Circumcision at Gilgal

5 Now it came about when all the Amorite kings beyond the Jordan westward and all the Canaanite kings by the sea heard how Adonai had dried up the waters of the Jordan before Bnei-Yisrael until they had crossed, their heart melted, nor was there any spirit in them anymore, because of Bnei-Yisrael.

² At that time Adonai said to Joshua, “Make yourself flint knives and circumcise again Bnei-Yisrael a second time.” ³ So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised Bnei-Yisrael at Gibeath-ha-araloth. ⁴ Now this is the reason why Joshua circumcised: all the people that came out of Egypt who were males—all the men of war—had died in the wilderness along the way after they came out of Egypt. ⁵ Though all the people that came out were circumcised, none of the people who were born in the wilderness along the way as they came out of Egypt had been circumcised. ⁶ For Bnei-Yisrael walked 40 years in the wilderness, until all the nation’s men of war who came out of Egypt died out, because they had not listened to the voice of Adonai. To them Adonai had sworn that He would never let them see the land which Adonai had sworn to their fathers that He would give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. ⁷ But He raised up their children in their place. Joshua circumcised them, for they were uncircumcised, since they had not been circumcised along the way. ⁸ Now it came to pass after they had finished circumcising the entire nation, they remained in their places in the camp until they recovered.

⁹ Then Adonai said to Joshua, “This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” Therefore the name of that place has been called Gilgal to this day. ¹⁰ While Bnei-Yisrael camped at Gilgal^[a], they observed Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho. ¹¹ On the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, matzot and roasted grain.

¹² Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten of the produce of the land. Bnei-Yisrael had manna no longer, but ate some of the yield of the land of Canaan that year.

Commander of Adonai’s Army

¹³ Now it came to pass when Joshua was near Jericho that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, there was a man standing in front of him with his sword drawn in his hand. Joshua approached him and said to him: “Are you for us or for our adversaries?”

¹⁴ “Neither,” he said. “Rather, I have now come as commander of Adonai’s army.”

Then Joshua fell on his face to the ground and worshipped. Then he asked him, “What is my lord saying to his servant?”

¹⁵ Then the commander of Adonai’s army replied to Joshua, “Take your sandal off of your foot, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

Josiah Renews the Covenant

23 Then the king sent for and they gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to him. ² The king went up to the House of Adonai and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him—the kohanim and the prophets, all the people, young and old—and he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant which was found in the House of Adonai. ³ Then the king stood by the pillar and cut a covenant before Adonai, to follow Adonai, keep His mitzvot, His laws and His decrees with all their heart and soul, in order to fulfill the words of this covenant that were written in this scroll. So all the people stood for the covenant.

⁴ Then the king commanded Hilkiah the kohen gadol, the kohanim of the second order and the doorkeepers to bring out of the Temple of Adonai all the vessels made for Baal and Asherah, and all the host of heaven, and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and took their ashes to Bethel. ⁵ He stopped the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained from burning incense on the high places in the towns of Judah and around Jerusalem, as well those burning incense to Baal, the sun, the moon, the constellations, and to all the host of heaven. ⁶ Then he brought out the Asherah pole from the House of Adonai to Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem, burned it in the Kidron Valley, ground it to dust and threw its dust over the graves of the common people. ⁷ Then he tore down the quarters of the male cult prostitutes that had been in the House of Adonai, where the women had been weaving coverings for the Asherah.

⁸ Then he brought all the priests from the towns of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba. He also broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua, the city governor, which were on one’s left as one entered the city gate. ⁹ Nevertheless, the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of Adonai in Jerusalem, but they did eat matzot with their kinsmen.

¹⁰ Next he defiled Topheth, which is in the Ben-hinnom Valley, so that no one might make his son or daughter pass through the fire for Molech. ¹¹ Then he did away with the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance of the House of Adonai, in the colonnades by the chamber of the officer Nethan-melech, and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

¹² The king also tore down the altars made by the kings of Judah on the roof—the upper chamber of Ahaz and the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courtyards of the House of Adonai. He smashed them suddenly there and threw their dust into the Kidron Valley. ¹³ The king also desecrated the shrines facing Jerusalem—to the south of the Mount of Destruction—which King Solomon of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. ¹⁴ He smashed the pillars and cut down the Asherah poles and filled their places with human bones.

