Old/New Testament

Josiah rules Judah as king

34 Josiah was eight years old when he became king.^[a] He ruled as king in Jerusalem for 31 years. ² Josiah did things that the Lord said were right. He lived in the good ways of his ancestor, King David. He did not turn away from the Lord's teaching in any way.

³ When Josiah had been king for eight years, he was still a young man. At that time he began to worship God, as his ancestor David had done. When he had been king for 12 years, he started to remove the places in Jerusalem and in all Judah where people worshipped false gods. He removed the altars on the hills, the Asherah poles, the idols and the images of false gods. ⁴ He told his men to knock down the altars where people worshipped the idols of Baal. He broke into pieces the altars for incense that were near the other altars. He destroyed the Asherah poles, the idols and the images. He broke them all into very small pieces. He threw the bits over the graves of the people who had offered sacrifices to those false gods.

⁵ Josiah took the bones of the priests who had made sacrifices to the false gods. He burned the priests' bones on their own altars. That is how Josiah made Judah and Jerusalem clean again. ⁶ He went to the towns that belonged to the tribes of Manasseh, Ephraim and Simeon. He even went as far as Naphtali.^[b] He did the same thing in all those towns, as well as in the villages around them where nobody lived. ⁷ He knocked down the altars and the Asherah poles. He completely destroyed the idols and the altars for incense everywhere in the kingdom of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Josiah repairs the temple

⁸ When Josiah had been king for 18 years, he continued to make Judah and the temple clean places again. He sent three men to repair the temple of the Lord his God. They were Azaliah's son Shaphan, the city's officer Maaseiah, and Joah, son of Joahaz, the city's secretary.

⁹ They went to meet Hilkiah, the leader of the priests. They gave him the money that people had brought as gifts to God's temple. The people had given their money to the Levites who stood as guards at the doors of the temple. The people who brought these gifts had come from the tribes of Manasseh, Ephraim and the other people who still lived in Israel. All the people from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and those who lived in Jerusalem had also brought their gifts. ¹⁰ Then they gave this money to the men who had authority over the work on the Lord's temple. Those leaders then paid the workers who did the repairs to make the temple strong again. ¹¹ They gave money to the carpenters and the builders to buy stones that were ready to use and wood. The kings of Judah had not taken care of the buildings. So the workers now needed stones and wood to repair the walls and the roofs.

¹² The workers were honest men who worked well. Four Levites had authority over the workers. They were Jahath and Obadiah from Merari's clan, and Zechariah and Meshullam from Kohath's clan. Other Levites who were musicians ¹³ had authority over the men who carried the wood and the stones. They told the workers what to do as they did their different jobs. Some Levites worked as secretaries, officers or guards.

Hilkiah finds the book of God's laws

¹⁴ The Levites were bringing the money out of the Lord's temple that people had brought there.^[c] While they were doing that, Hilkiah the priest found the book of God's laws. Those were the laws that the Lord had given to Moses for his people. ¹⁵ Hilkiah told Shaphan, the king's secretary, ‘I have found the book of the Law in the Lord's temple.’ He gave the book to Shaphan.

¹⁶ Then Shaphan took the book to the king and he said, ‘Your servants are doing everything that you told them to do. ¹⁷ They have paid out the money that was in the Lord's temple. They have given it to the leaders who have authority over the men who are doing the work.’

¹⁸ Then Shaphan, the king's secretary, told the king, ‘Hilkiah the priest has given a book to me.’ Then Shaphan read it aloud to the king. ¹⁹ When the king heard the words in the book of God's laws, he was so upset that he tore his clothes.

²⁰ King Josiah gave a command to Hilkiah, Shaphan's son Ahikam, Micah's son Abdon, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king's servant. ²¹ He told them, ‘Go to the temple. Ask the Lord about the message in this book that Hilkiah has found. I need to know what I should do, as well as the people who still live in Judah and in Israel. The Lord has become very angry with us because our ancestors have not obeyed his message. They have not done the things that this book tells us that we should do.’

²² So Hilkiah and the other men that the king had sent went to speak to Huldah. Huldah was a prophetess who lived in the north part of Jerusalem. She was the wife of Shallum, the son of Tokhath. Tokhath was the son of Hasrah, who took care of the king's clothes. The king's men told Huldah why they had come to meet her.

