Offerings of Dedication

7 On the day Moses set up the Tabernacle, he anointed it and set it apart as holy. He also anointed and set apart all its furnishings and the altar with its utensils. ² Then the leaders of Israel—the tribal leaders who had registered the troops—came and brought their offerings. ³ Together they brought six large wagons and twelve oxen. There was a wagon for every two leaders and an ox for each leader. They presented these to the Lord in front of the Tabernacle.

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, ⁵ “Receive their gifts, and use these oxen and wagons for transporting the Tabernacle.^[a] Distribute them among the Levites according to the work they have to do.” ⁶ So Moses took the wagons and oxen and presented them to the Levites. ⁷ He gave two wagons and four oxen to the Gershonite division for their work, ⁸ and he gave four wagons and eight oxen to the Merarite division for their work. All their work was done under the leadership of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest. ⁹ But he gave none of the wagons or oxen to the Kohathite division, since they were required to carry the sacred objects of the Tabernacle on their shoulders.

¹⁰ The leaders also presented dedication gifts for the altar at the time it was anointed. They each placed their gifts before the altar. ¹¹ The Lord said to Moses, “Let one leader bring his gift each day for the dedication of the altar.”

¹² On the first day Nahshon son of Amminadab, leader of the tribe of Judah, presented his offering.

¹³ His offering consisted of a silver platter weighing 3 1⁄4 pounds and a silver basin weighing 1 3⁄4 pounds^[b] (as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel). These were both filled with grain offerings of choice flour moistened with olive oil. ¹⁴ He also brought a gold container weighing four ounces,^[c] which was filled with incense. ¹⁵ He brought a young bull, a ram, and a one-year-old male lamb for a burnt offering, ¹⁶ and a male goat for a sin offering. ¹⁷ For a peace offering he brought two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five one-year-old male lambs. This was the offering brought by Nahshon son of Amminadab.

¹⁸ On the second day Nethanel son of Zuar, leader of the tribe of Issachar, presented his offering.

¹⁹ His offering consisted of a silver platter weighing 3 1⁄4 pounds and a silver basin weighing 1 3⁄4 pounds (as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel). These were both filled with grain offerings of choice flour moistened with olive oil. ²⁰ He also brought a gold container weighing four ounces, which was filled with incense. ²¹ He brought a young bull, a ram, and a one-year-old male lamb for a burnt offering, ²² and a male goat for a sin offering. ²³ For a peace offering he brought two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five one-year-old male lambs. This was the offering brought by Nethanel son of Zuar.

²⁴ On the third day Eliab son of Helon, leader of the tribe of Zebulun, presented his offering.

²⁵ His offering consisted of a silver platter weighing 3 1⁄4 pounds and a silver basin weighing 1 3⁄4 pounds (as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel). These were both filled with grain offerings of choice flour moistened with olive oil. ²⁶ He also brought a gold container weighing four ounces, which was filled with incense. ²⁷ He brought a young bull, a ram, and a one-year-old male lamb for a burnt offering, ²⁸ and a male goat for a sin offering. ²⁹ For a peace offering he brought two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five one-year-old male lambs. This was the offering brought by Eliab son of Helon.

³⁰ On the fourth day Elizur son of Shedeur, leader of the tribe of Reuben, presented his offering.

³¹ His offering consisted of a silver platter weighing 3 1⁄4 pounds and a silver basin weighing 1 3⁄4 pounds (as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel). These were both filled with grain offerings of choice flour moistened with olive oil. ³² He also brought a gold container weighing four ounces, which was filled with incense. ³³ He brought a young bull, a ram, and a one-year-old male lamb for a burnt offering, ³⁴ and a male goat for a sin offering. ³⁵ For a peace offering he brought two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five one-year-old male lambs. This was the offering brought by Elizur son of Shedeur.

³⁶ On the fifth day Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai, leader of the tribe of Simeon, presented his offering.

³⁷ His offering consisted of a silver platter weighing 3 1⁄4 pounds and a silver basin weighing 1 3⁄4 pounds (as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel). These were both filled with grain offerings of choice flour moistened with olive oil. ³⁸ He also brought a gold container weighing four ounces, which was filled with incense. ³⁹ He brought a young bull, a ram, and a one-year-old male lamb for a burnt offering, ⁴⁰ and a male goat for a sin offering. ⁴¹ For a peace offering he brought two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five one-year-old male lambs. This was the offering brought by Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai.