Prophecy Fulfilled at Bethel

¹⁵ Moreover, the altar that was at Bethel and the shrine built by Jeroboam son of Nebat—who caused Israel to sin—that altar and the shrine he demolished, too. He burned the shrine and ground it to dust, and burned up the Asherah. ¹⁶ Then, as Josiah looked around, he saw the burial caves there on the mountain, so he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar, thus desecrating it—as was the word of Adonai which the man of God had proclaimed, who foretold it.

¹⁷ Then he asked, “What is this monument I see?”

So the men of the town told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God, who came from Judah and proclaimed these things that you have just done to the altar of Bethel.”

¹⁸ “Let him rest,” he said. “Let no one disturb his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed along with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria.

¹⁹ Josiah also removed all the shrines of the high places that the kings of Israel had built in the towns of Samaria to provoke. He did to them just as he had done in Bethel. ²⁰ All the priests of the high places there he slaughtered on the altars, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ Then the king commanded all the people saying, “Celebrate the Passover to Adonai your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” ²² For no Passover like this had been celebrated from the days of the judges who judged Israel or 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 observed for Adonai in Jerusalem.

²⁴ Moreover, Josiah got rid of the necromancers and the mediums, the teraphim and the idols, and all the detestable things that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem—in order to confirm the words of the Torah that were written in the scroll that Hilkiah the kohen found in the House of Adonai.

²⁵ Before him there had never been a king like him, who turned to Adonai with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Torah of Moses, nor has any king like him risen since him.

Josiah’s Death

²⁶ Nevertheless, Adonai did not turn from the fury of His great wrath which burned against Judah, because of all that Manasseh had provoked Him. ²⁷ Adonai said, “I will banish Judah also from My presence as I banished Israel, and I have spurned this city, Jerusalem, which I chose, and the House about which I had said: ‘My Name will be there.’”

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 In his days Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, went up against the king of Assyria to the Euphrates River. King Josiah marched against him, but Neco killed him at Megiddo when he saw him. ³⁰ So his servants carried him dead in a chariot from Megiddo and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb.

Judah’s Decline

Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah, anointed him and made him king in his father’s place. ³¹ Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ³² But he did what was evil in Adonai’s eyes, as in all that his ancestors had done. ³³ Then Pharaoh Necoh imprisoned him at Riblah in the land of Hamath, so he would not reign in Jerusalem. He also imposed on the land a fine of 100 talents of silver and a talent of gold.

³⁴ Then Pharaoh Necoh installed Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away and brought him to Egypt, and he died there. ³⁵ Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money in keeping with Pharaoh’s command. He exacted the silver and the gold from the people of the land, each according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Necoh. ³⁶ Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king, and he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebudah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. ³⁷ But he did what was evil in Adonai’s eyes, just as in all that his ancestors had done.

Levitical Land

45 “When you allot the land for inheritance, set apart an offering to Adonai, a holy portion of the land. The length will be 25,000 and the width will be 10,000.^[a] It will be holy within all its surrounding borders. ² Out of this, there will be the Holy Place, 500 long by 500 wide, square all around, and 50 cubits for the open land surrounding it. ³ From this area you are to measure a length of 25,000 and a width of 10,000, in which will be the Sanctuary, which is most holy. ⁴ It is to be the holy portion of the land, for the kohanim ministering in the Sanctuary, who draw near to serve Adonai. It will be a place for their houses as well as a place consecrated for the Sanctuary. ⁵ An area 25,000 long by 10,000 wide will be for the Levites, the ministers of the House. It will be a possession for themselves—20 chambers.

⁶ “You will give the city possession of an area 5,000 wide by 25,000 long, alongside the offering of the holy allotment. It will be for the whole house of Israel.

The Prince’s Allotment

⁷ “The prince will have a portion on either side of the holy allotment and the city’s property, adjacent to the holy offering and the city’s property, on the west side westward and on the east side eastward. Its length will correspond to one of the tribal portions, from the western boundary to the eastern boundary. ⁸ It will be land for him as a possession in Israel. My princes will no longer oppress My people. They will give land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.”

