Beginning

Josiah’s Covenant

23 At this, the king sent for and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. ² The king went up to the Lord’s Temple, accompanied by all the men of Judah, everyone who lived in Jerusalem, the priests, the prophets, and everyone—including those who were unimportant and those who were important—and he read to them everything written in the Book of the Covenant that had been discovered in the Lord’s Temple. ³ The king stood beside a pillar and made a covenant in the presence of the Lord: to follow after the Lord, to keep his commandments, his testimonies, and his statutes with all of his heart and soul, and to carry out what was written in the covenant contained in the book. All the people consented to enter into the covenant.

Josiah Abolishes Idolatry

⁴ The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of the secondary order, and the doorkeepers to take out of the Lord’s Temple all of the implements that had been crafted for Baal, for Asherah, and for every star in the heavens. Then he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried the ashes to Bethel. ⁵ The king unseated the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense in the high places throughout the cities of Judah and in the environs surrounding Jerusalem, including those who had been burning incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to every star in the heavens. ⁶ He brought the Asherah from the Lord’s Temple to the Kidron Brook outside Jerusalem, burned it at the Kidron brook, pulverized the ashes^[a] to dust, and scattered it^[b] over the graves of the common people.

⁷ He also demolished the temples of the cultic male prostitutes that had been operating^[c] in the Lord’s Temple, where the women had been doing weaving for the Asherah. ⁸ Then he gathered together all the priests from the cities of Judah and defiled the high places from Geba to Beer-sheba, where the priests had burned incense. He also demolished the high places of the gates that had been erected to the left as one enters the city gate—that is, near the entrance operated by Joshua, the governor of the city. ⁹ Nevertheless, the priests of the high places did not approach the Lord’s altar in Jerusalem, but instead they ate unleavened bread given to them by their^[d] relatives.

¹⁰ He also defiled Topheth, which is located in the Ben-hinnom Valley,^[e] so that no one would force his son or daughter to pass through the fire in dedication to Molech. ¹¹ He abolished the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun at the entrance to the Lord’s Temple, near the offices of Nathan-melech, the official, that were in the precincts. He also set fire to the chariots of the sun.

¹² The king demolished the rooftop altars on top of Ahaz’s upper chamber that the kings of Judah had erected, as well as the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courts of the Lord’s Temple. He pulverized them where they stood and cast their dust into the Kidron Brook. ¹³ The king defiled the high places which faced^[f] Jerusalem on the south^[g] side of Corruption Mountain, which King Solomon of Israel had constructed for Ashtoreth, the Sidonian abomination, for Chemosh, the Moabite abomination, and for Milcom, the Ammonite abomination. ¹⁴ He broke the pillars to pieces, cut down the Asherim, and filled their locations with human bones.

¹⁵ Furthermore, he even broke down the altar that had been at Bethel as well as the high place constructed by Nebat’s son Jeroboam, who had caused Israel to sin. He demolished its stones, pulverized them to dust, and burned the Asherah. ¹⁶ As Josiah turned around, he observed the graves located there on the mountain, so he sent for and recovered the bones from the graves and burned them on the altar to defile it, in keeping with the message from the Lord that the godly man had proclaimed when he was declaring these things. ¹⁷ He asked, “What is this monument that I’m looking at?”

The men who lived in that city answered him, “It’s the grave of that godly man who came from Judah and predicted these things that you’ve done against the altar at Bethel!”

¹⁸ Josiah^[h] replied, “Leave him alone. No one is to disturb his bones.” So they preserved his bones undisturbed, along with the bones of the prophet who had come from Samaria. ¹⁹ Josiah also removed all of the temples on the high places that had been in the cities of Samaria and that the kings of Israel had erected, thereby provoking the Lord.^[i] He treated Samaria^[j] just as he had Bethel. ²⁰ After he had slaughtered all the priests who served at the high places and burned their bones on those high places, he returned to Jerusalem.

Josiah Reinstates the Passover

²¹ After this, the king commanded all of the people, “Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, just as it’s prescribed in this Book of the Covenant.” ²² From the days of the judges who ruled in Israel, no Passover had been celebrated like this, not even in all the reigns of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. ²³ In the eighteenth year of the reign of^[k] King Josiah, this Passover was observed in Jerusalem to honor the Lord. ²⁴ Furthermore, Josiah removed the mediums, the necromancers, the household gods,^[l] the idols, and every despicable thing that could be seen in the territory of Judah and in Jerusalem, so that he might confirm the words of the Law that had been written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the Lord’s Temple. ²⁵ There had been no king like him before him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his strength, in obeying everything in the Law of Moses. No king arose like Josiah after him.

