¹⁰ and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos,^[a] and Amos^[b] the father of Josiah,^(A)

³³ Hezekiah slept with his ancestors, and they buried him on the ascent to the tombs of the descendants of David, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honor at his death. His son Manasseh succeeded him.^(A)

Reign of Manasseh

33 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.^{(B) 2} He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominable practices of the nations whom the Lord had driven out before the people of Israel.^{(C) 3} For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had pulled down and erected altars to the Baals, made sacred poles,^[a] worshiped all the host of heaven, and served them.^{(D) 4} He built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem shall my name be forever.”^{(E) 5} He built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord.^{(F) 6} He made his son pass through fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom, practiced soothsaying and augury and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and with wizards. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.^{(G) 7} The carved image of the idol that he had made he set in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever;^{(H) 8} I will never again remove the feet of Israel from the land that I appointed for your ancestors, if only they will be careful to do all that I have commanded them, all the law, the statutes, and the ordinances given through Moses.”^{(I) 9} Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that they did more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the people of Israel.

Manasseh Restored after Repentance

¹⁰ The Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they gave no heed. ¹¹ Therefore the Lord brought against them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh captive in manacles, bound him with fetters, and brought him to Babylon.^{(J) 12} While he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors.^{(K) 13} He prayed to him, and God received his entreaty, heard his plea, and restored him again to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord indeed was God.^(L)

¹⁴ Afterward he built an outer wall for the city of David west of Gihon, in the valley, reaching the entrance at the Fish Gate; he carried it around Ophel and raised it to a very great height. He also put commanders of the army in all the fortified cities in Judah.^{(M) 15} He took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the Lord and all the altars that he had built on the mountain of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem, and he threw them out of the city.^{(N) 16} He also restored the altar of the Lord and offered on it sacrifices of well-being and of thanksgiving, and he commanded Judah to serve the Lord the God of Israel. ¹⁷ The people, however, still sacrificed at the high places, but only to the Lord their God.^(O)

Death of Manasseh

¹⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, these are in the Annals of the Kings of Israel.^{(P) 19} His prayer, and how God received his entreaty, all his sin and his faithlessness, the sites on which he built high places and set up the sacred poles^[b] and the images, before he humbled himself, these are written in the records of the seers.^{[c](Q) 20} So Manasseh slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in his house. His son Amon succeeded him.^(R)

Amon’s Reign and Death

²¹ Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; he reigned two years in Jerusalem.^{(S) 22} He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done. Amon sacrificed to all the images that his father Manasseh had made and served them.^{(T) 23} He did not humble himself before the Lord, as his father Manasseh had humbled himself, but this Amon incurred more and more guilt.^{(U) 24} His servants conspired against him and killed him in his house.^{(V) 25} But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made his son Josiah king to succeed him.

Reign of Josiah

34 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem.^{(W) 2} He did what was right in the sight of the Lord and walked in the ways of his ancestor David; he did not turn aside to the right or to the left. ³ For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still a boy, he began to seek the God of his ancestor David, and in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the sacred poles,^[d] and the carved and the cast images.^{(X) 4} In his presence they pulled down the altars of the Baals; he demolished the incense altars that stood above them. He broke down the sacred poles^[e] and the carved and the cast images; he made dust of them and scattered it over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.^{(Y) 5} He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.^{(Z) 6} In the towns of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, in their ruins^[f] all around,^{(AA) 7} he broke down the altars, beat the sacred poles^[g] and the images into powder, and demolished all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.^(AB)

Discovery of the Book of the Law

⁸ In the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had cleansed the land and the house, he sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the house of the Lord his God.^{(AC) 9} They came to the high priest Hilkiah and delivered the silver that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the keepers of the threshold, had collected from Manasseh and Ephraim and from all the remnant of Israel and from all Judah and Benjamin and from the inhabitants of Jerusalem.^{(AD) 10} They delivered it to the workers who had the oversight of the house of the Lord, and the workers who were working in the house of the Lord gave it for repairing and restoring the house. ¹¹ They gave it to the carpenters and the builders to buy quarried stone, and timber for binders, and beams for the buildings that the kings of Judah had let go to ruin.^{(AE) 12} The people did the work faithfully. Over them were appointed the Levites Jahath and Obadiah, of the sons of Merari, along with Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to have oversight. Other Levites, all skillful with instruments of music,^{(AF) 13} were over the burden bearers and directed all who did work in every kind of service, and some of the Levites were scribes, and officials, and gatekeepers.^(AG)

¹⁴ While they were bringing out the silver that had been brought into the house of the Lord, the priest Hilkiah found the book of the law of the Lord given through Moses.^{(AH) 15} Hilkiah said to the secretary Shaphan, “I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord,” and Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan. ¹⁶ Shaphan brought the book to the king and further reported to the king, “All that was committed to your servants they are doing.^{(AI) 17} They have emptied out the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers and the workers.” ¹⁸ The secretary Shaphan informed the king, “The priest Hilkiah has given me a book.” Shaphan then read it aloud to the king.