⁹ Thus says Adonai Elohim: “Let it be enough for you, princes of Israel. Get rid of violence and destruction, execute justice and righteousness, take away your oppression from My people”—it is a declaration of Adonai. ¹⁰ “You are to have just balances, an honest dry measure and an honest liquid measure. ^{[b] 11} The dry and liquid measure will be of a uniform measure: the bath will contain a tenth part of a homer, and the ephah a tenth part of a homer; the standard measure will be the homer. ¹² The shekel will be 20 gerahs; 20 plus 25 plus 15 shekels will be your mina.

¹³ “This is the offering that you are to set apart: a sixth of an ephah out of a homer of wheat, a sixth of an ephah out of a homer of barley, ¹⁴ along with the set portion of oil—a bath of oil—as the tithe of the bath for each kor, which is ten baths (or a homer, since ten baths are a homer), ¹⁵ and one lamb of the flock out of 200, from the well-watered pastures of Israel. These are for the grain offering, burnt offering and fellowship offerings, to make atonement for them.” It is a declaration of Adonai.

¹⁶ “All the people of the land must give this contribution to the prince in Israel. ¹⁷ It will be the prince’s role to give the burnt offerings, grain offerings and drink offerings at the feasts, New Moons and Shabbatot, in all the moadim of the house of Israel. He will prepare the sin offering, the meal offering, the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.”

Offerings for Moadim

¹⁸ Thus says Adonai Elohim: “In the first month, in the first day of the month, take a young bull without blemish and purify the Sanctuary. ¹⁹ The kohen will take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it upon the doorposts of the House and upon the four corners of the ledge of the altar and upon the posts of the gate of the inner court. ²⁰ So you will do on the seventh day of the month for everyone who sins unintentionally or through ignorance. So you will make atonement for the House.

²¹ “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you will have the Passover, a feast of seven days when matzah will be eaten. ²² On that day the prince will prepare a bull as a sin offering for himself and for all the people of the land. ²³ He will prepare a burnt offering to Adonai for the seven days of the feast—seven bulls and seven rams without blemish daily for seven days and a male goat daily for a sin offering. ²⁴ He will prepare as a grain offering, an ephah for a bull, an ephah for a ram and a hin of oil for each ephah. ²⁵ He will do this in the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, during the Feast, for seven days, for sin offering as well as burnt offering, grain offering as well as oil.”

Darius Endorses Rebuilding

6 King Darius then issued an order and a search was made in the archives stored in the treasury at Babylon. ² A scroll was found in the citadel of Ecbatana in the province of Media, and this was written on it:

“Memorandum:

³ “In the first year of Cyrus the king, King Cyrus issued a decree concerning the House of God at Jerusalem.

“Let the House be rebuilt as a place where sacrifices are offered. Let its foundations be laid. Its height is to be sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits ⁴ with three layers of large stones and one layer of timber. Let the expense be paid from the king’s house. ⁵ Also let the gold and silver vessels of the House of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the Temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought to the Temple in Jerusalem; you shall deposit them in the House of God.

⁶ “Now then, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues, officials of Trans-Euphrates, all of you stay away from there. ⁷ Leave the work of this House of God alone! Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this House of God in its place.

⁸ “Moreover, I hereby issue a decree as to what you are to do for these elders of the Jews to rebuild this House of God. The complete costs are to be paid to these men from the royal treasury, from the tribute from Trans-Euphrates so that they are not hindered.

⁹ “Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams or lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven or wheat, salt, wine and oil, as requested by the kohanim in Jerusalem—must be given to them daily without neglect, ¹⁰ so that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons.

¹¹ “Furthermore, I decree that if anyone changes this edict, a beam is to be pulled out from his house, and let him be lifted up and impaled on it, and because of this, his house be made a pile of refuse. ¹² May God, who makes His name to dwell there, overthrow any king or people who lifts his hand to cause such change to destroy this House of God in Jerusalem. I Darius have issued a decree; let it be carried out with diligence.”