⁴² On the sixth day Eliasaph son of Deuel, leader of the tribe of Gad, presented his offering.

⁴³ His offering consisted of a silver platter weighing 3 1⁄4 pounds and a silver basin weighing 1 3⁄4 pounds (as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel). These were both filled with grain offerings of choice flour moistened with olive oil. ⁴⁴ He also brought a gold container weighing four ounces, which was filled with incense. ⁴⁵ He brought a young bull, a ram, and a one-year-old male lamb for a burnt offering, ⁴⁶ and a male goat for a sin offering. ⁴⁷ For a peace offering he brought two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five one-year-old male lambs. This was the offering brought by Eliasaph son of Deuel.

⁴⁸ On the seventh day Elishama son of Ammihud, leader of the tribe of Ephraim, presented his offering.

⁴⁹ His offering consisted of a silver platter weighing 3 1⁄4 pounds and a silver basin weighing 1 3⁄4 pounds (as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel). These were both filled with grain offerings of choice flour moistened with olive oil. ⁵⁰ He also brought a gold container weighing four ounces, which was filled with incense. ⁵¹ He brought a young bull, a ram, and a one-year-old male lamb for a burnt offering, ⁵² and a male goat for a sin offering. ⁵³ For a peace offering he brought two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five one-year-old male lambs. This was the offering brought by Elishama son of Ammihud.

⁵⁴ On the eighth day Gamaliel son of Pedahzur, leader of the tribe of Manasseh, presented his offering.

⁵⁵ His offering consisted of a silver platter weighing 3 1⁄4 pounds and a silver basin weighing 1 3⁄4 pounds (as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel). These were both filled with grain offerings of choice flour moistened with olive oil. ⁵⁶ He also brought a gold container weighing four ounces, which was filled with incense. ⁵⁷ He brought a young bull, a ram, and a one-year-old male lamb for a burnt offering, ⁵⁸ and a male goat for a sin offering. ⁵⁹ For a peace offering he brought two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five one-year-old male lambs. This was the offering brought by Gamaliel son of Pedahzur.

⁶⁰ On the ninth day Abidan son of Gideoni, leader of the tribe of Benjamin, presented his offering.

⁶¹ His offering consisted of a silver platter weighing 3 1⁄4 pounds and a silver basin weighing 1 3⁄4 pounds (as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel). These were both filled with grain offerings of choice flour moistened with olive oil. ⁶² He also brought a gold container weighing four ounces, which was filled with incense. ⁶³ He brought a young bull, a ram, and a one-year-old male lamb for a burnt offering, ⁶⁴ and a male goat for a sin offering. ⁶⁵ For a peace offering he brought two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five one-year-old male lambs. This was the offering brought by Abidan son of Gideoni.

⁶⁶ On the tenth day Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai, leader of the tribe of Dan, presented his offering.

⁶⁷ His offering consisted of a silver platter weighing 3 1⁄4 pounds and a silver basin weighing 1 3⁄4 pounds (as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel). These were both filled with grain offerings of choice flour moistened with olive oil. ⁶⁸ He also brought a gold container weighing four ounces, which was filled with incense. ⁶⁹ He brought a young bull, a ram, and a one-year-old male lamb for a burnt offering, ⁷⁰ and a male goat for a sin offering. ⁷¹ For a peace offering he brought two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five one-year-old male lambs. This was the offering brought by Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai.

⁷² On the eleventh day Pagiel son of Ocran, leader of the tribe of Asher, presented his offering.

⁷³ His offering consisted of a silver platter weighing 3 1⁄4 pounds and a silver basin weighing 1 3⁄4 pounds (as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel). These were both filled with grain offerings of choice flour moistened with olive oil. ⁷⁴ He also brought a gold container weighing four ounces, which was filled with incense. ⁷⁵ He brought a young bull, a ram, and a one-year-old male lamb for a burnt offering, ⁷⁶ and a male goat for a sin offering. ⁷⁷ For a peace offering he brought two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five one-year-old male lambs. This was the offering brought by Pagiel son of Ocran.

⁷⁸ On the twelfth day Ahira son of Enan, leader of the tribe of Naphtali, presented his offering.

