Old/New Testament

Josiah Succeeds Amon^(A)

34 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for 31 years in Jerusalem. ² He practiced what the Lord considered to be right, following the example^[a] of his ancestor David, turning neither to the right nor to the left. ³ In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his ancestor David. In the twelfth year of his reign,^[b] he began to remove the high places, Asherim, carved images, and cast images from Judah and Jerusalem.

⁴ They tore down the altars of Baals in his presence. He chopped down the incense altars that stood high above them. He broke into pieces the Asherim, the carved images, and the cast images, ground them to dust, and scattered the residue on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. ⁵ He burned the bones of the priests on their altars, thus purging Judah and Jerusalem. ⁶ In the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and as far as Naphtali and their surrounding ruins, ⁷ he also tore down altars, destroyed the Asherim and the carved images, grinding them^[c] into dust, and chopped down all the incense altars throughout the land of Israel. Then he went back to Jerusalem.

Josiah’s Restoration Work^(B)

⁸ In the eighteenth year of his reign, after he had purged the land and the Temple, he sent Azaliah’s son Shaphan, Maaseiah, mayor^[d] of Jerusalem,^[e] and Joahaz’s son Joah, the recorder, to repair the Temple of the Lord his God. ⁹ They approached Hilkiah the high priest and delivered to him the money that had been brought into God’s Temple that the descendants of Levi and gatekeepers had collected from Manasseh, Ephraim, the surviving Israelis, Judah, Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ They paid it to the workmen who supervised the Lord’s Temple, and the workmen who were employed in the Lord’s Temple to supervise restoration and repair of the Temple. ¹¹ They, in turn, paid the carpenters and builders to purchase quarried stone and timber for binders and beams for the buildings that previous^[f] kings of Judah had let deteriorate. ¹² The workmen did their duties faithfully with these foremen supervising them: Jahath and Obadiah, descendants of Levi who were Merari’s sons, Zechariah and Meshullam, descendants of Kohath, and various descendants of Levi, who were skilled musicians. ¹³ These men also supervised the heavy lift workers and supervised all the workmen from job to job, while some of the descendants of Levi served as scribes, officials, and gatekeepers.

The Book of the Law is Discovered^(C)

¹⁴ While they were bringing out the money that had come in as gifts to the Lord’s Temple, Hilkiah the priest discovered the Book of the Law of the Lord that had been handed down by Moses. ¹⁵ Hilkiah reported his finding to Shaphan the scribe, telling him, “I found the Book of the Law in the Lord’s Temple. Then he gave the book to Shaphan. ¹⁶ Shaphan took the book to the king and gave an additional report to the king, telling him “Everything that you’ve entrusted to your servants is being carried out. ¹⁷ They’ve removed the money that was found in the Lord’s Temple and have passed it on to the supervisors and the workmen.” ¹⁸ Shaphan the scribe also informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest gave me a book.” Shaphan read from its contents to the king.

¹⁹ As soon as he heard what the Law said, he tore his clothes. ²⁰ He issued these orders to Hilkiah, Shaphan’s son Ahikam, Micah’s son Abdon, Shaphan the scribe, and the king’s personal assistant Asaiah: ²¹ “Go ask the Lord for me and for those who survive in Israel and in Judah about the words that we’ve read in this book that we found, because the wrath of the Lord that we deserve to have poured out on us is very great, since our ancestors haven’t obeyed the command from^[g] the Lord that required us to do everything that is written in this book.”

Hilkiah Consults with Huldah, the Woman Prophet

²² So Hilkiah and the others who had received orders from the king went to visit Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Tokhath’s son Shallum, grandson of Hasrah. She was the king’s wardrobe supervisor, and she lived in Jerusalem’s Second Quarter. They asked her about what had happened. ²³ In response, she replied:

So they all brought back this message to the king.

The Covenant is Renewed^(D)

²⁹ The king sent word to gather all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. ³⁰ Then the king went up to the Lord’s Temple, accompanied by the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and descendants of Levi, and everyone else from the most important to the least important, and he read out loud^[i] all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in the Lord’s Temple. ³¹ While standing in his appointed place, the king made a public covenant with the Lord to follow the Lord, to keep his commandments, his testimonies, and his statutes, and to do so with all of his heart and soul, and to carry out what was written in the covenant contained in the book. ³² He also made everyone who was present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand in agreement with him. As a result, the inhabitants of Jerusalem reconfirmed the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors. ³³ Josiah also removed all the detestable things from the territories that belonged to the people of Israel, and made everyone who lived in Israel to serve the Lord their God. For the rest of his life, they didn’t abandon their quest to follow the Lord God of their ancestors.

