Manasseh's Idolatry Denounced

¹⁰ And the Lord said by his servants the prophets, ^11 (A)“Because Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations and has done things ^(B)more evil than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, ^(C)and has made Judah also to sin ^(D)with his idols, ¹² therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such disaster^[a] that the ears of everyone who hears of it ^(E)will tingle. ^13 (F)And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, and the plumb line of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. ¹⁴ And I will forsake the remnant of my heritage and give them into the hand of their enemies, and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies, ¹⁵ because they have done what is evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.”

^16 (G)Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides the sin ^(H)that he made Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.

^17 (I)Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did, and the sin that he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ^18 (J)And Manasseh slept with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his house, ^(K)in the garden of Uzza, and Amon his son reigned in his place.

Amon Reigns in Judah

¹⁹ Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. ²⁰ And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(L)as Manasseh his father had done. ²¹ He walked in all the way in which his father walked and served ^(M)the idols that his father served and worshiped them. ^22 (N)He abandoned the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord. ²³ And the servants of Amon conspired against him and put the king to death in his house. ²⁴ 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. ²⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Amon that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ²⁶ And he was buried in his tomb ^(O)in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son reigned in his place.

Josiah Reigns in Judah

22 ^(P)Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of ^(Q)Bozkath. ² And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the way of David his father, ^(R)and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

Josiah Repairs the Temple

³ In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, the secretary, to the house of the Lord, saying, ⁴ “Go up to ^(S)Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money ^(T)that has been brought into the house of the Lord, which ^(U)the keepers of the threshold have collected from the people. ^5 (V)And let it be given into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord, and let them give it to the workmen who are at the house of the Lord, repairing the house ⁶ (that is, to the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons), and let them use it for buying timber and quarried stone to repair the house. ⁷ But ^(W)no accounting shall be asked from them for the money that is delivered into their hand, for they deal honestly.”

Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law

⁸ And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found ^(X)the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. ⁹ And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord.” ¹⁰ Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.

¹¹ When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, ^(Y)he tore his clothes. ¹² And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and ^(Z)Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and ^(AA)Achbor the son of ^(AB)Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying, ¹³ “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is ^(AC)the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

In the Day of Trouble I Seek the Lord

To the choirmaster: according to ^(A)Jeduthun. A Psalm of ^(B)Asaph.

Saul Ravages the Church

8 And ^(A)Saul ^(B)approved of his execution.

And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and ^(C)they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. ² Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. ³ But ^(D)Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he ^(E)dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

Philip Proclaims Christ in Samaria

⁴ Now ^(F)those who were scattered went about preaching the word. ^5 (G)Philip went down to the city^[a] of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. ^6 (H)And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him ^(I)and saw the signs that he did. ⁷ For ^(J)unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. ⁸ So ^(K)there was much joy in that city.

Simon the Magician Believes

⁹ But there was a man named Simon, ^(L)who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, ^(M)saying that he himself was somebody great. ¹⁰ They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, ^(N)“This man is the power of God that is called ^(O)Great.” ¹¹ And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had ^(P)amazed them with his magic. ¹² But when ^(Q)they believed Philip as he preached good news ^(R)about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, ^(S)they were baptized, both men and women. ¹³ Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And ^(T)seeing signs and ^(U)great miracles^[b] performed, ^(V)he was amazed.