the king, and also reported, “Your servants are doing all that was placed in their hands. ¹⁷ They have emptied out the silver that was found in the Lord’s temple and have given it to the overseers and to those doing the work.” ¹⁸ Then the court secretary Shaphan told the king, “The priest Hilkiah gave me a book,” and Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.^(Q)

¹⁹ When the king heard the words of the law, he tore his clothes.^{(R) 20} Then he commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, the court secretary Shaphan, and the king’s servant Asaiah, ²¹ “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for those remaining in Israel and Judah, concerning the words of the book that was found. For great is the Lord’s wrath that is poured out on us^(S) because our ancestors have not kept the word of the Lord in order to do everything written in this book.”

Huldah’s Prophecy of Judgment

²² So Hilkiah and those the king had designated^[c] went to the prophetess Huldah, the wife of Shallum son of Tokhath, son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem in the Second District. They spoke with her about this.

²³ She said to them, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: Say to the man who sent you to me, ²⁴ ‘This is what the Lord says: I am about to bring disaster on this place and on its inhabitants,^(T) fulfilling^[d] all the curses written in the book that they read in the presence of the king of Judah,^{(U) 25} because they have abandoned me^(V) and burned incense to other gods so as to anger me with all the works of their hands. My wrath will be poured out on this place, and it will not be quenched.’ ²⁶ Say this to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord: ‘This is what the Lord God of Israel says: As for the words that you heard, ²⁷ because^(W) your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and against its inhabitants, and because you humbled yourself before me, and you tore your clothes and wept before me, I myself have heard’—this is the Lord’s declaration. ²⁸ ‘I will indeed gather you to your ancestors, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster that I am bringing on this place and on its inhabitants.’”^(X)

Then they reported to the king.

Affirmation of the Covenant by Josiah and the People

²⁹ So the king sent messengers and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. ³⁰ The king went up to the Lord’s temple with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as well as the priests and the Levites—all the people from the oldest to the youngest. He read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in the Lord’s temple.^{(Y) 31} Then the king stood at his post^(Z) and made a covenant in the Lord’s presence^(AA) to follow the Lord and to keep his commands, his decrees, and his statutes with all his heart and with all his soul^(AB) in order to carry out the words of the covenant written in this book.^(AC)

³² He had all those present in Jerusalem and Benjamin agree^[e] to it. So all the inhabitants of Jerusalem carried out the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors.

³³ So Josiah removed everything that was detestable from all the lands belonging to the Israelites,^(AD) and he required all who were present in Israel to serve the Lord their God. Throughout his reign they did not turn aside from following the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

Josiah’s Passover Observance

35 Josiah observed the Lord’s Passover^(AE) and slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of the first month.^{(AF) 2} He appointed the priests to their responsibilities and encouraged them to serve in the Lord’s temple.^{(AG) 3} He said to the Levites who taught all Israel^(AH) the holy things of the Lord, “Put the holy ark in the temple built by Solomon son of David king of Israel. Since you do not have to carry it on your shoulders,^(AI) now serve the Lord your God and his people Israel.

⁴ “Organize your ancestral families^[f] by your divisions^(AJ) according to the written instruction of King David of Israel and that of his son Solomon.^{(AK) 5} Serve in the holy place by the groupings of the ancestral families^[g] for your brothers, the lay people,^[h] and according to the division of the Levites by family.^{(AL) 6} Slaughter the Passover lambs,^(AM) consecrate yourselves,^(AN) and make preparations for your brothers to carry out the word of the Lord through Moses.”

⁷ Then Josiah donated thirty thousand sheep, lambs, and young goats, plus three thousand cattle from his own possessions, for the Passover sacrifices for all the lay people who were present.

⁸ His officials also donated willingly for the people, the priests, and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, chief officials of God’s temple, gave twenty-six hundred Passover sacrifices and three hundred cattle for the priests. ⁹ Conaniah^(AO) and his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad, officers of the Levites, donated five thousand Passover sacrifices for the Levites, plus five hundred cattle.