²⁶ Even so, the Lord did not turn away from his fierce and great anger that burned against Judah because of everything with which Manasseh had provoked him. ²⁷ The Lord said, “I’m going to remove Judah from my sight as well, just as I’ve removed Israel. I will abandon Jerusalem, this city that I’ve chosen, as well as the Temple, about which I’ve spoken, ‘My Name shall remain there.’”

Pharaoh Neco Kills Josiah

²⁸ Now the rest of Josiah’s actions, including everything that he did, are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? ²⁹ During his reign, Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, marched out toward the Euphrates River to meet the king of Assyria. King Josiah went out to engage him in battle, but Pharaoh Neco^[m] killed him at Megiddo as soon as he saw him. ³⁰ Josiah’s servants drove his corpse in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in a tomb made for him.

Jehoahaz is Anointed King

The people of the land took Josiah’s son Jehoahaz, anointed him, and installed him as king in his father’s place. ³¹ Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king. He reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal. She was the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ³² He practiced what the Lord considered to be evil, just as all of his ancestors had done. ³³ Pharaoh Neco placed him in custody at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, so that he would not reign in Jerusalem, and imposed a tribute of 100 talents^[n] of silver and a talent^[o] of gold.

Jehoiakim is Made King by Pharaoh Neco

³⁴ Pharaoh Neco installed Josiah’s son Eliakim as king to replace his father Josiah and changed his name to Jehoiakim. He transported Jehoahaz off to Egypt, where he died. ³⁵ As a result, Jehoiakim paid the silver and gold tribute^[p] to Pharaoh, but he passed on the costs to the inhabitants of the land in taxes, in keeping with Pharaoh’s orders. He exacted the silver and gold from the people who lived in the land, from each according to his assessment, in order to pay it to Pharaoh Neco. ³⁶ Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother was named Zebidah. She was the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. ³⁷ Eliakim practiced what the Lord considered to be evil, just as his ancestors had done.

Jehoiakim Serves Nebuchadnezzar

24 During his lifetime, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Jehoiakim, who became his vassal for three years, after which he turned against Nebuchadnezzar^[q] and rebelled. ² The Lord sent raiding parties from the Chaldeans, Arameans, Moabites, and Ammonites against Jehoiakim. He sent them against Judah to destroy it, in keeping with the message from the Lord that he had spoken through his servants, the prophets. ³ It was truly by the command of the Lord against Judah that it came, in order to remove them from his sight, because of every sin that Manasseh had committed, ⁴ as well as for the innocent blood that he had shed. He had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord would not forgive them.^{[r] 5} Now the rest of Jehoiakim’s actions, and everything that he undertook, are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? ⁶ Jehoiakim died, as did^[s] his ancestors, and his son Jehoiachin became king in his place. ⁷ The king of Egypt did not leave his territory again, because the king of Babylon had taken everything that belonged to the king of Egypt from the Wadi^[t] of Egypt to the Euphrates River.

Jehoiachin Becomes King

⁸ Jehoiachin became king at the age of eighteen years, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem. His mother was named Hausa. She was the daughter of Elzaphan of Jerusalem. ⁹ He practiced what the Lord considered to be evil, just as his ancestors had done. ¹⁰ At that time, the servants of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Jerusalem and the city was placed under siege. ¹¹ King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came up against the city, along with his servants, who besieged it. ¹² King Jehoiachin of Judah surrendered to the king of Babylon (as did his mother, his servants, his princes, and his officers) during the eighth year of his reign.

Jerusalem’s Citizens are Sent into Exile

¹³ Nebuchadnezzar^[u] carried off from there all of the treasures of the Lord’s Temple, along with the treasures in the king’s palace. He cut into pieces all the gold vessels in the Lord’s Temple that King Solomon of Israel had made, just as the Lord had said would happen.^{[v] 14} Then Nebuchadnezzar sent away into exile all of Jerusalem—all the captains, all the valiant soldiers, 10,000 captives, and all of the craftsmen and ironworkers. Nobody remained except the poorest people of the land. ¹⁵ He sent Jehoiachin into exile to Babylon, along with the king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officials, and the leading men of the land. He took them into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ¹⁶ All 7,000 of the most valiant soldiers and 1,000 of the craftsmen and ironworkers—all physically fit and trained for battle—were brought by the king of Babylon into exile in Babylon.

Zedekiah is Installed as King

¹⁷ The king of Babylon installed Jehoiachin’s^[w] uncle Mattaniah as king in his place and then changed his name to Zedekiah. ¹⁸ Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king. He reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother was named Hamutal. She was the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ¹⁹ Zedekiah practiced what the Lord considered to be evil, just as Jehoiakim had done, ²⁰ because through the Lord’s anger these things happened^[x] to Jerusalem and Judah until he threw them from his presence.

