Chronological

Josiah King of Judah

22 Josiah was eight years old when he became king. He ruled 31 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah. Adaiah was from Bozkath. ² Josiah did what the Lord said was right. He did good things as his ancestor David had done. Josiah did not stop doing what was right.

³ In Josiah’s eighteenth year as king, he sent Shaphan to the Temple of the Lord. Shaphan was the son of Azaliah, who was the son of Meshullam. Shaphan was the royal assistant. Josiah said, ⁴ “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest. Have him empty out the money the gatekeepers have gathered from the people. This is the money they have brought into the Temple of the Lord. ⁵ Have him give the money to the supervisors of the work on the Temple. They must pay the men who work to repair the Temple of the Lord. ⁶ The workers are carpenters, builders and stoneworkers. Also use the money to buy timber and cut stone to repair the Temple. ⁷ They do not need to report how they use the money given to them. They are working honestly.”

The Book of the Law Is Found

⁸ Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the royal assistant, “I’ve found the Book of the Teachings. It was in the Temple of the Lord.” He gave it to Shaphan, who read it.

⁹ Then Shaphan the royal assistant went to the king and reported to Josiah, “Your officers have paid out the money that was in the Temple of the Lord. They have given it to the workers and supervisors at the Temple.” ¹⁰ Then Shaphan the royal assistant told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from the book to the king.

¹¹ The king heard the words of the Book of the Teachings. Then he tore his clothes to show how upset he was. ¹² He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest and Ahikam son of Shaphan. He also gave them to Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan and Asaiah. Shaphan was the royal assistant. And Asaiah was the king’s servant. These were the orders: ¹³ “Go and ask the Lord about the words in the book that has been found. Ask for me and for all the people and for all Judah. The Lord’s anger is burning against us because our ancestors did not obey the words of this book. They did not do all the things written for us to do!”

¹⁴ So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan and Asaiah left. They went to talk to Huldah the prophetess. She was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas. Harhas took care of the king’s clothes. Huldah lived in Jerusalem, in the new area of the city.

¹⁵ She said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the man who sent you to me, ¹⁶ ‘This is what the Lord says: I will bring trouble to this place and to the people living here. It is in the words of the book which the king of Judah has read. ¹⁷ The people of Judah have left me. They have burned incense to other gods. They have made me angry by all the idols they have made. My anger burns against this place like a fire. It will not be put out.’ ¹⁸ Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to ask the Lord, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the words you heard: ¹⁹ You heard my words against this place and its people. You became sorry in the Lord’s presence for what you had done. I said they would become cursed and would be destroyed. Then you tore your clothes to show how upset you were. And you cried in my presence. This is why I have heard you, says the Lord. ²⁰ So I will cause you to die. You will be buried in peace. You won’t see all the trouble I will bring to this place.’”

So they took her message back to the king.

The People Hear the Law

23 Then the king gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem together. ² He went up to the Temple of the Lord. All the men from Judah and Jerusalem went with him. The priests, prophets and all the people—from the least important to the most important—went with him. He read to them all the words of the Book of the Agreement. That book was found in the Temple of the Lord. ³ The king stood by the pillar. He made an agreement in the presence of the Lord. He agreed to follow the Lord and obey his commands, rules and laws with his whole being. He agreed to do what was written in this book. Then all the people promised to obey the agreement.

Josiah Destroys the Places for Idol Worship

⁴ The king gave a command to Hilkiah the high priest. He also gave it to the priests of the next rank and the gatekeepers. He told them to bring out of the Temple of the Lord everything made for Baal, Asherah and all the stars of heaven. Then Josiah burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley. And he carried the ashes to Bethel. ⁵ The kings of Judah had chosen priests for these gods. These priests burned incense on the places where false gods were worshiped. These places were in the cities of Judah and the towns around Jerusalem. The priests burned incense to Baal, the sun and the moon. And they burned incense to the planets and all the stars of heaven. But Josiah took those priests away. ⁶ He removed the Asherah idol from the Temple of the Lord. He took it outside Jerusalem to the Kidron Valley. There he burned it and beat it into dust. And he threw the dust on the graves of the common people. ⁷ Then he tore down the houses of the male prostitutes who were in the Temple of the Lord. This was where the women did weaving for Asherah.

⁸ King Josiah brought all the false priests from the cities of Judah. He made the places where false gods were worshiped impure. This is where the priests had burned incense. These places of worship were everywhere, from Geba to Beersheba. He destroyed the places of worship at the entrance to the Gate of Joshua. (Joshua was the ruler of the city.) This gate was on the left side of the city gate. ⁹ The priests at the places where false gods were worshiped were not allowed to serve at the Lord’s altar in Jerusalem. But they could eat bread made without yeast with their brothers.

¹⁰ Topheth was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom. Josiah made it impure so no one could sacrifice his son or daughter to Molech. ¹¹ Judah’s kings had placed horses at the front door of the Temple of the Lord. This was in the courtyard near the room of Nathan-Melech, an officer. These horses were for the worship of the sun. But Josiah removed them. Then he burned the chariots that were for sun worship.

¹² The kings of Judah had also built altars on the roof^[a] of the upstairs room of Ahaz. Josiah broke down these altars. He also broke down the altars Manasseh had made. These were in the two courtyards of the Temple of the Lord. He smashed them to pieces. Then he threw their dust into the Kidron Valley. ¹³ King Josiah made impure the places east of Jerusalem where false gods were worshiped. These were south of the Mount of Olives.^[b] Solomon king of Israel had built these places. One was for Ashtoreth, the hated goddess of the Sidonians. One was for Chemosh, the hated god of Moab. And one was for Molech, the hated god of the Ammonites. ¹⁴ Josiah smashed into pieces the stone pillars they worshiped. He cut down the Asherah idols. And he covered the places with human bones.

¹⁵ Josiah also broke down the altar at Bethel. This was the place of worship Jeroboam son of Nebat had made. Jeroboam had caused Israel to sin. Josiah burned that place. He broke the stones of the altar to pieces. Then he beat them into dust. And he burned the Asherah idol. ¹⁶ When he turned around, he saw the graves on the mountain. He had the bones taken from the graves. Then he burned the bones on the altar to make it impure. This happened as the Lord had said it would through the man of God.

¹⁷ Josiah asked, “What is that monument to the dead I see?”

The people of the city answered, “It’s the grave of the man of God who came from Judah. This prophet announced the things you have done against the altar of Bethel.”

¹⁸ Josiah said, “Leave the grave alone. No person may move this man’s bones.” So they left his bones. And they left the bones of the prophet who had come from Samaria.

¹⁹ The kings of Israel had built temples for worshiping false gods in the cities of Samaria. That had caused the Lord to be angry. Josiah removed all those temples. He did the same things as he had done at Bethel. ²⁰ Josiah killed all the priests of those places of worship. He killed them on the altars. And he burned human bones on the altars. Then he went back to Jerusalem.

The Passover Is Brought Back

²¹ The king gave a command to all the people. He said, “Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God. Do it as it is written in this Book of the Agreement.” ²² No Passover like this one had been celebrated since the judges led Israel. Nor had one like it happened while there were kings of Israel and kings of Judah. ²³ This Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem. It was the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s rule.

²⁴ Josiah destroyed the mediums, fortune-tellers, house gods and idols. He destroyed all the hated gods seen in the land of Judah and Jerusalem. He did this to obey the words of the teachings. They were written in the book Hilkiah the priest had found in the Temple of the Lord.

²⁵ There was no king like Josiah before or after him. He obeyed the Lord with all his heart, soul and strength. He followed all the Teachings of Moses.

²⁶ Even so, the Lord did not stop his strong and terrible anger. His anger burned against Judah. It was because of all that Manasseh had done to make him angry. ²⁷ The Lord said, “I have taken Israel away. I will do the same to Judah. I will take them out of my sight. I will reject Jerusalem which I chose. I will take away the Temple about which I said, ‘I will be honored there.’”

²⁸ Everything else Josiah did is written down. It is in the book of the history of the kings of Judah.

²⁹ While Josiah was king, Neco king of Egypt went to help the king of Assyria. Neco was at the Euphrates River. King Josiah marched out to fight against Neco. But at Megiddo, Neco faced Josiah and killed him. ³⁰ Josiah’s servants carried his body in a chariot from Megiddo. They brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own grave. Then the people of Judah chose Josiah’s son Jehoahaz. They poured olive oil on him to appoint him king in his father’s place.

Jehoahaz King of Judah

³¹ Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king. And he was king in Jerusalem for three months. His mother’s name was Hamutal. She was the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. ³² Jehoahaz did what the Lord said was wrong. He did just as his ancestors had done.

³³ King Neco took Jehoahaz prisoner at Riblah in the land of Hamath. He did this so Jehoahaz could not rule in Jerusalem. Neco made the people of Judah pay about 7,500 pounds of silver and about 75 pounds of gold.

³⁴ King Neco made Josiah’s son Eliakim the king in place of Josiah his father. Then Neco changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Jehoahaz to Egypt, and he died there. ³⁵ Jehoiakim gave King Neco the silver and gold he demanded. But Jehoiakim taxed the land so he could pay the king. He took silver and gold from the people of the land. The amount he took from each person depended on how much he had.

Jehoiakim King of Judah

³⁶ Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king. He was king in Jerusalem for 11 years. His mother’s name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah. She was from Rumah. ³⁷ Jehoiakim did what the Lord said was wrong, just as his ancestors had done.

Josiah King of Judah

34 Josiah was eight years old when he became king. He ruled 31 years in Jerusalem. ² He did what the Lord said was right. He did good things as his ancestor David had done. Josiah did not stop doing what was right.

³ In his eighth year as king, Josiah began to obey the God his ancestor David had followed. This was while Josiah was still young. In his twelfth year as king, Josiah began to remove the false gods from Judah and Jerusalem. He destroyed the places for worshiping false gods. He removed the Asherah idols and the wooden and metal idols. ⁴ The people tore down the altars for the Baal gods as Josiah directed. Then Josiah cut down the incense altars that were above them. He broke up the Asherah idols and the wooden and metal idols. He beat them into powder. Then he sprinkled the powder on the graves of the people who had offered sacrifices to these gods. ⁵ He burned the bones of their priests on their own altars. So Josiah removed idol worship from Judah and Jerusalem. ⁶ He did the same for the towns in the areas of Manasseh, Ephraim and Simeon. He did this all the way to Naphtali. And he did the same for the ruins near these towns. ⁷ Josiah broke down the altars and Asherah idols. Then he beat the idols into powder. He cut down all the incense altars in all of Israel. Then he went back to Jerusalem.

⁸ In Josiah’s eighteenth year as king, he made Judah and the Temple pure again. He sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the city leader and Joah son of Joahaz the recorder. They were to repair the Temple of the Lord, the God of Josiah. ⁹ These men went to Hilkiah the high priest. They gave him the money the people had given for the Temple of God. The Levite doorkeepers had collected this money from the people of Manasseh, Ephraim and all the Israelites who were left alive. They also collected this money from all the people of Judah, Benjamin and Jerusalem. ¹⁰ Then the Levites gave it to the men who directed the work on the Temple of the Lord. And these supervisors paid the workers that rebuilt and repaired the Temple. ¹¹ They gave money to carpenters and builders to buy cut rocks and wood. The wood was used to rebuild the buildings and to make beams for them. The kings of Judah had let the buildings become ruins. ¹² The men did their work well. Their supervisors were Jahath, Obadiah, Zechariah and Meshullam. Jahath and Obadiah were Levites from the family of Merari. Zechariah and Meshullam were from the family of Kohath. These Levites were all skilled musicians. ¹³ They were in charge of the workers who carried things and all the other workers. Some Levites worked as secretaries, officers and doorkeepers.

The Law Is Found

¹⁴ The Levites brought out the money that was in the Temple of the Lord. As they were doing this, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Lord’s Teachings. These teachings had been given through Moses. ¹⁵ Hilkiah said to Shaphan the royal assistant, “I’ve found the Book of the Teachings. It was in the Temple of the Lord!” He gave it to Shaphan.

¹⁶ Then Shaphan took the book to the king and reported to Josiah: “Your officers are doing everything you told them to do. ¹⁷ They have paid out the money that was in the Temple of the Lord. They have given it to the supervisors and the workers.” ¹⁸ Then Shaphan the royal assistant told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from the book to the king.

¹⁹ The king heard the words of the Teachings. Then he tore his clothes to show how upset he was. ²⁰ He gave these orders to Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan. He also gave them to Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan and Asaiah. Shaphan was the royal assistant. And Asaiah was the king’s servant. These were the orders: ²¹ “Go and ask the Lord about the words in the book that was found. Ask for me and for the people who are left alive in Israel and Judah. The Lord is very angry with us because our ancestors did not obey the Lord’s word. They did not do everything this book says to do.”

²² So Hilkiah and those the king sent with him left. They went to talk to Huldah the prophetess. She was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas. Harhas took care of the king’s clothes. Huldah lived in Jerusalem, in the new area of the city.

²³ She said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the man who sent you to me, ²⁴ ‘This is what the Lord says: I will bring trouble to this place and to the people living here. I will bring all the curses that are written in the book that was read to the king of Judah. ²⁵ The people of Judah have left me. They have burned incense to other gods. They have made me angry by all the bad things they have made. So I will punish them in my anger. My anger will not be stopped.’ ²⁶ Tell the king of Judah who sent you to ask the Lord, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the words you heard: ²⁷ You heard my words against this place and its people. And you became sorry for what you had done. You became sorry in my presence. You tore your clothes to show how upset you were. And you cried in my presence. This is why I have heard you, says the Lord. ²⁸ So I will let you die. You will be buried in peace. You won’t see all the trouble that I will bring to this place and the people living here.’”

So they took her message back to the king.

²⁹ Then the king gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem together. ³⁰ He went up to the Temple of the Lord. All the men from Judah and the people from Jerusalem went with him. The priests and the Levites and all the people—from the most important to the least important—went with him. He read to them all the words in the Book of the Agreement. That book was found in the Temple of the Lord. ³¹ Then the king stood by his pillar. He made an agreement in the presence of the Lord. He agreed to follow the Lord and to obey his commands, rules and laws with his whole being. And he agreed to obey the words of the agreement written in this book. ³² Then Josiah made all the people in Jerusalem and Benjamin promise to accept the agreement. The people of Jerusalem obeyed the agreement of God, the God their ancestors obeyed.

³³ And Josiah threw out the hated idols from all the land that belonged to the Israelites. He led everyone in Israel to serve the Lord their God. While Josiah lived, the people obeyed the Lord, the God their ancestors obeyed.

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.