Pharaoh Neco and Josiah’s Death^(A)

²⁰ Some time after all of this, after Josiah had finished preparing the Temple, King Neco of Egypt invaded Carchemish on the Euphrates River,^[a] and Josiah went out to fight him. ²¹ But he sent messengers to him, who asked him, “What do we have in common, King of Judah? I am not here today opposing you. I am fighting the dynasty that is fighting me, and God has ordered me to hurry. For your own good, stop interfering with God, who is with me, and he won’t destroy you!”

²² But Josiah wouldn’t turn around. In fact, he put on a disguise so he could fight Neco.^[b] He wouldn’t listen to what God told him through what Neco had to say, and as a result, Josiah came to attack Neco^[c] on the Megiddo plain. ²³ Some archers shot King Josiah, and the king told his servants, “Take me away, because I’m badly wounded.” ²⁴ So his servants removed him from the chariot he was in and carried him away in a backup chariot that he had and took him back to Jerusalem, where he died and was buried in the tombs of his ancestors. All of Judah and Jerusalem went into mourning for Josiah.

²⁵ Jeremiah sang a lament for Josiah, and all the male and female singers recite that lamentation about Josiah to this day. In fact, they made singing it an ordinance in Israel, and they are recorded in the Lamentations.^[d]