Passover is Observed Again^(E)

35 Josiah observed the Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem. They slaughtered the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. ² He appointed priests to their offices, encouraging them in their service at the Lord’s Temple. ³ He addressed the descendants of Levi who were teaching all Israel and who had consecrated themselves to the Lord, telling them:

⁷ Josiah contributed 30,000 animals from the flocks of lambs and young goats, giving Passover offerings to all of the people who were present, plus an additional 3,000 bulls from the king’s private possessions. ⁸ His officers contributed a voluntary offering to the people, the priests, and the descendants of Levi. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the officials who supervised God’s Temple, gave 2,600 animals from their flocks to the priests for Passover offerings, along with 300 bulls. ⁹ Also, Conaniah, and his relatives Shemaiah, and Nethanel, along with Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad, the officers in charge of the descendants of Levi, contributed 5,000 animals from the flocks to the descendants of Levi for the Passover offerings, along with 500 bulls. ¹⁰ As a result, the Passover service was prepared, the priests took their assigned places, and the descendants of Levi stood in their divisions as the king had commanded.

¹¹ They slaughtered the Passover lamb, and the priests poured out the blood that they had received from the lambs^[l] while the descendants of Levi flayed the sacrifices. ¹² They set aside in reserve the burnt offerings, so they could distribute them in proportion to the divisions of their ancestral households for presentation by the people to the Lord, as is required by the book of Moses. They did this with respect to the bulls, also. ¹³ They roasted the Passover in fire, as required by the ordinances, and boiled the holy things in pots, kettles, and pans, and delivered them quickly to all the people. ¹⁴ After this, because the priests, who were descendants of Aaron, were busy offering the burnt offerings and fat portions until evening, the descendants of Levi prepared the Passover for themselves and their fellow-descendants of Aaron, the priests. ¹⁵ The singers, as descendants of Asaph, remained at their stations as David, Asaph, Heman, and the king’s seer Jeduthun required, and the gatekeepers did not have to leave their posts because their descendant of Levi relatives prepared the Passover for them.

¹⁶ That’s how the Lord’s service was prepared that day to celebrate the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the Lord’s altar according to what King Josiah had commanded. ¹⁷ The Israelis who were present celebrated the Passover that day, as well as the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days. ¹⁸ There had not been a Passover celebration like it in Israel since Samuel the prophet was alive, nor had any of the kings of Israel celebrated a Passover like Josiah did at that time^[m] with the priests, the descendants of Levi, everyone from Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁹ This Passover celebration was observed during the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah.

Pharaoh Neco and Josiah’s Death^(F)

²⁰ Some time after all of this, after Josiah had finished preparing the Temple, King Neco of Egypt invaded Carchemish on the Euphrates River,^[n] and Josiah went out to fight him. ²¹ But he sent messengers to him, who asked him, “What do we have in common, King of Judah? I am not here today opposing you. I am fighting the dynasty that is fighting me, and God has ordered me to hurry. For your own good, stop interfering with God, who is with me, and he won’t destroy you!”

²² But Josiah wouldn’t turn around. In fact, he put on a disguise so he could fight Neco.^[o] He wouldn’t listen to what God told him through what Neco had to say, and as a result, Josiah came to attack Neco^[p] on the Megiddo plain. ²³ Some archers shot King Josiah, and the king told his servants, “Take me away, because I’m badly wounded.” ²⁴ So his servants removed him from the chariot he was in and carried him away in a backup chariot that he had and took him back to Jerusalem, where he died and was buried in the tombs of his ancestors. All of Judah and Jerusalem went into mourning for Josiah.

²⁵ Jeremiah sang a lament for Josiah, and all the male and female singers recite that lamentation about Josiah to this day. In fact, they made singing it an ordinance in Israel, and they are recorded in the Lamentations.^{[q] 26} Now the rest of the accomplishments of Josiah, including his faithful acts of devotion as required in the Law of the Lord, ²⁷ and his other^[r] activities from first to last, are recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

Jehoahaz Becomes King^(G)

36 After this, the people of the land installed Josiah’s son Jehoahaz in Jerusalem as king to take his father’s place. ² Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem, ³ after which the king of Egypt dethroned him and imposed a fine on the land of 100 talents^[s] of silver and one talent^[t] of gold. ⁴ King Neco of Egypt installed Jehoahaz’s^[u] brother Eliakim as king over Judah and Jerusalem, changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim, and took his brother Joahaz back to Egypt.

Jehoiakim’s Reign; Nebuchadnezzar’s First Capture of Jerusalem

⁵ Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem, but he practiced what the Lord his God considered to be evil. ⁶ As a result, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked him, bound him in bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon. ⁷ Nebuchadnezzar also took articles from the Lord’s Temple to Babylon and placed them in his temple in Babylon. ⁸ The rest of Jehoiakim’s accomplishments—along with the detestable things that he did that were recorded in his disfavor—are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. His son Jehoiachin became king to replace him.