²³ She said to them, ‘The Lord, Israel's God, says, “Tell this to the man who sent you here to me: ²⁴ This is what the Lord says: I will bring great trouble to this place and the people who live here. The message of the book that they read to the king of Judah tells about what will happen. ²⁵ I will send this trouble because they have turned away from me. They have offered sacrifices to other gods. I am very angry with them because of all the idols that they have made for themselves. My anger is like a fire that is burning and nobody can stop it!” ²⁶ The king of Judah sent you here to ask for the Lord's answer. Say to the king, “The Lord, Israel's God, says this about the message that you have heard: ²⁷ When you heard the message that I had spoken, you were very upset. You made yourself humble to respect me. You tore your clothes and you wept. You did that when you heard how I would punish this place and the people who live here. Because you became so upset, I have heard your prayer. ²⁸ So I will let you die in peace and people will bury you beside your ancestors. You yourself will never see the great trouble that I will bring to this place and the people who live here.” That is what the Lord says.’

The men took Huldah's answer back to the king.

Josiah and the people promise to obey God's laws

²⁹ Then King Josiah told all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem to come and meet with him. ³⁰ He went up to the Lord's temple.^[d] All the people who lived in Jerusalem and in the rest of Judah went with him. They included the priests, the Levites, young people and old people. Everyone went to the temple. They all listened while the king read to them all the words in the book of God's covenant. That was the book that Hilkiah had found in the Lord's temple. ³¹ Then the king stood in his place beside the pillar in the temple. He promised the Lord that he would obey the covenant. He agreed to serve the Lord faithfully and to obey his commands, laws and rules. Josiah agreed to obey what was written in the book of God's covenant.

³² The king told all the people who were in Jerusalem and the people of Benjamin's tribe to stand. He told them to promise to obey God's laws. So the people who lived in Jerusalem agreed to obey the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors.

³³ Josiah removed all the disgusting idols from all the land of the Israelites. He told all the people of Israel to worship the Lord their God. All the time that Josiah ruled as king, the people continued to worship the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

King Josiah prepares for the Passover festival

35 King Josiah told the people to have the Passover festival in Jerusalem, to give honour to the Lord. They killed the lambs for the Passover meal on the 14th day of the first month of the year. ² Josiah told the priests the jobs that they should do. He told them to be strong as they served the Lord in his temple. ³ The work of the Levites was to teach all the Israelites about God's laws. The Lord had chosen them to do that special work. Josiah said to them, ‘Put the holy Covenant Box in the temple that David's son, King Solomon, built. Do not carry it on your shoulders. Now you must serve the Lord your God and his people, the Israelites. ⁴ Each group of families must be ready to do their work. King David of Israel and his son Solomon decided what work each group must do. ⁵ Each group of Levites must stand in the holy place of the temple. Each group will be ready to help the people of different clans. ⁶ Kill the lambs for the Passover meal. Make yourselves clean to serve the Lord. Prepare the sacrifices for each Israelite family. Then they can eat the Passover meal, as the Lord told Moses they must do.’^[e]

Many people give offerings

⁷ Josiah took 30,000 lambs and goats, and 3,000 bulls from his own animals. He gave them to the people who were there, to kill for their Passover sacrifices.

⁸ His officers were also happy to give their animals to the people, as well as to the priests and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel were officers who took care of the temple. They gave 2,600 lambs and 300 bulls to the priests for Passover sacrifices. ⁹ These Levite officers gave 5,000 lambs and 500 bulls to the Levites for Passover sacrifices: Konaniah and his brothers, Shemaiah and Nethanel; Hashabiah, Jeiel and Jozabad.

The Passover meal

¹⁰ Everything was ready for the Passover to begin. The priests and the Levites stood in their places, group by group, as the king had commanded. ¹¹ Some Levites killed the lambs for the Passover meal. They gave the blood to the priests, and the priests splashed the blood on the altar. At the same time, some Levites were removing the skins from the animals. ¹² They took the animals for the burnt offerings to give to the people. They shared them among each group of families. Then each family could offer a bull to the Lord as a sacrifice, in the way that the book of Moses taught. ¹³ The Levites cooked the lambs for the Passover meal over a fire, as the rules taught. They boiled the meat of the holy offerings in pots and pans.^[f] Then they quickly carried the meat to all the people.

¹⁴ After that, the Levites prepared the Passover meal for themselves and for the priests. The priests had been busy all day, until the evening. They were offering the burnt offerings and the pieces of fat to the Lord. So the Levites prepared the meal for themselves and for the priests, Aaron's descendants.

¹⁵ Asaph's descendants, the musicians, stood in their places. Those were the places that David, Asaph, Heman and the king's prophet, Jeduthun, had chosen. The guards continued to watch the different gates all through the day. So the other Levites prepared the meal for them too.

¹⁶ So they did everything properly to serve the Lord that day. Everyone did what King Josiah had told them to do. They had the Passover meal and they offered the burnt offerings on the Lord's altar. ¹⁷ Some Israelite people were also there in Jerusalem for the Passover festival at that time. They also stayed seven more days for the festival of Flat Bread.