¹⁹ When the king heard the words of the law, he tore his clothes.^{(AJ) 20} Then the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, the secretary Shaphan, and the king’s servant Asaiah, ²¹ “Go, inquire of the Lord for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been found, for the wrath of the Lord that is poured out on us is great, because our ancestors did not keep the word of the Lord, to act in accordance with all that is written in this book.”^(AK)

The Prophet Huldah Consulted

²² So Hilkiah and those whom the king had sent went to the prophet Huldah, the wife of Shallum son of Tokhath son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe (who lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter) and spoke to her to that effect.^{(AL) 23} She declared to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Tell the man who sent you to me: ²⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord: I will indeed bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book that was read before the king of Judah.^{(AM) 25} Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, so that they have provoked me to anger with all the works of their hands, my wrath will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched.’^{(AN) 26} But as to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Regarding the words that you have heard, ²⁷ because your heart was penitent and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, says the Lord.^{(AO) 28} I will gather you to your ancestors and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring on this place and its inhabitants.’ ” They took the message back to the king.

The Covenant Renewed

²⁹ Then the king sent word and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.^{(AP) 30} The king went up to the house of the Lord, with all the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the Levites, all the people both great and small; he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord.^{(AQ) 31} The king stood in his place and made a covenant before the Lord, to follow the Lord, keeping his commandments, his decrees, and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book.^{(AR) 32} Then he made all who were present in Jerusalem and in Benjamin pledge themselves to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem acted according to the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors. ³³ Josiah took away all the abominations from all the territory that belonged to the people of Israel and made all who were in Israel serve the Lord their God. All his days they did not turn away from following the Lord the God of their ancestors.^(AS)

Celebration of the Passover

35 Josiah kept a Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem; they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month.^{(AT) 2} He appointed the priests to their offices and encouraged them in the service of the house of the Lord.^{(AU) 3} He said to the Levites who taught all Israel and who were holy to the Lord, “Put the holy ark in the house that Solomon son of David, king of Israel, built; you need no longer carry it on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and his people Israel.^{(AV) 4} Make preparations by your ancestral houses by your divisions, following the written directions of King David of Israel and the written directions of his son Solomon.^{(AW) 5} Take position in the holy place according to the groupings of the ancestral houses of your kindred the people, and let there be Levites for each division of an ancestral house.^{[h](AX) 6} Slaughter the Passover lamb, sanctify yourselves, and on behalf of your kindred make preparations, acting according to the word of the Lord by Moses.”^(AY)

⁷ Then Josiah contributed to the people, as Passover offerings for all who were present, lambs and kids from the flock to the number of thirty thousand and three thousand bulls; these were from the king’s possessions.^{(AZ) 8} His officials contributed willingly to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the chief officers of the house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings two thousand six hundred lambs and kids and three hundred bulls. ⁹ Conaniah also, and his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, the chiefs of the Levites, gave to the Levites for the Passover offerings five thousand lambs and kids and five hundred bulls.^(BA)

¹⁰ When the service had been prepared, the priests stood in their place and the Levites in their divisions according to the king’s command.^{(BB) 11} They slaughtered the Passover lamb, and the priests dashed the blood that they received^[i] from them, while the Levites did the skinning.^{(BC) 12} They set aside the burnt offerings so that they might distribute them according to the groupings of the ancestral houses of the people, to offer to the Lord, as it is written in the book of Moses. And they did the same with the bulls. ¹³ They roasted the Passover lamb with fire according to the ordinance, and they boiled the holy offerings in pots, in caldrons, and in pans and carried them quickly to all the people.^{(BD) 14} Afterward they made preparations for themselves and for the priests, because the priests the descendants of Aaron were occupied in offering the burnt offerings and the fat parts until night, so the Levites made preparations for themselves and for the priests, the descendants of Aaron. ¹⁵ The singers, the descendants of Asaph, were in their place according to the command of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and the king’s seer Jeduthun. The gatekeepers were at each gate; they did not need to interrupt their service, for their kindred the Levites made preparations for them.^(BE)

¹⁶ So all the service of the Lord was prepared that day, to keep the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, according to the command of King Josiah. ¹⁷ The people of Israel who were present kept the Passover at that time and the Festival of Unleavened Bread seven days.^{(BF) 18} No Passover like it had been kept in Israel since the days of the prophet Samuel; none of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as was kept by Josiah, by the priests and the Levites, by all Judah and Israel who were present, and by the inhabitants of Jerusalem.^{(BG) 19} In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah, this Passover was kept.