⁷⁹ His offering consisted of a silver platter weighing 3 1⁄4 pounds and a silver basin weighing 1 3⁄4 pounds (as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel). These were both filled with grain offerings of choice flour moistened with olive oil. ⁸⁰ He also brought a gold container weighing four ounces, which was filled with incense. ⁸¹ He brought a young bull, a ram, and a one-year-old male lamb for a burnt offering, ⁸² and a male goat for a sin offering. ⁸³ For a peace offering he brought two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five one-year-old male lambs. This was the offering brought by Ahira son of Enan.

⁸⁴ So this was the dedication offering brought by the leaders of Israel at the time the altar was anointed: twelve silver platters, twelve silver basins, and twelve gold incense containers. ⁸⁵ Each silver platter weighed 3 1⁄4 pounds, and each silver basin weighed 1 3⁄4 pounds. The total weight of the silver was 60 pounds^[d] (as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel). ⁸⁶ Each of the twelve gold containers that was filled with incense weighed four ounces (as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel). The total weight of the gold was three pounds.^{[e] 87} Twelve young bulls, twelve rams, and twelve one-year-old male lambs were donated for the burnt offerings, along with their prescribed grain offerings. Twelve male goats were brought for the sin offerings. ⁸⁸ Twenty-four bulls, sixty rams, sixty male goats, and sixty one-year-old male lambs were donated for the peace offerings. This was the dedication offering for the altar after it was anointed.

⁸⁹ Whenever Moses went into the Tabernacle to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim above the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—that rests on the Ark of the Covenant.^[f] The Lord spoke to him from there.

Josiah’s Religious Reforms

23 Then the king summoned all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. ² And the king went up to the Temple of the Lord with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, along with the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. There the king read to them the entire Book of the Covenant that had been found in the Lord’s Temple. ³ The king took his place of authority beside the pillar and renewed the covenant in the Lord’s presence. He pledged to obey the Lord by keeping all his commands, laws, and decrees with all his heart and soul. In this way, he confirmed all the terms of the covenant that were written in the scroll, and all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.

⁴ Then the king instructed Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second rank and the Temple gatekeepers to remove from the Lord’s Temple all the articles that were used to worship Baal, Asherah, and all the powers of the heavens. The king had all these things burned outside Jerusalem on the terraces of the Kidron Valley, and he carried the ashes away to Bethel. ⁵ He did away with the idolatrous priests, who had been appointed by the previous kings of Judah, for they had offered sacrifices at the pagan shrines throughout Judah and even in the vicinity of Jerusalem. They had also offered sacrifices to Baal, and to the sun, the moon, the constellations, and to all the powers of the heavens. ⁶ The king removed the Asherah pole from the Lord’s Temple and took it outside Jerusalem to the Kidron Valley, where he burned it. Then he ground the ashes of the pole to dust and threw the dust over the graves of the people. ⁷ He also tore down the living quarters of the male and female shrine prostitutes that were inside the Temple of the Lord, where the women wove coverings for the Asherah pole.

⁸ Josiah brought to Jerusalem all the priests who were living in other towns of Judah. He also defiled the pagan shrines, where they had offered sacrifices—all the way from Geba to Beersheba. He destroyed the shrines at the entrance to the gate of Joshua, the governor of Jerusalem. This gate was located to the left of the city gate as one enters the city. ⁹ The priests who had served at the pagan shrines were not allowed to serve at^[a] the Lord’s altar in Jerusalem, but they were allowed to eat unleavened bread with the other priests.

¹⁰ Then the king defiled the altar of Topheth in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, so no one could ever again use it to sacrifice a son or daughter in the fire^[b] as an offering to Molech. ¹¹ He removed from the entrance of the Lord’s Temple the horse statues that the former kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were near the quarters of Nathan-melech the eunuch, an officer of the court.^[c] The king also burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.

¹² Josiah tore down the altars that the kings of Judah had built on the palace roof above the upper room of Ahaz. The king destroyed the altars that Manasseh had built in the two courtyards of the Lord’s Temple. He smashed them to bits^[d] and scattered the pieces in the Kidron Valley. ¹³ The king also desecrated the pagan shrines east of Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Corruption, where King Solomon of Israel had built shrines for Ashtoreth, the detestable goddess of the Sidonians; and for Chemosh, the detestable god of the Moabites; and for Molech,^[e] the vile god of the Ammonites. ¹⁴ He smashed the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah poles. Then he desecrated these places by scattering human bones over them.

