Josiah’s Covenant

23 ^(A)Then the king sent messengers, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. ² And the king went up to the house of the Lord and every man of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, the prophets, and all the people, from the small to the great; and ^(B)he read in their ^[a]presence all the words of the Book of the Covenant ^(C)which was found in the house of the Lord. ³ And ^(D)the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, ^(E)to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments, His provisions, and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people ^[b]entered into the covenant.

Reforms under Josiah

⁴ Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, ^(F)the priests of the second order, and the ^[c]doorkeepers ^(G)to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the utensils that had been made for Baal, for ^[d]Asherah, and for all the heavenly ^[e]lights; and ^(H)he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley, and carried their ashes to Bethel. ⁵ Then he did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem, as well as those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the remaining ^(I)heavenly ^[f]lights. ⁶ He also brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord outside Jerusalem to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and ^(J)ground it to dust, and ^(K)threw its dust on the graves of the ^[g]common people. ⁷ And he tore down the cubicles of the ^(L)male cult prostitutes which were in the house of the Lord, where ^(M)the women were weaving ^[h]hangings for the Asherah. ⁸ Then he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from ^(N)Geba to Beersheba; and he tore down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one’s left at the city gate. ⁹ Nevertheless ^(O)the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. ^10 (P)He also defiled ^[i]Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, ^(Q)so that no one would make his son or his daughter pass through the fire for ^(R)Molech. ¹¹ And he did away with the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the ^(S)sun, at the entrance of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the official, which was at the ^[j]covered courtyard; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. ¹² The king also tore down ^(T)the altars that were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and ^(U)the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courtyards of the house of the Lord; and he ^[k]smashed them there and ^(V)threw their dust into the brook Kidron. ¹³ And the king defiled the high places that were opposite Jerusalem, which were on the right of ^(W)the mount of destruction which Solomon the king of Israel had built for ^(X)Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for ^(Y)Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the sons of Ammon. ^14 (Z)He also smashed to pieces the memorial stones and cut down the ^[l]Asherim, and ^(AA)filled their places with human bones.

¹⁵ Furthermore, ^(AB)the altar that was at Bethel and the ^(AC)high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who misled Israel into sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he tore down. Then he ^(AD)burned the high place, ground the remains to dust, and burned the Asherah. ¹⁶ Now when Josiah turned, he saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent men and took the bones from the graves, and burned them on the altar and defiled it ^(AE)in accordance with the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, the one who proclaimed these things. ¹⁷ Then he said, “What is this gravestone there that I see?” And the men of the city told him, “^(AF)It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel.” ¹⁸ And he said, “Leave him alone; no one is to disturb his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed ^(AG)with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria. ¹⁹ Then Josiah also removed all the houses of the high places which were ^(AH)in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had constructed, ^[m]provoking the Lord to anger; and he did to them ^[n]just as he had done in Bethel. ²⁰ And ^(AI)he slaughtered all the priests of the high places who were there on the altars, and burned human bones on them; then he returned to Jerusalem.

Passover Reinstituted

²¹ Then the king commanded all the people, saying, “^(AJ)Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God ^(AK)as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” ^22 (AL)Truly such a Passover had not been celebrated since the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. ²³ But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.

²⁴ Moreover, Josiah removed ^(AM)the mediums, the spiritists, the ^[o](AN)household idols, ^(AO)the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, ^(AP)so that he might ^[p]fulfill the words of the Law which were written ^(AQ)in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. ²⁵ Before him there was no king ^(AR)like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart, all his soul, and all his might, in conformity to all the Law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.

²⁶ Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath with which His anger burned against Judah, ^(AS)because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. ²⁷ And the Lord said, “I will also remove Judah from My sight, ^(AT)just as I have removed Israel. And ^(AU)I will reject this city which I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the ^[q]temple of which I said, ‘My name shall be there!’”

Jehoahaz Succeeds Josiah

²⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ^29 (AV)In his days ^(AW)Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria at the river Euphrates. And King Josiah went to meet him, and when Pharaoh Neco saw him he killed him at ^(AX)Megiddo. ^30 (AY)His servants carried ^[r]his body in a chariot from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. ^(AZ)Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.

^31 (BA)Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was ^(BB)Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ³² He did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(BC)in accordance with all that his forefathers had done. ³³ And ^(BD)Pharaoh Neco imprisoned him at ^(BE)Riblah in the land of ^(BF)Hamath, so that he would not reign in Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a fine of ^[s]a hundred talents of silver and ^[t]a talent of gold.

Jehoiakim Made King by Pharaoh

³⁴ Then Pharaoh Neco made ^(BG)Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of his father Josiah, and he ^(BH)changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz and ^[u](BI)brought him to Egypt, and he died there. ³⁵ So Jehoiakim ^(BJ)gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh, but he assessed the land in order to give the money at the ^[v]command of Pharaoh. He collected the silver and gold from the people of the land, each according to his assessment, to give to Pharaoh Neco.

