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Josiah’s Covenant

23 King Josiah sent word and they brought to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. The king went up to the house of the Lord, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests, the prophets, and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house (temple) of the Lord. The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and to keep His commandments, His testimonies, and His statutes with all his heart and soul, to confirm the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant.

Reforms under Josiah

Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second rank and the doorkeepers to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal, for [the goddess] Asherah, and for all the [starry] host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel [where Israel’s idolatry began].(A) He got rid of the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense [to pagan gods] in the high places in Judah’s cities and all around Jerusalem—also those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations [of the zodiac], and to all the [starry] host of heaven. Josiah brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord to the Brook Kidron outside Jerusalem, and burned it there, and ground it to dust, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people [who had sacrificed to it]. And he tore down the houses of the [male] cult prostitutes, which were at the house (temple) of the Lord, where the women were weaving [tent] hangings for the Asherah [shrines]. Then Josiah brought all the [idolatrous] priests from the cities of Judah, and desecrated the high places where the priests had burned incense [to idols], from Geba to Beersheba, [that is, north to south]; and he tore down the high places of the gates which were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one’s left at the city gate. However, the priests of the high places were not allowed to go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem [to serve], but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. 10 Josiah also defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of Ben-hinnom (son of Hinnom), so that no man could make his son or his daughter pass through the fire [as a burnt offering] for Molech.(B) 11 And he got rid of the horses that the kings of Judah had given [in worship] to the sun at the entrance of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the official, which was in the annex; and he burned the chariots of the sun. 12 The altars [dedicated to the starry host of heaven] which were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courtyards of the house of the Lord, the king tore down; and he smashed them there and threw their dust into the Brook Kidron. 13 The king desecrated the high places which were opposite [east of] Jerusalem, which were on the right (south) of the mount of corruption which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the repulsiveness of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the repulsiveness of Moab, and for Milcom the repulsiveness of the sons (descendants) of Ammon. 14 He broke in pieces the sacred pillars (cultic memorial stones, images) and cut down the Asherim and replaced them with human bones [to desecrate the places forever].

15 Further, the altar that was at Bethel, the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he tore down. Then he demolished its stones, ground them to dust, and burned the Asherah. 16 And as Josiah turned, he saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent men and had the bones taken from the graves, and burned them on the altar and [thereby] desecrated it, in accordance with the word of the Lord which the man of God prophesied, who proclaimed these things [about this altar, naming Josiah before he was born].(C) 17 Then Josiah said, “What is this monument (gravestone) that I see?” The men of the city told him, “It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done to the altar of Bethel.” 18 He said, “Let him alone; let no one disturb his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed, with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria.(D) 19 Josiah also removed all the houses of the high places which were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made provoking the Lord [to anger]; and he did to them just as he had done [to those] in Bethel. 20 All the priests of the high places who were there he slaughtered on the altars, and burned human bones on them [to desecrate the places forever]. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

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29 Then the king sent word and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 30 And the king went up to the house of the Lord with all the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests, the Levites, and all the people, from the greatest to the least; and he read aloud so they could hear all the words of the Book of the Covenant which was found in the house of the Lord.

Josiah’s Good Reign

31 Then the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the Lord—to walk after (obey) the Lord, and to keep His commandments, His testimonies, and His statutes with all his heart and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant written in this book. 32 Further, he made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin stand [with him, in confirmation of it]. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem acted in accordance with the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. 33 Josiah removed all the [pagan] repulsive things from all the lands belonging to the sons (descendants) of Israel, and made all who were present in Israel serve the Lord their God. Throughout his lifetime they did not turn from following the Lord God of their fathers.

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Passover Reinstituted

21 Then the king commanded all the people, saying, “Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God as it is written in this book of the covenant.” 22 Indeed, such a Passover as this had not been held 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 to the Lord was kept in Jerusalem.

24 Moreover, Josiah removed the mediums and the soothsayers and the teraphim (household gods) and the idols and all the repulsive things that were seen in Judah and in Jerusalem, so that he might fulfill the words of the law written in the book which Hilkiah the priest found in the house (temple) of the Lord. 25 Before him there was no king like Josiah who turned to the Lord with all his heart and all his soul and all his might, in accordance with all the Law of Moses; nor did anyone like him arise after him.

