Beginning

Josiah Celebrates the Passover

35 King Josiah celebrated the Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem. The Passover lamb was killed on the fourteenth day of the first month. ² Josiah chose the priests to do their duties. And he encouraged them as they served in the Temple of the Lord. ³ The Levites taught the Israelites and were made holy for service to the Lord. Josiah said to them: “When David’s son Solomon was king of Israel, he built the Temple. Put the Ark of the Covenant in that Temple. Do not carry it from place to place on your shoulders anymore. Now serve the Lord your God and his people the Israelites. ⁴ Prepare yourselves by your family groups for service. Do the jobs that King David and his son Solomon gave you to do.

⁵ “Stand in the holy place with a group of the Levites. Do this for each family group of the people so you may help them. ⁶ Kill the Passover lambs. Make yourselves holy to the Lord. And prepare the lambs for your relatives, the people of Israel. Do everything the Lord through Moses commanded us to do.”

⁷ Josiah gave the Israelites 30,000 sheep and goats to kill for the Passover sacrifices. He also gave them 3,000 cattle. They were all King Josiah’s own animals.

⁸ Josiah’s officers also gave willingly to the people, the priests and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah and Jehiel were the officers in charge of the Temple. They gave the priests 2,600 lambs and goats and 300 cattle for Passover sacrifices. ⁹ Also Conaniah, his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah, Jeiel and Jozabad gave the Levites animals. They gave 5,000 sheep and goats and 500 cattle for Passover sacrifices. These men were leaders of the Levites.

¹⁰ When everything was ready for the Passover service, the priests and Levites went to their places. This is what the king had commanded. ¹¹ The Passover lambs were killed. Then the Levites skinned the animals and gave the blood to the priests. The priests sprinkled the blood on the altar. ¹² Then they gave the animals for the burnt offerings to the different family groups. This was done so the burnt offerings could be offered to the Lord as the Law of Moses taught. They also did this with the cattle. ¹³ The Levites roasted the Passover sacrifices over the fire as they were commanded. And they boiled the holy offerings in pots, kettles and pans. Then they quickly gave the meat to the people. ¹⁴ After this was finished, the Levites prepared meat for themselves and for the priests. The priests were the descendants of Aaron. The priests worked until night, offering the burnt offerings and burning the fat of the sacrifices.

¹⁵ The Levite singers were from Asaph’s family. They stood in the places King David had chosen for them. They were Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun, the king’s seer. The gatekeepers at each gate did not have to leave their places. This was because their fellow Levites had prepared everything for them for the Passover.

¹⁶ So everything was done that day for the worship of the Lord. And it was done as King Josiah commanded. The Passover was celebrated, and the burnt offerings were offered on the Lord’s altar. ¹⁷ The Israelites who were there celebrated the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days. ¹⁸ The Passover had not been celebrated like this in Israel since the prophet Samuel was alive. None of the kings of Israel had ever celebrated a Passover like this. King Josiah, the priests and the Levites celebrated it. And the people of Judah and Israel who were there with the people of Jerusalem celebrated it. ¹⁹ This Passover was celebrated in the eighteenth year Josiah was king.

The Death of Josiah

²⁰ So Josiah did all this for the Temple. After this, King Neco of Egypt led an army to attack Carchemish. It was a town on the Euphrates River. And Josiah marched out to fight against Neco. ²¹ But Neco sent messengers to Josiah. They said, “King Josiah, there should not be war between us. I did not come to fight you, but my enemies. God told me to hurry, and he is on my side. So don’t fight God, or he will destroy you.”

²² But Josiah did not go away. He wore different clothes so no one would know who he was. He refused to listen to what Neco said at God’s command. So Josiah went to fight on the plain of Megiddo. ²³ In the battle King Josiah was shot by arrows. He told his servants, “Take me away. I am badly wounded.” ²⁴ So they took him out of his chariot. And they put him in another chariot he had brought to the battle. Then they took him to Jerusalem where he died. He was buried in the graves where his ancestors were buried. All the people of Judah and Jerusalem were very sad because he was dead.