^36 (BK)Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. ³⁷ He did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(BL)in accordance with all that his forefathers had done.

The Passover Held Again

35 Then Josiah ^(A)celebrated the Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem, and ^(B)they slaughtered the Passover animals on the fourteenth day of the first month. ² He appointed the priests to their offices and ^(C)encouraged them in the service of the house of the Lord. ³ He also said to ^(D)the Levites who taught all Israel and who were holy to the Lord, “Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built; ^(E)it will not be a burden on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and His people Israel. ^4 (F)Prepare yourselves by your fathers’ households in your divisions, according to the writing of David king of Israel and ^(G)according to the writing of his son Solomon. ⁵ Furthermore, ^(H)stand in the holy place according to the sections of the fathers’ households of your countrymen, the ^[a]lay people, and according to the Levites, by division of a father’s household. ⁶ Now ^(I)slaughter the Passover animals, ^(J)keep one another consecrated, and prepare for your countrymen to act in accordance with the word of the Lord by Moses.”

⁷ Josiah contributed to the lay people, to all who were present, flocks of lambs and young goats, all for the Passover offerings, numbering thirty thousand, plus three thousand bulls; these were from the king’s property. ⁸ His officers also contributed a ^[b]voluntary offering to the people, the priests, and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, ^(K)the officials of the house of God, gave the priests 2,600 from the flocks and three hundred bulls, for the Passover offerings. ^9 (L)Conaniah also, and his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, the officers of the Levites, contributed five thousand from the flocks and five hundred bulls to the Levites for the Passover offerings.

¹⁰ So the service was prepared, and ^(M)the priests stood at their positions and the Levites by their divisions according to the king’s command. ^11 [c](N)They slaughtered the Passover animals, and while ^(O)the priests ^[d]sprinkled the blood received from their hand, ^(P)the Levites skinned the animals. ¹² Then they removed the burnt offerings so that they might give them to the sections of the fathers’ households of the lay people to present to the Lord, as it is written in the Book of Moses. They did this with the bulls as well. ¹³ So ^(Q)they roasted the Passover animals on the fire according to the ordinance, and they boiled ^(R)the holy things in pots, in kettles, and in pans and carried them quickly to all the lay people. ¹⁴ Afterward they prepared for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron, were offering the burnt offerings and the fat until night; so the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron. ¹⁵ The singers, the sons of Asaph, were also at their positions ^(S)according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer; and ^(T)the gatekeepers at each gate did not have to leave their service, because their kinsmen the Levites prepared for them.

¹⁶ So all the service of the Lord was prepared on that day to celebrate the Passover, and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord according to the command of King Josiah. ¹⁷ And ^(U)the sons of Israel who were present celebrated the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days. ^18 (V)There had not been a Passover celebrated like it in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet; nor had any of the kings of Israel celebrated such a Passover as Josiah did with the priests, the Levites, all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁹ In the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign this Passover was celebrated.

Josiah Dies in Battle

^20 (W)After all this, when Josiah had set the ^[e]temple in order, Neco king of Egypt came up to wage war at ^(X)Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to engage him. ²¹ But ^[f]Neco sent messengers to him, saying, “^[g](Y)What business do you have with me, King of Judah? I am not coming against you today, but against the house with which I am at war, and God has told me to hurry. For your own sake, stop interfering with God who is with me, so that He does not destroy you.” ²² However, Josiah would not turn ^[h]away from him, but ^(Z)disguised himself in order to fight against him; nor did he listen to the words of Neco ^(AA)from the mouth of God, but he came to wage war on the plain of ^(AB)Megiddo. ²³ The archers shot King Josiah, and the king said to his servants, “Take me away, for I am badly wounded.” ²⁴ So his servants took him out of the chariot and carried him on the second chariot which he had, and brought him to Jerusalem ^[i]where he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. ^(AC)All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. ²⁵ Then ^(AD)Jeremiah chanted a song of mourning for Josiah. And all the male and female singers speak about Josiah in their songs of mourning to this day. And they made them an ordinance in Israel; behold, they are also written in the Lamentations. ²⁶ Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his deeds of devotion as written in the Law of the Lord, ²⁷ and his acts, the first to the last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

Jesus Teaches at the Feast

7 After these things Jesus ^(A)was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because ^(B)the Jews ^(C)were seeking to kill Him. ² Now the feast of the Jews, ^(D)the Feast of Booths, was near. ³ So His ^(E)brothers said to Him, “Move on from here and go into Judea, so that Your ^(F)disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. ⁴ For no one does anything in secret ^[a]when he himself is striving to be known publicly. If You are doing these things, show Yourself to the world.” ⁵ For not even His ^(G)brothers believed in Him. ⁶ So Jesus *said to them, “^(H)My time is not yet here, but your time is always ready. ^7 (I)The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify about it, that ^(J)its deeds are evil. ⁸ Go up to the feast yourselves; I am not going up to this feast, because ^(K)My time has not yet fully arrived.” ⁹ Now having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee.