¹⁰ So the service was established; the priests stood at their posts and the Levites in their divisions according to the king’s command.^{(AP) 11} Then they slaughtered the Passover lambs, and while the Levites were skinning the animals,^(AQ) the priests splattered the blood^[i] they had been given.^{[j] 12} They removed the burnt offerings so that they might be given to the groupings of the ancestral families^[k] of the lay people to offer to the Lord, according to what is written in the book of Moses; they did the same with the cattle. ¹³ They roasted the Passover lambs with fire according to regulation.^(AR) They boiled the holy sacrifices in pots, kettles, and bowls; and they quickly brought them to the lay people. ¹⁴ Afterward, they made preparations for themselves and for the priests, since the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were busy offering up burnt offerings and fat until night. So the Levites made preparations for themselves and for the priests, the descendants of Aaron.

¹⁵ The singers, the descendants of Asaph, were at their stations according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer.^(AS) Also, the gatekeepers were at each temple gate.^(AT) None of them left their tasks because their Levite brothers had made preparations for them.

¹⁶ So all the service of the Lord was established that day for observing the Passover and for offering burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, according to the command of King Josiah. ¹⁷ The Israelites who were present in Judah also observed the Passover at that time and the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days.^{(AU) 18} No Passover had been observed^(AV) like it in Israel since the days of the prophet Samuel. None of the kings of Israel ever observed a Passover like the one that Josiah observed with the priests, the Levites, all Judah, the Israelites who were present in Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁹ In the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign, this Passover was observed.

Josiah’s Last Deeds and Death

²⁰ After all this^(AW) that Josiah had prepared for the temple, King Neco of Egypt^(AX) marched up to fight at Carchemish^(AY) by the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to confront him. ²¹ But Neco sent messengers to him, saying, “What is the issue between you and me, king of Judah?^(AZ) I have not come against you today^[l] but I am fighting another dynasty.^[m] God told me to hurry. Stop opposing God who is with me; don’t make him destroy you!”

²² But Josiah did not turn away from him; instead, in order to fight with him he disguised himself.^[n](BA) He did not listen to Neco’s words from the mouth of God, but went to the Valley of Megiddo^(BB) to fight. ²³ The archers shot King Josiah, and he said to his servants, “Take me away, for I am severely wounded!” ^{(BC) 24} So his servants took him out of the war chariot, carried him in his second chariot, and brought him to Jerusalem. Then he died, and they buried him in the tomb of his ancestors. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned^(BD) for Josiah. ²⁵ Jeremiah chanted a dirge^(BE) over Josiah, and all the male and female singers still speak of Josiah in their dirges today. They established them as a statute for Israel, and indeed they are written in the Dirges.

²⁶ The rest of the events^(BF) of Josiah’s reign, along with his deeds of faithful love according to what is written in the law of the Lord, ²⁷ and his words, from beginning to end, are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

Judah’s King Jehoahaz

36 Then^(BG) the common people^[o] took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father.

² Jehoahaz^[p] 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 seventy-five hundred pounds^[q] of silver and seventy-five pounds^[r] of gold.

Judah’s King Jehoiakim

⁴ Then King Neco of Egypt made Jehoahaz’s brother Eliakim king over Judah and Jerusalem and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took his brother Jehoahaz and brought him to Egypt.^(BH)

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.^{(BI) 6} Now King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked him^(BJ) and bound him in bronze^(BK) shackles to take him to Babylon.^{(BL) 7} Also Nebuchadnezzar took some of the articles of the Lord’s temple to Babylon and put them in his temple in Babylon.^(BM)

⁸ The rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim,^(BN) the detestable actions he committed, and what was found against him, are written in the Book of Israel’s Kings. His son Jehoiachin became king in his place.