¹⁸ There had not been a Passover festival like that in Israel since the time of the prophet Samuel. No king of Israel had enjoyed a Passover festival as good as the one that King Josiah had. The priests, the Levites and all the people enjoyed the festival. They were the people of Judah, the people of Israel who had come to Jerusalem, as well as the people who lived in Jerusalem. ¹⁹ This Passover festival happened in the 18th year that Josiah ruled Judah as king.

Josiah dies

²⁰ After Josiah had done all those things for the temple, King Necho of Egypt marched out with his army. He came to fight a battle at Carchemish, a city beside the Euphrates river. King Josiah went with his army to fight against King Necho. ²¹ But Necho sent men with a message to Josiah. King Necho said, ‘King of Judah, you should not come to fight against me. We should be friends. I came to fight against this kingdom which is my enemy. God has told me that I must hurry. So do not try to stop me, because God is with me. If you try to fight against God, he will destroy you.’

²² But Josiah would not agree to go away. He changed his clothes so that nobody would recognize him in the battle. God had told King Necho what to say to Josiah. But Josiah would not listen to his words. Instead, he went to fight against Necho in Megiddo valley.

²³ Necho's soldiers hit King Josiah with their arrows. The king said to his servants, ‘Take me away from the battle! The arrows have hurt me very much.’ ²⁴ So they took him out of the chariot that he was riding in. They put him in his other chariot. Then they took him to Jerusalem and he died there. His people buried him beside his ancestors. All the people of Judah and Jerusalem wept because Josiah had died.

²⁵ Jeremiah wrote sad songs about Josiah's death. The male and female singers still sing these songs to remember Josiah, even today. The songs have become something that the people of Israel always like to sing. They are written in a book called ‘The book of sad songs’.

^26-27 All the other things that Josiah did while he was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of the kings of Israel and Judah’. It tells how Josiah faithfully obeyed what is written in the Law of the Lord. It includes all the good things that he did, from the beginning to the end of his time as king.

Jehoahaz rules Judah as king

36 The people of Judah chose Josiah's son, Jehoahaz, to become king in Jerusalem after his father. ² Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king. He ruled as king in Jerusalem for three months.

³ The king of Egypt stopped Jehoahaz from ruling in Jerusalem. He made Judah pay tax to him. It was 3,400 kilograms of silver and 34 kilograms of gold. ⁴ The king of Egypt chose Eliakim, Jehoahaz's brother, to rule as king over Judah and Jerusalem. He changed Eliakim's name to Jehoiakim. But Necho took Jehoiakim's brother Jehoahaz away to Egypt.

⁵ Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king.^[g] He ruled for 11 years as king in Jerusalem. He did things that the Lord his God said were evil. ⁶ While he was king, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Judah. He took hold of King Jehoiakim. He tied bronze chains around him and he took him away to Babylon. ⁷ King Nebuchadnezzar took some valuable things from the Lord's temple. He took them to Babylon and he put them in his palace there.

⁸ The other things that happened while Jehoiakim was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of the kings of Israel and Judah’. It tells about the disgusting sins that he was guilty of.

Jehoiakim's son Jehoiachin became king after him.

Jehoiachin rules Judah as king

⁹ Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he became king. He ruled as king in Jerusalem for three months and ten days. He did things that the Lord said were evil. ¹⁰ In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar sent his soldiers to bring Jehoiachin to Babylon. They also took to Babylon some valuable things from the Lord's temple. Nebuchadnezzar chose Jehoiachin's relative, Zedekiah, to be king of Judah and Jerusalem.

Zedekiah rules Judah as king

¹¹ Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king.^[h] He ruled in Jerusalem for 11 years. ¹² He did things that the Lord said were evil. The prophet Jeremiah spoke the Lord's message to Zedekiah. But Zedekiah was too proud to listen to him. ¹³ King Nebuchadnezzar had made Zedekiah promise in God's name that he would be faithful to Nebuchadnezzar. But Zedekiah turned against Nebuchadnezzar. He was very proud and he refused to change. He refused to turn back to the Lord, Israel's God. ¹⁴ All the leaders of the priests and the people also turned away from the Lord more and more. They did the same disgusting sins that the people in other nations did. They made the Lord's temple an unclean place. That was the place that the Lord himself had chosen as his special home in Jerusalem.

Babylon's army attacks Jerusalem

¹⁵ The Lord sent his servants many times to warn his people. He wanted to be kind to them. He wanted to keep his temple safe. ¹⁶ But they laughed at the men that God sent to them. They did not think that his messages were important. They insulted his prophets. Finally, the Lord became very angry with his people. Nothing could stop him from punishing them.

¹⁷ Then the Lord sent the king of Babylon to attack them.^[i] His soldiers killed Jerusalem's young men in the temple, where they thought that they would be safe. They were not kind to anybody, the young men or women, or even the very old people. God put all the people of Jerusalem under the king of Babylon's power.