¹⁰ But when His ^(L)brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as though in secret. ^11 (M)So the Jews ^(N)were looking for Him at the feast and saying, “Where is He?” ¹² And there was a great deal of talk about Him in secret among the crowds: ^(O)some were saying, “He is a good man”; others were saying, “No, on the contrary, He is misleading the people.” ¹³ However, no one was speaking openly about Him, for ^(P)fear of ^[b]the Jews.

¹⁴ But when it was now the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple area, and began to ^(Q)teach. ^15 (R)The Jews then were astonished, saying, “How has this man ^(S)become learned, not having been educated?” ¹⁶ So Jesus answered them and said, “^(T)My teaching is not My own, but His who sent Me. ^17 (U)If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is of God, or I am speaking from Myself. ¹⁸ The one who speaks from himself ^(V)seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

¹⁹ “^(W)Did Moses not give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law? Why are you ^(X)seeking to kill Me?” ²⁰ The crowd answered, “^(Y)You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill You?” ²¹ Jesus answered them, “I did ^(Z)one ^[c]deed, and you all are astonished. ²² For this reason ^(AA)Moses has given you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from ^(AB)the fathers), and even on a Sabbath you circumcise a man. ^23 (AC)If a man receives circumcision on a Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry at Me because I made an entire man well on a Sabbath? ²⁴ Do not ^(AD)judge by the outward appearance, but judge ^[d]with righteous judgment.”

²⁵ So some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is this man not the one whom they are seeking to kill? ²⁶ And yet look, He is speaking publicly, and they are saying nothing to Him. ^(AE)The rulers do not really know that this is the ^[e]Christ, do they? ²⁷ However, ^(AF)we know where this man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from.” ²⁸ Then Jesus cried out in the temple, ^(AG)teaching and saying, “^(AH)You both know Me and you know where I am from; and ^(AI)I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. ^29 (AJ)I do know Him, because ^(AK)I am from Him, and ^(AL)He sent Me.” ³⁰ So they ^(AM)were seeking to arrest Him; and yet no one laid a hand on Him, because His ^(AN)hour had not yet come. ³¹ But ^(AO)many of the crowd believed in Him; and they were saying, “^(AP)When the ^[f]Christ comes, He will not perform more ^[g](AQ)signs than those which this man has done, will He?”

³² The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent ^(AR)officers to ^(AS)arrest Him. ³³ Therefore Jesus said, “^(AT)For a little while longer I am going to be with you, and then ^(AU)I am going to Him who sent Me. ^34 (AV)You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.” ^35 (AW)The Jews then said to one another, “^(AX)Where does this man intend to go that we will not find Him? He does not intend to go to ^(AY)the Dispersion among ^(AZ)the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, does He? ³⁶ What is this statement that He said, ‘^(BA)You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’?”

³⁷ Now on ^(BB)the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “^(BC)If anyone is thirsty, ^[h]let him come to Me and drink. ³⁸ The one who believes in Me, ^(BD)as the Scripture said, ‘^[i]From his innermost being will flow rivers of ^(BE)living water.’” ³⁹ But this He said ^(BF)in reference to the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for ^(BG)the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet ^(BH)glorified.

People’s Division over Jesus

⁴⁰ Some of the people therefore, after they heard these words, were saying, “This truly is ^(BI)the Prophet.” ⁴¹ Others were saying, “This is the ^[j]Christ.” But others were saying, “^(BJ)Surely the ^[k]Christ is not coming from Galilee, is He? ⁴² Has the Scripture not said that the Christ comes from ^(BK)the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” ⁴³ So ^(BL)a dissension occurred in the crowd because of Him. ⁴⁴ And ^(BM)some of them wanted to arrest Him, but no one laid hands on Him.

⁴⁵ The ^(BN)officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, “Why did you not bring Him?” ⁴⁶ The ^(BO)officers answered, “^(BP)Never has a man spoken in this way!” ⁴⁷ The Pharisees then replied to them, “^(BQ)You have not been led astray too, have you? ^48 (BR)Not one of ^(BS)the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he? ⁴⁹ But this crowd that does not know the Law is accursed!” ^50 (BT)Nicodemus (the one who came to Him before, being one of them) *said to them, ⁵¹ “^(BU)Our Law does not judge the person unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?” ⁵² They answered and said to him, “^(BV)You are not from Galilee as well, are you? Examine the Scriptures, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.” ⁵³ [[^[l]And everyone went to his home.