¹⁵ The king also tore down the altar at Bethel—the pagan shrine that Jeroboam son of Nebat had made when he caused Israel to sin. He burned down the shrine and ground it to dust, and he burned the Asherah pole. ¹⁶ Then Josiah turned around and noticed several tombs in the side of the hill. He ordered that the bones be brought out, and he burned them on the altar at Bethel to desecrate it. (This happened just as the Lord had promised through the man of God when Jeroboam stood beside the altar at the festival.)

Then Josiah turned and looked up at the tomb of the man of God^[f] who had predicted these things. ¹⁷ “What is that monument over there?” Josiah asked.

And the people of the town told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted the very things that you have just done to the altar at Bethel!”

¹⁸ Josiah replied, “Leave it alone. Don’t disturb his bones.” So they did not burn his bones or those of the old prophet from Samaria.

¹⁹ Then Josiah demolished all the buildings at the pagan shrines in the towns of Samaria, just as he had done at Bethel. They had been built by the various kings of Israel and had made the Lord^[g] very angry. ²⁰ He executed the priests of the pagan shrines on their own altars, and he burned human bones on the altars to desecrate them. Finally, he returned to Jerusalem.

Josiah Celebrates Passover

²¹ King Josiah then issued this order to all the people: “You must celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, as required in this Book of the Covenant.” ²² There had not been a Passover celebration like that since the time when the judges ruled in Israel, nor throughout all the years of the kings of Israel and Judah. ²³ But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s reign, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.

²⁴ Josiah also got rid of the mediums and psychics, the household gods, the idols,^[h] and every other kind of detestable practice, both in Jerusalem and throughout the land of Judah. He did this in obedience to the laws written in the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had found in the Lord’s Temple. ²⁵ Never before had there been a king like Josiah, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and soul and strength, obeying all the laws of Moses. And there has never been a king like him since.

²⁶ Even so, the Lord was very angry with Judah because of all the wicked things Manasseh had done to provoke him. ²⁷ For the Lord said, “I will also banish Judah from my presence just as I have banished Israel. And I will reject my chosen city of Jerusalem and the Temple where my name was to be honored.”

²⁸ The rest of the events in Josiah’s reign and all his deeds are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah.

²⁹ While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, went to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah and his army marched out to fight him,^[i] but King Neco^[j] killed him when they met at Megiddo. ³⁰ Josiah’s officers took his body back in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. Then the people of the land anointed Josiah’s son Jehoahaz and made him the next king.

Jehoahaz Rules in Judah

³¹ Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. ³² He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, just as his ancestors had done.

³³ Pharaoh Neco put Jehoahaz in prison at Riblah in the land of Hamath to prevent him from ruling^[k] in Jerusalem. He also demanded that Judah pay 7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold^[l] as tribute.

Jehoiakim Rules in Judah

³⁴ Pharaoh Neco then installed Eliakim, another of Josiah’s sons, to reign in place of his father, and he changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. Jehoahaz was taken to Egypt as a prisoner, where he died.

³⁵ In order to get the silver and gold demanded as tribute by Pharaoh Neco, Jehoiakim collected a tax from the people of Judah, requiring them to pay in proportion to their wealth.

³⁶ Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother was Zebidah, the daughter of Pedaiah from Rumah. ³⁷ He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, just as his ancestors had done.

Respect for Authority

13 Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. ² So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished. ³ For the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong. Would you like to live without fear of the authorities? Do what is right, and they will honor you. ⁴ The authorities are God’s servants, sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are God’s servants, sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong. ⁵ So you must submit to them, not only to avoid punishment, but also to keep a clear conscience.

⁶ Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid. They are serving God in what they do. ⁷ Give to everyone what you owe them: Pay your taxes and government fees to those who collect them, and give respect and honor to those who are in authority.

Love Fulfills God’s Requirements

⁸ Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. ⁹ For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.”^[a] These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”^{[b] 10} Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.

¹¹ This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. ¹² The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living. ¹³ Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy. ¹⁴ Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.

Psalm 136