Nebuchadnezzar Captures Jerusalem

²⁰ Zedekiah then rebelled against the king of Babylon, 25 ¹ so on the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year of Zedekiah’s^[y] reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his entire army approached Jerusalem, attacked it, encamped against it, and built a siege wall that surrounded the city. ² The city remained under siege until the eleventh year of the reign of^[z] King Zedekiah. ³ By the ninth day of the fourth^[aa] month, the resulting^[ab] famine had become so severe in the city that no food remained for the people who lived in the land. ⁴ The city was breached, and the entire army left during the night through the gate that stood between the two walls beside the royal garden, even though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city. They escaped through the Arabah, ⁵ but the Chaldean army pursued the king and overtook him in the Jericho plains, where his entire army was scattered. ⁶ The Chaldeans captured the king and brought him to Riblah, where the king of Babylon determined his sentence. ⁷ They executed Zedekiah’s sons in his presence, blinded Zedekiah, bound him with bronze chains, and transported him to Babylon.

Jerusalem is Burned and the Temple Demolished

⁸ On the seventh^[ac] day of the fifth month, which was during the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign as king of Babylon, captain of the guard Nebuzaradan, a servant of the king of Babylon, arrived in Jerusalem ⁹ and set fire to the Lord’s Temple, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He even incinerated the lavish^[ad] homes. ¹⁰ The Chaldean army that accompanied the captain of the guard demolished the walls that surrounded Jerusalem. ¹¹ Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried the survivors of the people who remained in the city, those who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude into exile. ¹² However, the captain of the guard left some of the poor people of the land to work as vinedressers and farmers.

¹³ The Chaldeans also broke into pieces and carried back to Babylon the bronze pillars that stood in the Lord’s Temple, along with the stands and the bronze sea^[ae] that used to be in the Lord’s Temple. ¹⁴ They also confiscated^[af] the pots, shovels, snuffers, spoons, and the rest of the bronze vessels that were used in ministry. ¹⁵ The captain of the guard also confiscated^[ag] the fire pans, basins, and whatever had been crafted of pure gold and pure silver. ¹⁶ The bronze contained in the two pillars, the one sea, and the stands that Solomon had crafted for the Lord’s Temple could not be inventoried for weight. ¹⁷ The height of one of the pillars was eighteen cubits,^[ah] and the capital on top of it was three cubits^[ai] high.^[aj] A latticework carved in the form of pomegranates encircled the capital, crafted completely out of brass. The second pillar was identical to the first.^[ak]

Judah’s Leaders are Executed

¹⁸ The captain of the guard arrested Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, three temple officials,^{[al] 19} one overseer from the city who supervised the soldiers, five of the king’s advisors who had been discovered in the city, the scribe who served the army captain who mustered the army of the land, and 60 men of the land who were discovered in the city. ²⁰ Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took them to the king of Babylon at Riblah, ²¹ where the king of Babylon executed them in the land of Hamath. And so Judah was transported into exile from the land.

Gedaliah is Appointed Governor

²² Now as for the people who remained in the land of Judah whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had left behind, he appointed Ahikam’s son Gedaliah, the grandson of Shaphan, to rule. ²³ When all the captains of the armies, along with their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, these men visited Gedaliah at Mizpah: Nethaniah’s son Ishmael, Kareah’s son Johanan, Tanhumeth the Netophathite’s son Seraiah, and Jaazaniah, who was descended from the Maacathites. ²⁴ Gedaliah made this promise to them and to their men: “Don’t be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and things will go well with you.” ²⁵ Nevertheless, seven months later, Nethaniah’s son Ishmael, the grandson of Elishama from the royal family, came with ten men and attacked Gedaliah. As a result, he died along with the Jews and Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. ²⁶ Then all the people, including those who were insignificant and those who were important, fled with the captains of the armed forces to Egypt, because they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

Jehoiachin Leaves Prison

²⁷ Later on, after King Jehoiachin of Judah had been in exile for 37 years, on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month, during the first year of his reign, King Evil-merodach of Babylon released King Jehoiachin of Judah from prison. ²⁸ He spoke kindly to him and elevated his position^[am] above the thrones of the kings with him in Babylon. ²⁹ Jehoiachin changed out of his prison clothes and had regular meals in the king’s presence every day for the rest of his life, ³⁰ and a regular stipend was provided to him by the king in accordance with his needs for as long as he lived.