Defeat by Pharaoh Neco and Death of Josiah

²⁰ After all this, when Josiah had set the temple in order, King Neco of Egypt went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out against him.^{(BH) 21} But Neco^[j] sent envoys to him, saying, “What have I to do with you, king of Judah? I am not coming against you today but against the house with which I am at war, and God has commanded me to hurry. Cease opposing God, who is with me, so that he will not destroy you.” ²² But Josiah would not turn away from him but disguised himself in order to fight with him. He did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God but joined battle in the plain of Megiddo.^{(BI) 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 in his second chariot^[k] and brought him to Jerusalem. There he died and was buried in the tombs of his ancestors. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.^{(BJ) 25} Jeremiah also uttered a lament for Josiah, and all the singing men and singing women have spoken of Josiah in their laments to this day. They made these a custom in Israel; they are recorded in the Laments.^{(BK) 26} Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his faithful deeds in accordance with what is written in the law of the Lord ²⁷ and his acts, first and last, are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

² to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of King Josiah son of Amon of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.^{(A) 3} It came also in the days of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah until the end of the eleventh year of King Zedekiah son of Josiah of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month.^(B)

¹³ Ahaz his son, Hezekiah his son, Manasseh his son, ¹⁴ Amon his son, Josiah his son. ¹⁵ The sons of Josiah: Johanan the firstborn, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum.

³ Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the Lord, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, for all that he had committed,^{(A) 4} and also for the innocent blood that he had shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord was not willing to pardon.^(B)

²¹ Hezekiah slept with his ancestors, and his son Manasseh succeeded him.^(A)

Manasseh Reigns over Judah

21 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.^{(B) 2} He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, following the abominable practices of the nations that the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.^{(C) 3} For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he erected altars for Baal, made a sacred pole,^[a] as King Ahab of Israel had done, worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.^{(D) 4} He built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put my name.”^{(E) 5} He built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. ⁶ He made his son pass through fire; he practiced soothsaying and augury and dealt with mediums and with wizards. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.^{(F) 7} The carved image of Asherah that he had made he set in the house of which the Lord said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever;^{(G) 8} I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander any more out of the land that I gave to their ancestors, if only they will be careful to do according to all that I have commanded them and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.”^{(H) 9} But they did not listen; Manasseh misled them to do more evil than the nations had done that the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel.^(I)

¹⁰ The Lord said by his servants the prophets, ¹¹ “Because King Manasseh of Judah has committed these abominations, has done things more wicked than all that the Amorites who were before him did, and has caused Judah also to sin with his idols,^{(J) 12} therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such evil that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle.^{(K) 13} I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line for Samaria and the plummet for the house of Ahab; I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.^{(L) 14} I will cast off the remnant of my heritage and give them into the hand of their enemies; 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 ancestors came out of Egypt even to this day.”

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

¹⁷ Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, all that he did and the sin that he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah?^{(N) 18} Manasseh slept with his ancestors and was buried in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza. His son Amon succeeded him.^(O)

Amon Reigns over Judah

¹⁹ Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.^{(P) 20} He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done.^{(Q) 21} He walked in all the way in which his father walked, served the idols that his father served, and worshiped them; ²² he abandoned the Lord, the God of his ancestors, and did not walk in the way of the Lord.^{(R) 23} The servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his house.^{(S) 24} But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made his son Josiah king in place of him. ²⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Amon that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah? ²⁶ He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza; then his son Josiah succeeded him.^(T)

Josiah Reigns over Judah

22 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath.^{(U) 2} He did what was right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the way of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.^(V)

Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law

³ In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan son of Azaliah son of Meshullam, the secretary, to the house of the Lord, saying,^{(W) 4} “Go up to the high priest Hilkiah and have him add up the entire sum of the silver that has been brought into the house of the Lord that the keepers of the threshold have collected from the people;^{(X) 5} let it be given into the hand of the workers who have the oversight of the house of the Lord; let them give it to the workers who are at the house of the Lord repairing the house,^{(Y) 6} that is, to the carpenters, to the builders, to the masons; and let them use it to buy timber and quarried stone to repair the house. ⁷ But no accounting shall be asked from them for the silver that is delivered into their hand, for they deal honestly.”^(Z)

⁸ The high priest Hilkiah said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord.” When Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, he read it.^{(AA) 9} Then Shaphan the secretary came to the king and reported to the king, “Your servants have melted down the silver that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workers who have oversight of the house of the Lord.” ¹⁰ Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “The priest Hilkiah has given me a book.” Shaphan then read it aloud to the king.

