Study Desk

Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land of Israel and his own house, he sent for Shaphan the son of Azaliah and Maasiah the scribe of the city, and said to them, Go, repair the house of the LORD your God.

And it came to pass when the king had heard the words of the law, he tore his clothes.

And the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his testimonies, with all his heart and with his whole soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book.

And he said to the Levites who dwelt in all Israel. Sanctify yourselves to the LORD, and put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build; for you have no longer to carry it upon your shoulders; serve now the LORD your God and his people Israel,

And prepare your hearts and the heart of your fathers, according to the writing of David, king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son,

And his princes gave willingly to the people and to the priests and to the Levites; Hilkiah and Zechariah and Nehiel, rulers of the house of the LORD, gave to the priests for the passover offerings two thousand and six hundred sheep and three hundred oxen.

Conaniah, also, and Shemaiah his nephew and Hashabiah and Jadiel gave to the Levites for passover offerings five thousand sheep and five hundred oxen.

Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him; for he had gone to fight with him. And he did not listen to the words of Pharaoh the lame; for Josiah did not know that it was from the LORD, so he went forth to fight against him in the plain of Megiddo.

Then Pharaoh the lame shot two arrows at Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Take me away; for I am severely wounded.

So his servants took him out of the chariot, and put him into his own royal chariot; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died and was buried in the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his goodness, according to that which is written in the law of the LORD,

And his deeds, first and last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

THEN the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his fathers stead in Jerusalem.

And he made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Pharaoh the lame took Jehoahaz his brother and carried him to Egypt, and he died there.

Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God.

Nebuchadnezzar also carried away some of the vessels of the house of the LORD to Babylon and put them in his temple in Babylon.

Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and the abominations which he did, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah; and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.

And when the year was expired, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon sent a force against him and brought him to Babylon, both him and the precious vessels of the house of the LORD, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.

And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who prophesied from the mouth of the LORD.

And he also rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by the name of the LORD; but he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart and would not pray before the LORD God of Israel.