Judah’s King Jehoiachin

⁹ Jehoiachin was eighteen^[s] years old^(BO) when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. ¹⁰ In the spring^[t](BP) Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon along with the valuable articles of the Lord’s temple. Then he made Jehoiachin’s brother Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.^(BQ)

Judah’s King Zedekiah

¹¹ Zedekiah was twenty-one years old^(BR) when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. ¹² He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God and did not humble himself^(BS) before the prophet Jeremiah at the Lord’s command.^{(BT) 13} He also rebelled against^(BU) King Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear allegiance by God. He became obstinate^[u](BV) and hardened his heart against returning to the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁴ All the leaders of the priests and the people multiplied their unfaithful deeds, imitating all the detestable practices of the nations, and they defiled the Lord’s temple that he had consecrated in Jerusalem.

The Destruction of Jerusalem

¹⁵ But the Lord, the God of their ancestors sent word against them by the hand of his messengers, sending them time and time again,^(BW) for he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. ¹⁶ But they kept ridiculing God’s messengers,^(BX) despising his words,^(BY) and scoffing at his prophets, until the Lord’s wrath was so stirred up against his people that there was no remedy.^{(BZ) 17} So he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans,^(CA) who killed their fit young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary. He had no pity on young men or young women, elderly or aged; he handed them all over to him. ¹⁸ He took everything to Babylon—all the articles of God’s temple, large and small, the treasures of the Lord’s temple, and the treasures of the king and his officials. ¹⁹ Then the Chaldeans burned God’s temple.^(CB) They tore down Jerusalem’s wall, burned all its palaces, and destroyed all its valuable articles.

²⁰ He deported those who escaped from the sword to Babylon, and they became servants to him and his sons until the rise of the Persian^[v] kingdom.^{(CC) 21} This fulfilled the word of the Lord through Jeremiah,^(CD) and the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation^(CE) until seventy years were fulfilled.

The Decree of Cyrus

²² In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia,^(CF) in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken through^[w] Jeremiah,^(CG) the Lord roused the spirit of King Cyrus^(CH) of Persia to issue a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and also to put it in writing:

²³ This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: The Lord, the God of the heavens, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build him a temple at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up, and may the Lord his God be with him.

Jesus Flogged and Mocked

19 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. ² The soldiers also twisted together a crown^(A) of thorns, put it on his head, and clothed him in a purple robe. ³ And they kept coming up to him^(B) and saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” and were slapping his face.

⁴ Pilate went outside again and said to them, “Look, I’m bringing him out to you to let you know I find no grounds^(C) for charging him.” ⁵ Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe.^(D) Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” ^(E)

Pilate Sentences Jesus to Death

⁶ When the chief priests and the temple servants^[a] saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”

Pilate responded, “Take him and crucify him yourselves, since I find no grounds for charging him.”

⁷ “We have a law,” the Jews replied to him, “and according to that law he ought to die,^(F) because he made himself the Son of God.”^(G)

⁸ When Pilate heard this statement, he was more afraid than ever. ⁹ He went back into the headquarters^(H) and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus did not give him an answer.^{(I) 10} So Pilate said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you?”

¹¹ “You would have no authority over me at all,” Jesus answered him, “if it hadn’t been given you from above. This is why the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”^(J)

¹² From that moment Pilate kept trying^[b] to release him. But the Jews shouted, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Anyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar!”

¹³ When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside. He sat down on the judge’s seat in a place called the Stone Pavement (but in Aramaic,^[c] Gabbatha). ¹⁴ It was the preparation day for the Passover, and it was about noon.^[d] Then he told the Jews, “Here is your king!”

¹⁵ They shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

Pilate said to them, “Should I crucify your king?”

“We have no king but Caesar!” the chief priests answered.

¹⁶ Then he handed him over to be crucified.

The Crucifixion

Then they took Jesus away.^{[e] 17} Carrying^(K) the cross by himself,^(L) he went out to what is called Place of the Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. ¹⁸ There they crucified him and two others with him, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle. ¹⁹ Pilate also had a sign made and put on the cross. It said: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. ²⁰ Many of the Jews read this sign, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city,^(M) and it was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek. ²¹ So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The king of the Jews,’^(N) but that he said, ‘I am the king of the Jews.’”

²² Pilate replied, “What I have written, I have written.”