2 Chronicles 35:20-36:1

New King James Version

Josiah Dies in Battle^(A)

²⁰^(B)After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against ^(C)Carchemish by the Euphrates; and Josiah went out against him. ²¹But he sent messengers to him, saying, “What have I to do with you, king of Judah? I have not come against you this day, but against the house with which I have war; for God commanded me to make haste. Refrain from meddling with God, who is with me, lest He destroy you.” ²²Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but ^(D)disguised himself so that he might fight with him, and did not heed the words of Necho from the mouth of God. So he came to fight in the Valley of Megiddo.

²³And the archers shot King Josiah; and the king said to his servants, “Take me away, for I am severely wounded.” ²⁴^(E)His servants therefore took him out of that chariot and put him in the second chariot that he had, and they brought him to Jerusalem. So he died, and was buried in one of the tombs of his fathers. And ^(F)all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

²⁵Jeremiah also ^(G)lamented for ^(H)Josiah. And to this day ^(I)all the singing men and the singing women speak of Josiah in their lamentations. ^(J)They made it a custom in Israel; and indeed they are written in the Laments.

²⁶Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his goodness, according to what was written in the Law of the Lord, ²⁷and his deeds from first to last, indeed they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.

The Reign and Captivity of Jehoahaz^(K)

36 Then ^(L)the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father’s place in Jerusalem.

2 Kings 23:31-37

New King James Version

The Reign and Captivity of Jehoahaz^(A)

³¹^(B)Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was ^(C)Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ³²And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. ³³Now Pharaoh Necho put him in prison ^(D)at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a tribute of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. ³⁴Then ^(E)Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah, and ^(F)changed his name to ^(G)Jehoiakim. And Pharaoh took Jehoahaz ^(H)and went to Egypt, and ^[a]he died there.

Jehoiakim Reigns in Judah^(I)

³⁵So Jehoiakim gave ^(J)the silver and gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give money according to the command of Pharaoh; he exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land, from every one according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Necho. ³⁶^(K)Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebudah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. ³⁷And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.

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Footnotes

2 Kings 23:34 Jehoahaz

Jeremiah 22

New King James Version

Prophecies Against the Kings of Judah

22 Thus says the Lord: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and there speak this word, ²and say, ^(A)‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates! ³Thus says the Lord: ^(B)“Execute^[a] judgment and righteousness, and deliver the plundered out of the hand of the oppressor. Do no wrong and do no violence to the stranger, the ^(C)fatherless, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. ⁴For if you indeed do this thing, ^(D)then shall enter the gates of this house, riding on horses and in chariots, accompanied by servants and people, kings who sit on the throne of David. ⁵But if you will not ^[b]hear these words, ^(E)I swear by Myself,” says the Lord, “that this house shall become a desolation.” ’ ”

⁶For thus says the Lord to the house of the king of Judah:

“You are ^(F)Gilead to Me,
The head of Lebanon;
Yet I surely will make you a wilderness,
Cities which are not inhabited.
⁷I will prepare destroyers against you,
Everyone with his weapons;
They shall cut down ^(G)your choice cedars
^(H)And cast them into the fire.

⁸And many nations will pass by this city; and everyone will say to his neighbor, ^(I)‘Why has the Lord done so to this great city?’ ⁹Then they will answer, ^(J)‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshiped other gods and served them.’ ”

¹⁰Weep not for ^(K)the dead, nor bemoan him;
Weep bitterly for him ^(L)who goes away,
For he shall return no more,
Nor see his native country.

Message to the Sons of Josiah

¹¹For thus says the Lord concerning ^(M)Shallum^[c] the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, ^(N)who went from this place: “He shall not return here anymore, ¹²but he shall die in the place where they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more.

¹³“Woe^(O) to him who builds his house by unrighteousness
And his ^[d]chambers by injustice,
^(P)Who uses his neighbor’s service without wages
And gives him nothing for his work,
¹⁴Who says, ‘I will build myself a wide house with spacious ^[e]chambers,
And cut out windows for it,
Paneling it with cedar
And painting it with vermilion.’

¹⁵“Shall you reign because you enclose yourself in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink,
And do justice and righteousness?
Then ^(Q)it was well with him.
¹⁶He ^[f]judged the cause of the poor and needy;
Then it was well.
Was not this knowing Me?” says the Lord.
¹⁷“Yet^(R) your eyes and your heart are for nothing but your covetousness,
For shedding innocent blood,
And practicing oppression and violence.”

¹⁸Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

^(S)“They shall not lament for him,
Saying, ^(T)‘Alas, my brother!’ or ‘Alas, my sister!’
They shall not lament for him,
Saying, ‘Alas, master!’ or ‘Alas, his glory!’
¹⁹^(U)He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey,
Dragged and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

²⁰“Go up to Lebanon, and cry out,
And lift up your voice in Bashan;
Cry from Abarim,
For all your lovers are destroyed.
²¹I spoke to you in your prosperity,
But you said, ‘I will not hear.’
^(V)This has been your manner from your youth,
That you did not obey My voice.
²²The wind shall eat up all ^(W)your ^[g]rulers,
And your lovers shall go into captivity;
Surely then you will be ashamed and humiliated
For all your wickedness.
²³O inhabitant of Lebanon,
Making your nest in the cedars,
How gracious will you be when pangs come upon you,
Like ^(X)the pain of a woman in ^[h]labor?

Message to Coniah

²⁴“As I live,” says the Lord, ^(Y)“though ^[i]Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, ^(Z)were the ^[j]signet on My right hand, yet I would pluck you off; ²⁵^(AA)and I will give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of those whose face you fear—the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the hand of the ^[k]Chaldeans. ²⁶^(AB)So I will cast you out, and your mother who bore you, into another country where you were not born; and there you shall die. ²⁷But to the land to which they desire to return, there they shall not return.

²⁸“Is this man ^[l]Coniah a despised, broken idol—
^(AC)A vessel in which is no pleasure?
Why are they cast out, he and his descendants,
And cast into a land which they do not know?
²⁹^(AD)O earth, earth, earth,
Hear the word of the Lord!
³⁰Thus says the Lord:
‘Write this man down as ^(AE)childless,
A man who shall not prosper in his days;
For ^(AF)none of his descendants shall prosper,
Sitting on the throne of David,
And ruling anymore in Judah.’ ”

Footnotes

Jeremiah 22:3 Dispense justice
Jeremiah 22:5 Obey
Jeremiah 22:11 Or Jehoahaz
Jeremiah 22:13 Lit. roof chambers, upper chambers
Jeremiah 22:14 Lit. roof chambers, upper chambers
Jeremiah 22:16 Defended
Jeremiah 22:22 Lit. shepherds
Jeremiah 22:23 childbirth
Jeremiah 22:24 Or Jeconiah or Jehoiachin
Jeremiah 22:24 signet ring
Jeremiah 22:25 Or Babylonians
Jeremiah 22:28 See note at v. 24

Jeremiah 23:1-8

New King James Version

The Branch of Righteousness

23 “Woe ^(A)to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” says the Lord. ²Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: “You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. ^(B)Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,” says the Lord. ³“But ^(C)I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. ⁴I will set up ^(D)shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,” says the Lord.

⁵“Behold, ^(E)the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness;
A King shall reign and ^[a]prosper,
^(F)And execute ^[b]judgment and righteousness in the ^[c]earth.
⁶^(G)In His days Judah will be saved,
And Israel ^(H)will dwell safely;
Now ^(I)this is His name by which He will be called:

^[d]THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

⁷“Therefore, behold, ^(J)the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ ⁸but, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country ^(K)and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell in their own ^(L)land.”