²⁵ Jeremiah wrote some sad songs about Josiah. Even to this day all the men and women singers remember and honor Josiah with these songs. It became a custom in Israel to sing these songs. They are written in the collection of sad songs.

^26-27 The other things Josiah did as king, from the beginning to the end, are written down. They are in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. It tells how he loved the Lord and obeyed the Lord’s teachings.

Jehoahaz King of Judah

36 The people of Judah chose Josiah’s son Jehoahaz. They made him king in Jerusalem in his father’s place.

² Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king. And he was king in Jerusalem for three months. ³ Then King Neco of Egypt made Jehoahaz no longer a king in Jerusalem. Neco made the people of Judah pay about 7,500 pounds of silver and about 75 pounds of gold. ⁴ The king of Egypt made Jehoahaz’s brother Eliakim the king of Judah and Jerusalem. Then Neco changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Eliakim’s brother Jehoahaz to Egypt.

Jehoiakim King of Judah

⁵ Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king. And he was king in Jerusalem for 11 years. He did what the Lord his God said was wrong. ⁶ King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Judah. He captured Jehoiakim and put bronze chains on him. Then Nebuchadnezzar took him to Babylon. ⁷ Nebuchadnezzar took some of the things from the Temple of the Lord. And he took them to Babylon and put them in his own palace.

⁸ The other things Jehoiakim did as king are written down. The hated things he did and everything he was guilty of doing are recorded. They are in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. Jehoiakim’s son Jehoiachin became king in his place.

Jehoiachin King of Judah

⁹ Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he became king of Judah. And he was king in Jerusalem for three months and ten days. He did what the Lord said was wrong. ¹⁰ In the spring King Nebuchadnezzar sent some servants to get Jehoiachin. They took him and some valuable treasures from the Temple of the Lord to Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar made Jehoiachin’s relative Zedekiah the king of Judah and Jerusalem.

Zedekiah King of Judah

¹¹ Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king of Judah. And he was king in Jerusalem for 11 years. ¹² Zedekiah did what the Lord his God said was wrong. The prophet Jeremiah spoke messages from the Lord. But Zedekiah did not obey.

Jerusalem Is Destroyed

¹³ Zedekiah turned against King Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar had forced Zedekiah to promise to be loyal to him. And Zedekiah had promised, using God’s name. But Zedekiah became stubborn. He refused to obey the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁴ Also, all the leaders of the priests and the people of Judah became more wicked. They followed the evil example of the other nations. The Lord had made the Temple in Jerusalem holy. But the leaders made the Temple unholy.

The Fall of Jerusalem

¹⁵ The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent prophets again and again to warn his people. He did this because he had pity for them and for his Temple. ¹⁶ But they made fun of God’s prophets. They hated God’s messages. So they refused to listen to the prophets. Finally God became so angry with his people that he could not be stopped. ¹⁷ So God brought the king of Babylon to attack them. The king killed the young men even when they were in the Temple. He did not have mercy on the people. He killed both young men and women. He even killed the old men and those who were sick. God permitted Nebuchadnezzar to punish the people of Judah and Jerusalem. ¹⁸ Nebuchadnezzar carried away to Babylon all the things from the Temple of God, both large and small. He took all the treasures from the Temple of the Lord and from the king and his officers. ¹⁹ Nebuchadnezzar and his army set fire to God’s Temple. They broke down Jerusalem’s wall. And they burned all the palaces. They took or destroyed every valuable thing in Jerusalem.

²⁰ Nebuchadnezzar took captive to Babylon the people who were left alive. And he forced them to be slaves for him and his descendants. They remained there as slaves until the Persian kingdom defeated Babylon. ²¹ And so what the Lord had told Israel through the prophet Jeremiah happened. The Lord had said that place would be an empty wasteland for 70 years. This happened to make up for the years of Sabbath rests^[a] that the people had not kept.

²² It was the first year Cyrus was king of Persia. The Lord caused Cyrus to write an announcement and send it everywhere in his kingdom. This happened so the Lord’s message spoken by Jeremiah would come true.

²³ This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: