Chronological
22 4 Josiah repaireth the Temple. 8 Hilkiah findeth the book of the Law, and causeth it to be presented to Josiah. 12 Who sendeth to Huldah the Prophetess to inquire the Lord’s will.
1 Josiah was (A)eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one and thirty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath.
2 And he did uprightly in the sight of the Lord, and [a]walked in all the ways of David his father, and bowed neither to the right hand, nor to the left.
3 ¶ And in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah the son of Meshullam the chancellor, to the house of the Lord, saying,
4 Go up to Hilkiah the high Priest, that he may [b]sum the silver which is brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the [c][d]door have gathered of the people.
5 And let [e]them deliver it into the hand of them that do the work, and have the oversight of the house of the Lord, let them give it to them that work in the house of the Lord, to repair the decayed places of the house:
6 To wit, unto the artificers and carpenters, and masons, and to buy timber, and hewed stone to repair the house.
7 Howbeit, let no reckoning be made with them of the money, that is delivered into their hand: for they deal [f]faithfully.
8 And Hilkiah the high Priest said unto Shaphan the chancellor, I have found the [g]book of the Law in the house of the Lord: and Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
9 So Shaphan the chancellor came to the king, and brought him word again, and said, Thy servants have [h]gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it unto the hands of them that do the work, and have the oversight of the house of the Lord.
10 Also Shaphan the chancellor showed the king, saying, Hilkiah the Priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the King.
11 And when the king had heard the words of the book of the Law, he rent his clothes.
12 Therefore the king commanded Hilkiah the Priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the chancellor, and Asahiah the king’s servant, saying,
13 Go ye and [i]inquire of the Lord for me and for the people, and for all Judah concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written therein for us.
14 ¶ So Hilkiah the Priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah went unto Huldah the Prophetess the wife of Shallum, the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas keeper of the wardrobe: (and she dwelt in Jerusalem in the [j]college) and they communed with her.
15 And she answered them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me,
16 Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and on the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read,
17 Because they have forsaken me, and have burnt incense unto other gods, to anger me with all the [k]works of their hands: my wrath also shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched:
18 But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The words that thou hast heard, shall come to pass.
19 But because thine heart did [l]melt, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants of the same, to wit, that it should be destroyed and accursed, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me, I have also heard it, saith the Lord.
20 Behold therefore, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be put in thy grave in [m]peace, and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. Thus they brought the king word again.
23 2 Josiah readeth the Law before the people. 3 He maketh a covenant with the Lord. 4 He putteth down the idols, after he had killed their Priests. 22 He keepeth Passover. 24 He destroyeth the conjurers. 29 He was killed in Megiddo. 30 And his son Jehoahaz reigneth in his stead. 33 After he was taken, his son Jehoiakim was made King.
1 Then (B)the King [n]sent, and there gathered unto him all the Elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.
2 And the king went up into the house of the Lord, with all the men of Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the Priests and Prophets, and all the people both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant, which was found in the house of the Lord.
3 And the king stood by [o]the pillar, and made a [p]covenant before the Lord, that they should walk after the Lord, and keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all their heart, and with all their soul, that they might accomplish the words of this covenant written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.
4 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high [q]Priest, and the Priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven, and he burnt them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried [r]the powder of them into Bethel.
5 And he put down the [s]Chemarims, whom the kings of Judah had founded to burn incense in the high places, and in the cities of Judah and about Jerusalem, and also them that burnt incense unto Baal, to the sun and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.
6 And he brought out the [t]grove from the Temple of the Lord, without Jerusalem unto the valley of Kidron, and burnt it in the valley Kidron, and stamped it to powder, and cast the dust thereof upon the [u]graves of the children of the people.
7 And he brake down the houses of the Sodomites, that were in the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove.
8 Also he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the Priests had burnt incense, even from Geba to Beersheba, and destroyed the high places of the gates, that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which was at the left hand of the gate of the city.
9 Nevertheless the Priests of the high places [v]came not up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, save only they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren.
10 He defiled also [w]Topheth, which was in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man should make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molech.
11 He put down also the [x]horses that the Kings of Judah had given to the sun at the entering in of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nethan-Melech the eunuch, which was ruler of the suburbs, and burnt the chariots of the sun with fire.
12 And the altars that were on the top of the chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord did the king break down, and hasted thence, and cast the dust of them in the [y]brook Kidron.
13 Moreover the King defiled the high places that were before Jerusalem, and on the right hand of the [z]mount of corruption (which (C)Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the idol of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the idol of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon)
14 And he brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.
15 Furthermore [aa]the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place made by Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin, both this altar and also the high place, brake he down, and burnt the high place, and stamped it to powder and burnt the grove.
16 And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the graves that were in the mount, and sent and took the bones out of the graves, and burnt them upon the altar and polluted it, according to the word of the Lord, that the [ab]man of God proclaimed, which cried the same words.
17 Then he said, What title is that which I see? And the men of the city said unto him, It is the sepulcher of the man of God, which came from Judah, and told these things that thou hast done to the altar of Bethel.
18 Then said he, Let him alone: let none remove his bones. So his bones were saved with the bones of the [ac]Prophet that came from Samaria.
19 Josiah also took away all the houses of the high places, which were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to anger the Lord, and did to them according to all the facts that he had done in Bethel.
20 And he sacrificed all the Priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burnt men’s bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.
21 ¶ Then the king commanded all the people, saying, (D)Keep the Passover unto the Lord your God, (E)as it is written in the book of this covenant.
22 And there was no Passover holden [ad]like that from the days of the Judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, and of the kings of Judah.
23 And in the eighteenth year of King Josiah was this Passover celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.
24 Josiah also took away them that had familiar spirits, and the soothsayers, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were espied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, to perform the words of the (F)Law, which were written in the book that Hilkiah the Priest found in the house of the Lord.
25 Like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might according to all the Law of Moses, neither after him arose there any like him.
26 Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the [ae]fierceness of his great wrath wherewith he was angry against Judah, because of all the provocations wherewith Manasseh had provoked him.
27 Therefore the Lord said, I will put Judah also out of my sight, as I have put away Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem, which I have chosen, and the house whereof I said, (G)My name shall be there.
28 Concerning the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah?
29 (H)In his days Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt [af]went up against the king of Assyria to the river Perath. And king Josiah went against him, whom when Pharaoh saw, he slew him at Megiddo.
30 Then his servants carried him dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulcher. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s stead.
31 (I)Jehoahaz was three and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
32 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his [ag]fathers had done.
33 And Pharaoh Necho put him in bonds [ah]at Riblah in the land of Hamath [ai]while he reigned in Jerusalem, and put the land to a tribute of an hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.
34 ¶ And Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim the son of Josiah king instead of Josiah his father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away, which when he came to Egypt, died there.
35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, and taxed the land to give the money, according to the commandment of Pharaoh: he levied of every man of the people of the land, according to his value, silver and gold to give unto Pharaoh Necho.
36 Jehoiakim was five and twenty years old, when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Zebudah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.
37 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.
34 1 Josiah destroyeth the idols. 8 And restoreth the Temple. 14 The book of the Law is found. 21 He sendeth to Huldah the Prophetess for counsel. 27 God heareth his prayer. 31 He maketh a covenant with God.
1 Josiah (A)was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years.
2 And he did uprightly in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of [a]David his father, and bowed neither to the right hand nor to the left.
3 And in the eighth year of his reign (when he was yet a [b]child) he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah, and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and molten images.
4 And they brake down [c]in his sight the altars of Baal, and he caused to cut down the images that were on high upon them: he brake also the groves, and the carved images and the molten images, and stamped them to powder, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.
5 Also he burnt the [d]bones of the Priests upon their altars, and purged Judah and Jerusalem.
6 And in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mauls they brake all round about.
7 And when he had [e]destroyed the altars, and the groves, and had broken and stamped to powder the images, and had cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.
8 ¶ (B)Then in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the temple, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the Recorder to repair the house of the Lord his God.
9 And when they came to Hilkiah the high Priest, they delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept the door, had gathered at the hand of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and of all the residue of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin, and [f]of the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
10 And they put it in the hands of [g]them that should do the work, and had the oversight in the house of the Lord: and they gave it to the workmen that wrought in the house of the Lord to repair and amend the house.
11 Even to the workmen and to the builders gave they it to buy hewed stone and timber for couples, and for beams of the [h]houses, which the kings of Judah had destroyed.
12 And the men did the work [i]faithfully, and the overseers of them were Jahath and Obadiah the Levites, of the children of Merari, and Zechariah, and Meshullam, of the children of the Kohathites to set it forward: and of the Levites all that could skill of instruments of music.
13 And they were over the bearers of burdens, and them that set forward all the workmen in every work: and of the Levites were scribes, and officers and porters.
14 ¶ And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the Priest found the [j]book of the Law of the Lord given by the hand of Moses.
15 Therefore Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the chancellor, I have found the book of the Law in the house of the Lord: and Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan.
16 And Shaphan carried the book to [k]the King, and brought the King word again, saying, All that is committed to the hand of thy servants, that do they.
17 For they have gathered the money that was found in the house of the Lord, and have delivered it into the hands of the overseers, and to the hands of the workmen.
18 Also Shaphan the chancellor declared to the King, saying, Hilkiah the Priest hath given me a book, and Shaphan read it before the King.
19 And when the King had heard the words of the Law, he [l]tare his clothes,
20 And the King commanded Hilkiah and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the chancellor, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying,
21 Go and inquire of the Lord for me, and for the rest in Israel and Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is fallen upon us, because our [m]fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do after all that is written in this book.
22 Then Hilkiah and they that the king had appointed went to Huldah the prophetess the wife of Shallum, the son of [n]Tokhath, the son of [o]Hasrah keeper of the [p]wardrobe (and she dwelt in Jerusalem within the [q]college) and they communed hereof with her.
23 And she answered them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Tell ye [r]the man that sent you to me,
24 Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses, that are written in the book which they have read before the King of Judah:
25 Because they have forsaken me, and burnt incense unto other gods, to anger me with all the works of their [s]hands, therefore shall my wrath fall upon this place, and shall not be quenched.
26 But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The words which thou hast heard, shall come to pass.
27 But because thine heart did [t]melt, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and tearest thy clothes, and weptest before me, I have also heard it, saith the Lord.
28 Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be put in thy grave in peace, and thine eyes shall not see all the evil, which I will bring upon this [u]place and upon the inhabitants of the same. Thus they brought the King word again.
29 ¶ Then the King sent and gathered all the Elders of Judah and Jerusalem.
30 And the King went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the Priests and the Levites, and all the people from the greatest to the [v]smallest, and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the Covenant that was found in the house of the Lord.
31 And the King stood by his pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes with all his heart, and with all his soul, and that he would accomplish the words of the Covenant written in the same book.
32 And he caused all that were found in Jerusalem, and Benjamin to stand to it: and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the Covenant of God, even the God of their fathers.
33 So Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and compelled all [w]that were found in Israel, to serve the Lord their God: so all his days they turned not back from the Lord God of their fathers.
35 1 Josiah keepeth the Passover. 2 He setteth forth God’s service. 20 He fighteth against the king of Egypt, and dieth. 24 The people bewail him.
1 Moreover, (C)Josiah kept a Passover unto the Lord in Jerusalem, and they slew the [x]Passover in the fourteenth day of the first month.
2 And he appointed the Priests to their charges, and encouraged them to the service of the house of the Lord,
3 And he said unto the Levites that [y]taught all Israel and were sanctified unto the Lord, Put the holy Ark in the house which Solomon the son of David King of Israel did build: it shall be no more a [z]burden upon your shoulders: serve now the Lord your God, and his people Israel,
4 And prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers according to your courses, as (D)David the king of Israel hath written, and according to the writing of Solomon his son,
5 And stand in the Sanctuary according to the division of the families of your brethren [aa]the children of the people, and after the division of the family of the Levites:
6 So kill the Passover, and sanctify yourselves, and [ab]prepare your brethren that they may do according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
7 Josiah also gave to the [ac]people sheep, lambs and kids, all for the Passover, even to all that were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bullocks: these were of the king’s substance.
8 And his princes offered willingly unto the people, to the Priests and to the Levites: Hilkiah, and Zechariah, and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God gave unto the Priests for the Passover, even two thousand and six hundred sheep, and three hundred bullocks.
9 [ad]Conaniah also and Shemaiah and Nethanel his brethren, and Hashabiah and Jeiel, and Jozabad, chief of the Levites gave unto the Levites for the Passover, five thousand sheep, and five hundred bullocks.
10 Thus the service was prepared, and the Priests stood in their places, also the Levites in their orders, according to the king’s commandment:
11 And they slew the Passover, and the Priests [ae]sprinkled the blood with their hands, and the Levites flayed them.
12 And they took away from the [af]burnt offering to give it according to the divisions of the families of the children of the people, to offer unto the Lord, as it is written in the book of Moses, and so of the bullocks.
13 And (E)they roasted the Passover with fire, according to the custom, but the sanctified things they sod in pots, pans, and cauldrons, and distributed them quickly to all the people.
14 Afterward also they prepared for themselves and for the Priests: for the Priests the sons of Aaron were occupied in offering of burnt offerings, and the fat until night: therefore the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the Priests the sons of Aaron.
15 And the singers the sons of Asaph stood in their standing (F)according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s [ag]Seer: and the porters at every gate, who might not depart from their service: therefore their brethren the Levites prepared for them.
16 So all the service of the Lord was prepared the same day to keep the Passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of the Lord, according to the commandment of King Josiah.
17 And the children of Israel that were present, kept the Passover the same time, and the feast of the unleavened bread seven days.
18 And there was no Passover kept like that in Israel, from the days of Samuel the Prophet: neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a Passover as Josiah kept, and the Priests and the Levites, and all Judah, and Israel that were [ah]present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
19 This Passover was kept in [ai]the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah.
20 ¶ (G)After all this, when Josiah had prepared the Temple Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against [aj]Carchemish by [ak]Perath and Josiah went out against him.
21 But he sent messengers to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house [al]of mine enemy, and God commanded me to make haste: leave off to come against God, which is with me, lest he destroy thee.
22 But Josiah would not turn his face from him, but [am]changed his apparel to fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho, which were of the mouth of God, but came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.
23 And the shooters shot at king Josiah: then the king said to his servants, Carry me away, for I am very sick.
24 So his servants took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot which he had, and when they had brought him to Jerusalem, he died, and was buried in the sepulchers of his fathers: and all Judah and Jerusalem [an]mourned for Josiah.
25 And Jeremiah lamented Josiah, and all singing men and singing women mourned for Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made the same for an ordinance unto Israel: and behold, they be written in the [ao]Lamentations.
26 Concerning the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his goodness, doing as it was written in the Law of the Lord,
27 And his deeds first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the Kings of Israel, and Judah.
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