26 However, the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath which was kindled against Judah because of all the [a]despicable acts with which Manasseh had provoked Him. 27 The Lord said, “I will also remove Judah from My sight, just as I have removed Israel; and will reject this city which I have chosen, this Jerusalem, and the house, of which I said, ‘My Name [and the pledge of My Presence] shall be there.’”

Jehoahaz Succeeds Josiah

28 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 23:26 Lit provocations.

The Passover Observed Again

35 Josiah celebrated the Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem; they slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of the first month. He appointed the priests to their positions and encouraged them in the service of the house of the Lord. To the Levites who taught all Israel and were holy to the Lord he said, “Put the holy ark in the house (temple) which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built; it shall not be a burden [carried] on your shoulders any longer. Now serve the Lord your God and His people Israel. Prepare yourselves according to your fathers’ (ancestors’) households by your divisions, in accordance with the instructions of David king of Israel, and the instructions of his son Solomon. And stand in the holy place [of the priests] according to the sections of the fathers’ households of your fellow kinsmen the lay people, and according to the Levites, by division of [the families of] a father’s household. Slaughter the Passover lambs and consecrate yourselves, and prepare for your fellow countrymen to carry out (obey) the word of the Lord given by Moses.”

Then Josiah contributed to the lay people, to all who were present, flocks of lambs and young goats numbering 30,000, all as Passover offerings, and 3,000 bulls—these were from the king’s property. His officers also contributed a voluntary offering to the people, the priests and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the officials of the house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings 2,600 from the flocks [of lambs and young goats], and 300 bulls. Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethanel, his brothers, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, officers of the Levites, contributed to the Levites for the Passover offerings 5,000 from the flocks [of lambs and young goats], and 500 bulls.

10 When the service was ready, the priests stood in their [assigned] places and the Levites by their divisions, in accordance with the king’s command. 11 They slaughtered the Passover lambs, and while the priests sprinkled the blood received from their hand, the Levites skinned the animals. 12 Then they removed the burnt offerings, to distribute them to the sections of the fathers’ households of the lay people to offer to the Lord, as it is written in the Book of Moses. They did the same with the bulls. 13 So they roasted the Passover lambs on the fire according to the ordinance; and they cooked the holy offerings in pots, in kettles, and in pans, and quickly brought them to all the lay people. 14 Afterward the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron, were busy 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 in their places in accordance with the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer; and the gatekeepers at each gate did not need 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, in accordance with the command of King Josiah. 17 Thus the sons of Israel who were present celebrated the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days. 18 No Passover like it had been celebrated 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.

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God Is Awesome

The [a]oracle (a burdensome message—a pronouncement from God) concerning [b]Nineveh [the capital city of Assyria]. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh [which he saw in spirit and prophesied].


The Lord is a jealous and avenging God [protecting and demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His];
The Lord avenges and He is full of wrath.
The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries,
And He reserves wrath for His enemies.(A)

The Lord is slow to anger and great in power
And He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.
The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm,
And the clouds are the dust beneath His feet.(B)

He rebukes the sea and dries it up;
He dries up all the rivers [illustrating His judgment].
Bashan [on the east] and [Mount] Carmel [on the west] wither,
And [in the north] the blossoms of Lebanon fade.

The mountains quake before Him
And the hills melt away;
Indeed the earth is shaken by His presence—
Yes, the world and all that dwell in it.

Who can stand before His indignation [His great wrath]?
And who can stand up and endure the fierceness of His anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire
And the rocks are destroyed by Him.

The Lord is good,
A strength and stronghold in the day of trouble;
He knows [He recognizes, cares for, and understands fully] those who take refuge and trust in Him.(C)

But with an [c]overwhelming flood [of judgment through invading armies]
He will make a complete destruction of [d]its site
And will pursue His enemies into darkness.