Completion and Dedication of the Temple

¹³ Then Tattenai the governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates diligently carried it out, just as King Darius had sent. ¹⁴ So the elders of the Jews continued building and prospering through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and according to the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia. ¹⁵ The Temple was completed on the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

¹⁶ Then the sons of Israel—the kohanim, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the House of God with joy. ¹⁷ For the dedication of this House of God they offered 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 male lambs, and, as a sin offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, corresponding to the number of the tribes of Israel. ¹⁸ They appointed the kohanim in their divisions and the Levites in their divisions over the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.

¹⁹ The exiles celebrated the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, ²⁰ for every one of the kohanim and the Levites had purified themselves and all of them were ceremonially pure. They slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, and for their fellow kohanim and for themselves. ²¹ So those of Bnei-Yisrael who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the impurity of the nations of the land to seek Adonai the God of Israel. ²² They celebrated the Feast of Matzot with joy for seven days, because Adonai had given them joy and had changed the heart of the king of Assyria toward them so as to strengthen their hands in the work on the House of God, the God of Israel.

Hezekiah and all Israel Celebrate Pesach

30 Hezekiah then sent word to all Israel and Judah, and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh to come to the House of Adonai at Jerusalem to keep the Passover for Adonai, the God of Israel. ² The king and his officials and the entire congregation in Jerusalem had decided to celebrate Passover in the second month. ³ For they were not able to celebrate it at the regular time, since not enough kohanim had consecrated themselves, nor had the people assembled in Jerusalem. ⁴ The matter seemed right in the eyes of the king and of the entire community. ⁵ So they decided to issue a decree and to proclaim it throughout all Israel from Beer-sheba to Dan, calling the people to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover for Adonai, the God of Israel. For it had not been celebrated as prescribed for a long time.

⁶ At the king’s command, the couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his officials saying:

“You men of Israel, turn back to Adonai, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, and He will return to the remnant of you who escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. ⁷ Do not be like your fathers and brothers who acted unfaithfully against Adonai, the God of their fathers, so that He made them a horror as you see. ⁸ Do not stiffen your neck as your fathers did, but reconcile to Adonai, and come to His Temple, which He has consecrated forever, and worship Adonai your God that His burning anger may turn away from you. ⁹ For if you return to Adonai, your brothers and children will receive compassion before their captors, and will return to this land. For Adonai your God is compassionate and merciful; He will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.”

¹⁰ As the couriers traveled from town to town through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh and as far as Zebulun, they were scorned and mocked. ¹¹ Nevertheless some men from Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. ¹² The hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the officials commanded by the word of Adonai.

¹³ Now a very large assembly gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Matzot in the second month. ¹⁴ They arose and removed the altars and all the incense altars that were in Jerusalem, and threw them into the Kidron Valley. ¹⁵ Then they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The kohanim and the Levites were ashamed and consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings into the House of Adonai. ¹⁶ They stood at their post as prescribed in the Torah of Moses, the man of God. The kohanim sprinkled the blood that they received from the hand of the Levites. ¹⁷ For there were many in the congregation that had not concecrated themselves, therefore the Levites were in charge of slaughtering the Passover lambs for everyone that was not ceremonially clean in order to concecrate them to Adonai. ¹⁸ Although a great multitude of the people—many of them from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun—had not purified themselves, they still ate the Passover lamb contrary to what is written.

But Hezekiah prayed for them saying: “May Adonai who is good, atone for ¹⁹ every one who prepares his heart to seek Adonai, the God of his fathers, even though he is not pure according to rules of the sanctuary.” ²⁰ Adonai heard Hezekiah and healed the people.

²¹ So the children of Israel who were present in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Matzot for seven days with great gladness. The Levites and the kohanim were praising Adonai every day with loud instruments for Adonai. ²² Then Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who demonstrated good understanding of the service of Adonai. For seven days they ate their assigned portions while sacrificing peace offerings and praising Adonai, the God of their fathers.

²³ Then the whole congregation decided to celebrate seven more days—so for another seven days they celebrated with gladness. ²⁴ Hezekiah king of Judah contributed 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep to the congregation, and the officials contributed 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep to the congregation, and great numbers of kohanim consecrated themselves. ²⁵ The entire assembly of Judah rejoiced with the kohanim and the Levites, and all who had assembled from Israel, both the strangers coming from the land of Israel and the residents of Judah. ²⁶ There was great joy in Jerusalem, for nothing like this had happened in Jerusalem since the time of Solomon son of David king of Israel. ²⁷ Then the Levitical kohanim arose and blessed the people, and Adonai heard their voice, for their prayer reached heaven, His holy dwelling place.