¹⁸ The king took away to Babylon all the things that were in God's temple. He took everything, big things and small things. He took all the valuable things that were in the Lord's temple. He also took the valuable things of the king and his officers. He took them all away to Babylon. ¹⁹ Nebuchadnezzar's men destroyed the Lord's temple with fire. They knocked down the walls around Jerusalem. They burned all the important buildings. They destroyed all the valuable things in the city.

²⁰ Nebuchadnezzar took away to Babylon all the people in Jerusalem who were still alive. They worked as slaves for him and for his sons until the kingdom of Persia became powerful. ²¹ In this way, the Lord's message that his prophet Jeremiah had spoken became true. The land of Judah was empty for 70 years. It was finally able to rest, like the rest on a Sabbath day.^[j]

King Cyrus of Persia

²² In the first year that Cyrus, king of Persia, was ruling Babylon, the Lord put a thought in his mind.^[k] King Cyrus decided to send a message to everybody who lived in his kingdom. His message would cause what God had already spoken to his prophet Jeremiah to become true.^[l] The message was written down and people took it all over Cyrus's kingdom. It said:

²³ ‘This is what Cyrus, the king of Persia, says:

The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me power over all the kingdoms of the earth. He has said that I must build a temple for him in Jerusalem, the city that is in Judah. Any of God's people who live among you may now return to Jerusalem. I pray that the Lord their God will be with them.’

19 Then Pilate told the soldiers to take Jesus outside. He told them to hit Jesus many times with a whip.

² The soldiers used some branches with thorns to make a crown for Jesus. They put it on his head. Then put a dark red coat on him too. They did all this as if he was a king. ³ They came to him many times and they were saying to him, ‘Hello, King of the Jews, you are great!’ At the same time they slapped his face with their hands.

⁴ Pilate went outside once more. He said to the crowd, ‘Listen to me. I will bring Jesus out here to you. You should know this: I do not say that this man is guilty of anything wrong. I have no reason to punish him.’ ⁵ Then Jesus came out. He was still wearing the hat of thorns on his head and the dark red coat. Pilate said to them, ‘Look. Here is the man!’ ⁶ When the leaders of the priests and their officers saw Jesus, they shouted, ‘Kill him! Kill him on a cross!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Take him for yourselves and kill him on a cross. I can find no reason why I should punish him.’ ⁷ The Jews answered, ‘We have a law which says that he must die. He must die because he said, “I am the Son of God.” ’

⁸ When Pilate heard that, he was even more afraid. ⁹ He went back into the house. He asked Jesus, ‘Where are you really from?’ But Jesus did not answer him. ¹⁰ Pilate said to him, ‘Are you refusing to speak to me? Remember that I have authority. I can let you go free, or I can let them kill you on a cross.’ ¹¹ Jesus answered, ‘You could have no power against me unless God had given it to you. So the man who sold me to you has done a worse thing than you have done.’ ¹² From that moment, Pilate tried to let Jesus go free. But the Jewish leaders shouted back, ‘If you let him go, you are not Caesar's friend. Nobody should say that he himself is a king. That shows that he is against Caesar!’

¹³ When Pilate heard those words, he brought Jesus outside. Pilate sat down on a special seat for the judge. The seat was in a place called ‘Gabbatha’ in the Jewish language. There were large flat stones there, which covered the ground. ¹⁴ It was about noon on the day when they prepared the Passover meal. Pilate said to the Jews, ‘Here is your king!’ ¹⁵ But they shouted, ‘Take him away! Take him away! Kill him on a cross!’ Pilate asked them, ‘Do you want me to kill your king on a cross?’ The leaders of the priests answered, ‘Caesar is the only ruler that we call king.’ ¹⁶ Then Pilate gave Jesus to them, so that they could kill him on a cross.

They fix Jesus to a cross

The soldiers took hold of Jesus. ¹⁷ He was carrying the cross on which they would kill him. He went out to the place called ‘The Place of the Skull’.^[a] This place is called ‘Golgotha’ in the Jewish language.^[b]

¹⁸ When they arrived there, the soldiers fixed Jesus to the cross. They put two other men on crosses near to him. They were on each side of him and Jesus was between them.

¹⁹ Pilate wrote a notice. Then the soldiers put it on the cross. It said: ‘Jesus from Nazareth, the King of the Jews’. ²⁰ The place where they put Jesus on the cross was near to the city. So many of the Jews read this notice. They could read it because Pilate had written the words in three languages. He had written it in the Jewish language and in the languages of the Roman people and the Greek people. ²¹ The leaders of the Jewish priests said to Pilate, ‘Do not write, “The King of the Jews”. Instead, write, “This man said that he is the King of the Jews.” ’ ²² Pilate answered, ‘I will not change what I have written.’