Whatever [plot] you [Assyrians] devise against the Lord,
He will make a complete end of it;
Affliction [of God’s people by the hand of Assyria] will not occur twice.
10 
Like tangled thorn branches [gathered for fuel],
And like those drowned in drunkenness,
[e]The people of Nineveh are consumed [through fire]
Like stubble completely withered and dry [in the day of the Lord’s wrath].(D)
11 
From you [O Nineveh],
One has gone forth who plotted evil against the Lord,
A malevolent [f]counselor [the king of Assyria].(E)

12 This is what the Lord says,

“Though they are at full strength and many in number,
Even so, they will be cut off and pass away.
Though I have afflicted you and caused you grief [O Jerusalem],
I will afflict you no longer.(F)
13 
“Now, I will break his yoke [of taxation] off you,
And I will tear off your shackles.”(G)

14 
The Lord has given a command concerning you [O king of Nineveh]:
“Your name will no longer be perpetuated.
I will cut off the carved idols and cast images
From the temple of your gods;
I will prepare your grave,
For you are vile and unworthy.”(H)

15 
Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good news [telling of Assyria’s destruction],
Who announces peace and prosperity!
Celebrate your feasts, O Judah;
Perform your vows.
For the wicked one [the king of Assyria] will never again pass through you;
He is completely cut off.(I)

The Overthrow of Nineveh

[g]The one who scatters has come up against you [Nineveh].
Man the fortress and ramparts, watch the road;
[h]Strengthen your back [prepare for battle], summon all your strength.

For the Lord will restore the splendor and majesty of Jacob
Like the splendor of [ancient and united] Israel,
Even though destroyers have destroyed them
And ruined their vine branches.(J)


The shields of his soldiers [of [i]Media and Babylon] are colored red;
The warriors are dressed in scarlet.
The chariots blaze with fire of [flashing] steel
When he is prepared to march,
And the cypress spears are brandished [for battle].

The chariots race madly in the streets;
They rush wildly in the broad plazas.
Their appearance is like torches;
They rush in various directions like forked lightning.

[j]He remembers and summons his nobles;
They stumble in their march [terrified because of the attack].
They hurry to the city wall,
And the [k]mantelet is prepared and firmly set up.

The gates of the rivers [surrounding Nineveh] are opened
And the palace [of sun-dried brick] is dissolved [by the torrents].

It is decreed:
Nineveh is stripped, and she is carried away,
And her handmaids are moaning like the sound of doves,
Beating on their breasts [in sorrow].


Though Nineveh was like a pool of water throughout her days,
Now her inhabitants are fleeing;
“Stop! Stop!” [a few cry,]
But no one turns back.

Plunder the silver!
Plunder the gold!
For there is no end to the treasure—
Wealth from every precious object.
10 
She is emptied! She is desolate and waste!
Hearts melting [in fear] and knees knocking!
Anguish is in the whole body,
And the faces of all grow pale!(K)
11 
Where is the den of the lions (Assyria)
And the feeding place of the young lions,
Where the lion, lioness, and lion’s cub prowled
With nothing to fear?
12 
The lion [of Assyria] tore enough for his cubs (Assyrian citizens),
Killed [enough prey] for his lionesses,
And filled his lairs with prey
And his dens with torn flesh.

13 “Behold, I am against you [Nineveh],” declares the Lord of hosts, “and I will burn your chariots in the smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the land, and the voice of your messengers will no longer be heard.”

Nineveh’s Complete Ruin

Woe (judgment is coming) to the city of blood [guilty of murder and mayhem], completely full of lies and pillage;
Her prey never departs [alive].(L)

The noise of the [cracking of the] whip,
The noise of the rattling of the wheel,
Galloping horses
And rumbling and bounding chariots [in the assault of Nineveh]!

Horsemen charging,
Swords flashing, spears gleaming,
Many slain, a mass of corpses,
No end of corpses—
The horsemen stumble over the corpses!

All because of the many acts of prostitution of [Nineveh] the prostitute,
The charming and well-favored one, the mistress of sorceries,
Who betrays nations by her acts of prostitution (idolatry)
And families by her sorceries.

“Behold, I am against you,” declares the Lord of hosts,
“And I will lift up your skirts over your face,
And I will let the nations look at your nakedness [O Nineveh]
And the kingdoms at your disgrace.

“I will throw filth on you
And make you vile and treat you with contempt,
And set you up as a spectacle.

“And it will come about that all who see you
Will shrink back and run from you and say,
‘Nineveh is completely ruined!
Who will grieve for her?’
Where will I seek comforters for you?”


Are you better than [l]Thebes,
Which was situated by the waters of the Nile,
With water surrounding her,
Whose defense was the sea (the Nile),
Whose wall consisted of the sea?