Jechoiachin’s Reign; Nebuchadnezzar’s Second Capture of Jerusalem

⁹ Jehoiachin was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for three months and ten days in Jerusalem, all the while doing what the Lord considered to be evil. ¹⁰ At the beginning of the next year, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon, along with valuable articles from the Lord’s Temple, and he installed Jehoiachin’s relative Zedekiah as king over Judah and Jerusalem.

Zedekiah Rules in Judah^(H)

¹¹ Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. ¹² He practiced what the Lord his God considered to be evil and never humbled himself before Jeremiah the prophet who spoke for the Lord. ¹³ Zedekiah rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear allegiance in the name of^[v] God. Instead, he stiffened his resolve,^[w] and hardened his heart, and would not return to the Lord God of Israel.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Third Capture of Jerusalem^(I)

¹⁴ Meanwhile, all the officials who supervised the priests and the people remained unfaithful, following the detestable example of the surrounding nations. They polluted the Lord’s Temple that he had consecrated in Jerusalem. ¹⁵ The Lord God of their ancestors pleaded with them time and again through his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on the place of his residence, ¹⁶ but they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until there was no remedy for the wrath of the Lord that arose to punish^[x] his people. ¹⁷ Therefore he brought up the king of the Chaldeans against them, who executed their young men in the holy Temple, showing no compassion on young man or young virgin, adult men or the aged. God gave them all into the king’s control, ¹⁸ who took back to Babylon every article in God’s Temple, whether large or small, including the treasuries of the Lord’s Temple, the king’s assets, and those of his officers. ¹⁹ After this, they set fire to God’s Temple, demolished the wall around Jerusalem, burned all of its fortified buildings, and destroyed everything of value. ²⁰ Nebuchadnezzar^[y] carried off to Babylon those who survived the executions, and they served him and his descendants until the kingdom of Persia came to power. ²¹ All of this fulfilled what the Lord had predicted through Jeremiah. And so the land enjoyed its Sabbaths, and the length of the land’s desolation lasted until a 70-year long Sabbath had been completed.

An Edict to Rebuild the Temple^(J)

²² During the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in fulfillment of the message from the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord prompted^[z] Cyrus, king of Persia, to make this proclamation throughout his entire kingdom, which was also released in written form:

²³ An Official Statement

from^[aa] Cyrus, King of Persia

Jesus is Sentenced to Death^(A)

19 Then Pilate had Jesus taken away and whipped. ² The soldiers twisted some thorns into a victor’s crown, put it on his head, and threw a purple robe on him. ³ They kept coming up to him and saying, “Long live the king of the Jews!” Then they began to slap him on the face.

⁴ Pilate went outside again and told the Jews,^[a] “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” ⁵ Then Jesus came outside, wearing the victor’s crown of thorns and the purple robe.

Pilate told them, “Here is the man!”

⁶ When the high priests and the officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

Pilate told them, “You take him and crucify him. I find no basis for a charge against him.”

⁷ The Jewish leaders^[b] answered Pilate,^[c] “We have a law, and according to that Law he must die because he made himself out to be the Son of God.”

⁸ When Pilate heard this, he became even more afraid. ⁹ Returning to his headquarters,^[d] he asked Jesus, “Where are you from?”

But Jesus did not answer him.

¹⁰ So Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to speak to me? You realize, don’t you, that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you?”

¹¹ Jesus answered him, “You have no authority over me at all, except what was given to you from above. That’s why the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

¹² From then on, Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders^[e] kept shouting, “If you release this fellow, you’re not a friend of Caesar! Anyone who claims to be a king is defying Caesar!”

¹³ When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat down on the judgment seat in a place called The Pavement, which in Hebrew is called Gabbatha. ¹⁴ Now it was the Preparation Day for the Passover, about noon.^[f] He told the Jewish leaders,^[g] “Here is your king!”

¹⁵ Then they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

Pilate asked them, “Should I crucify your king?”

The high priests responded, “We have no king but Caesar!” ¹⁶ Then Pilate^[h] handed him over to be crucified, and they took Jesus away.

Jesus is Crucified^(B)

¹⁷ Carrying the cross all by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of a Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. ¹⁸ There they crucified him, along with two others, one on each side of him with Jesus in the middle. ¹⁹ Pilate wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus from Nazareth,^[i] the King of the Jews.” ²⁰ Many Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. It was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.

²¹ Then the Jewish high priests told Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this fellow said, ‘I am the King of the Jews.’”

²² Pilate replied, “What I have written I have written.”