Josiah Keeps Pesach

35 Josiah celebrated Passover unto Adonai in Jerusalem. They slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month. ² He reinstated the kohanim to their duties and encouraged them in the service of the House of Adonai. ³ He said to the Levites who taught all Israel and who were consecrated to Adonai, “Put the holy Ark in the House which Solomon the son of King David of Israel built. Since it is no longer a burden on your shoulders now, serve Adonai your God and His people Israel. ⁴ Prepare youselves by your ancestral houses in your divisions, according to the writing of King David of Israel and according to the writing of his son Solomon. ⁵ Stand in the holy place by the divisions of the ancestral houses, by sons of the people and by divisions of ancestral houses of the Levites. ⁶ Now sanctify yourselves, slaughter the Passover lamb and prepare it for your kinsmen, according to the word of Adonai by the hand of Moses.”

⁷ Josiah provided for all the people who were present, flocks of lambs and goats totaling 30,000, all for the Passover offerings, as well as 3,000 bulls—all from the king’s possessions.

⁸ His officials also gave a freewill offering to the people, the kohanim and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah and Jehiel—the administrators of the House of God—donated to the kohanim 2,600 Passover offerings, and 300 bulls. ⁹ Likewise, Conaniah along with Shemaiah and Nethaniel, his brothers, and Hashabiah, Jeiel and Jozabad, leaders of the Levites, provided 5,000 Passover lambs for the Levites and 500 bulls.

¹⁰ So the avodah was prepared and the kohanim stood at their posts with the Levites in their divisions according to the king’s command. ¹¹ They slaughtered the Passover lambs and while the kohanim sprinkled the blood handed to them, the Levites flayed them. ¹² Then they removed the portions to be burnt to give them to the divisions of ancestral houses of the people to present to Adonai, as it is written in the book of Moses. They did the same with the bulls. ¹³ They roasted the Passover lambs with fire according to the ordinance, then boiled the sacred parts in pots, caldrons and pans, and brought them quickly to all the people. ¹⁴ Afterward, they made preparations for themselves and for the kohanim, because the kohanim, the sons of Aaron, were busy sacrificing the burnt offerings and the fat until nightfall. So the Levites made preparations for themselves and for the kohanim, the sons of Aaron.

¹⁵ The singers, the descendants of Asaph, were at their stations according to the commandment of David, Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun, the king’s seer. The gatekeepers were at every gate. They did not need to depart from their posts for their fellow Levites provided for them.

¹⁶ So on that day the entire service of Adonai was prepared to keep the Passover and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of Adonai according to the command of King Josiah. ¹⁷ The Bnei-Yisrael present celebrated the Passover at that time and observed the Feast of Matzot for seven days. ¹⁸ Passover had not been celebrated like that in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet, and none of the kings of Israel had ever celebrated such a Passover as Josiah did with the kohanim, the Levites, all Judah and Israel who were present and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁹ This Passover was celebrated in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah.

Death of Josiah

²⁰ After all this, when Josiah had set the House in order, King Neco of Egypt came up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates and Josiah went out to engage him. ²¹ But Neco sent messengers to him saying, “What is there between me and you, king of Judah? I am not coming against you today but against the house that wars with me and God has ordered me to hurry. Stop for your sake from meddling with God who is with me, so that He will not destroy you!”

²² Josiah, however, would not turn away from him but disguised himself in order to fight him. He did not listen to Neco’s words from the mouth of God and went to fight him in the plain of Megiddo. ²³ Archers shot King Josiah and the king said to his servants, “Take me away, for I am seriously wounded.” ²⁴ So his servants carried him out of the chariot and put him in the second chariot that he had. They brought him to Jerusalem where he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned over Josiah.

²⁵ Now Jeremiah composed laments for Josiah, and to this day all the singers, male and female, commemorated Josiah in their laments. And they made them an ordinance in Israel and behold, they are written in the lamentations. ²⁶ Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his deeds of devotion as written in the Torah of Adonai, ²⁷ and his acts, the first and the last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.