Ethiopia was her strength,
And Egypt too, without limits.
[m]Put and Lubim were among her helpers.
10 
Yet she became an exile;
She went into captivity.
Her young children were dashed to pieces
At the head of every street;
They cast lots for her honorable men,
And all her great men were bound with chains.
11 
You too [Nineveh] will become drunk [with the cup of God’s wrath];
You will be hidden.
You too [Nineveh] will search [in vain] for a refuge from the enemy.
12 
All your fortresses are [nothing but] fig trees with ripe figs—
When shaken they fall into the mouth of the eater.
13 
Behold, your people are [as weak and helpless as] women in your midst!
The gates of your land are opened wide to your enemies;
Fire consumes the bars across your gates.
14 
Draw water for a [long, continued] siege!
Strengthen your fortresses!
Go down to the clay pits, trample the mortar!
Prepare the brick kiln [to burn bricks for the rampart]!
15 
But there [in the very midst of these preparations] the fire will devour you;
The sword will cut you down;
It will devour you as the locust does.
Multiply yourself like the creeping locusts;
Multiply yourself like the swarming locusts.
16 
You have increased your traders more than the [visible] stars of heaven—
The creeping locust strips and destroys and then flies away.
17 
Your guardsmen are like the swarming locusts.
Your marshals are like the hordes of grasshoppers
Settling in the stone walls on a cold day.
When the sun rises, they fly away,
And no one knows the place where they are.
18 
Your shepherds are asleep, O king of Assyria;
Your nobles are lying down [in death].
Your people are scattered on the mountains
And there is no one to gather them.
19 
There is no relief and healing for your hurt;
Your wound is incurable.
All who hear the news about you
Clap their hands over [what has happened to] you.
For on whom has your [unceasing] evil not come continually?

Footnotes

  1. Nahum 1:1 An urgent message the prophet is under compulsion to proclaim.
  2. Nahum 1:1 Under the preaching of Jonah, the king of Nineveh and all its people repented (Jon 3:5). But when Nahum came to Nineveh a hundred and fifty years later, everything had changed and the people had become hopelessly wicked. God’s wrath was not to be turned away this time.
  3. Nahum 1:8 The overwhelming flood may be understood as a metaphor describing a conquering army as well as a literal reference to a flood of water. Diodorus of Sicily refers to a legend that Nineveh could never be taken until the river became its enemy. Arbaces the Scythian had besieged the city in vain for two years, but in the third year the Khoser River washed away a considerable section of the very great wall and the invaders pushed through this opening. Nahum 2:6 refers to the devastating flood and 3:13, 15 probably to the destruction of Nineveh by fire. The vivid descriptions of ch 3 are historically accurate.
  4. Nahum 1:8 The city of Nineveh was the magnificent capital of the Assyrian Empire. The great palace of Sennacherib was without rival and contained at least seventy or more rooms. The city was home to more than 120,000 residents (at least twice the size of Babylon) and had no less than fifteen gates in the wall surrounding the city. During its glory days it was probably the largest city in the known world. Built near the juncture of the Tigris River and its tributary the Khoser, it was served by an elaborate water system of eighteen canals. Nineveh had many suburbs, three of which are mentioned along with Nineveh in Gen 10:11, 12. Nineveh’s extensive ruins are located near the modern city of Mosul, Iraq.
  5. Nahum 1:10 Lit They.
  6. Nahum 1:11 The reference here may be to Sennacherib, who reigned over Assyria from 705-681 b.c. He led an attack on Judah (the Southern Kingdom) in 701 b.c.
  7. Nahum 2:1 Nahum begins his message to Nineveh with a brief sarcastic statement (v 1) referring to the Medes, the Babylonians, and the Scythians who were allied against Assyria.
  8. Nahum 2:1 Lit Make strong your loins.
  9. Nahum 2:3 The Medes were an ancient Iranian people who lived in the area that is now the northwestern part of modern day Iran. After they joined with the Chaldeans of Babylonia to defeat the Assyrians, they established their own empire. It was the largest empire of its day until Cyrus the Great united the Medes and the Persians to form the Archaemenid Empire which stretched over several million square miles.
  10. Nahum 2:5 Perhaps the Assyrian king.
  11. Nahum 2:5 A large shield or portable shelter used for deflecting stones, spears and arrows.
  12. Nahum 3:8 The city of the god, Amon, capital of Upper (southern) Egypt.
  13. Nahum 3:9 Perhaps part of the area of modern Libya.

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