¹¹ When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes. ¹² Then the king commanded the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary, and the king’s servant Asaiah, saying,^{(AB) 13} “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found, for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our ancestors did not obey the words of this book to do according to all that is written concerning us.”^(AC)

¹⁴ So the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the prophet Huldah the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; she resided in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter, where they consulted her.^{(AD) 15} She declared to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Tell the man who sent you to me: ¹⁶ ‘Thus says the Lord: I will indeed bring disaster on this place and on its inhabitants—all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. ¹⁷ Because they have abandoned me and have made offerings to other gods, so that they have provoked me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched.’^{(AE) 18} But as to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him: ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, ¹⁹ because your heart was penitent and you humbled yourself before the Lord, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and because you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, says the Lord.^{(AF) 20} Therefore, I will gather you to your ancestors, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring on this place.’ ” They took the message back to the king.

Josiah’s Reformation

23 Then the king directed that all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem should be gathered to him.^{(AG) 2} The king went up to the house of the Lord, and with him went all the people of Judah, all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests, the prophets, and all the people, both small and great; he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord.^{(AH) 3} The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to follow the Lord, keeping his commandments, his decrees, and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. All the people joined in the covenant.^(AI)

⁴ The king commanded the high priest Hilkiah, the priests of the second order, and the guardians of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel.^{(AJ) 5} He deposed the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem, those also who made offerings to Baal, to the sun, the moon, the constellations, and all the host of the heavens. ⁶ He brought out the image of^[b] Asherah from the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem, to the Wadi Kidron, burned it at the Wadi Kidron, beat it to dust, and threw the dust of it upon the graves of the common people.^{(AK) 7} He broke down the houses of the illicit priests who were in the house of the Lord, where the women did weaving for Asherah.^{(AL) 8} He brought all the priests out of the towns of Judah and defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings, from Geba to Beer-sheba; he broke 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 the left at the gate of the city.^{(AM) 9} The priests of the high places, however, did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem but ate unleavened bread among their kindred.^{(AN) 10} He defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of Ben-hinnom, so that no one would make a son or a daughter pass through fire as an offering to Molech.^{(AO) 11} He removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun at the entrance to the house of the Lord, by the chamber of the eunuch Nathan-melech, which was in the precincts;^[c] then he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. ¹² The altars on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz that the kings of Judah had made and the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord he pulled down from there and broke in pieces and threw the rubble into the Wadi Kidron.^{(AP) 13} The king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Destruction, which King Solomon of Israel had built for Astarte the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.^{(AQ) 14} He broke the pillars in pieces, cut down the sacred poles,^[d] and covered the sites with human bones.^(AR)

¹⁵ Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin—he pulled down that altar along with the high place. He burned the high place, crushing it to dust; he also burned the sacred pole.^{[e](AS) 16} As Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount, and he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it, according to the word of the Lord that the man of God proclaimed when Jeroboam stood by the altar at the festival; he turned and looked up at the tomb of the man of God who had proclaimed these things.^{[f](AT) 17} Then he said, “What is that monument that I see?” The people of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things that you have done against the altar at Bethel.”^{(AU) 18} He said, “Let him rest; let no one move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria.^{(AV) 19} Moreover, Josiah removed all the shrines of the high places that were in the towns of Samaria that kings of Israel had made, provoking the Lord to anger; he did to them just as he had done at Bethel.^{(AW) 20} He slaughtered on the altars all the priests of the high places who were there and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.^(AX)

The Passover Celebrated

²¹ The king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover to the Lord your God as prescribed in this book of the covenant.”^{(AY) 22} No such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, even during all the days of the kings of Israel and of the kings of Judah,^{(AZ) 23} but in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem.

²⁴ Moreover, Josiah put away the mediums, wizards, teraphim,^[g] idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, so that he established the words of the law that were written in the book that the priest Hilkiah had found in the house of the Lord.^{(BA) 25} Before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.^(BB)

²⁶ Still the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of his great wrath by which his anger was kindled against Judah because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him.^{(BC) 27} The Lord said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will reject this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, ‘My name shall be there.’ ”^(BD)

Josiah Dies in Battle

²⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah? ²⁹ In his days Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the River Euphrates. King Josiah went to meet him, but when Pharaoh Neco met him at Megiddo, he killed him.^{(BE) 30} His servants carried him dead in a chariot from Megiddo, brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. The people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah, anointed him, and made him king in place of his father.^(BF)

² And he cried out against the altar by the word of the Lord and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: A son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who offer incense on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.”^(A)