Study Desk

"Go, inquire of the LORD for me and for those who are left in Israel and Judah, concerning the words of the book which has been found; for the wrath of the LORD which has poured out on us is great, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to act in accordance with everything that is written in this book."

"Now slaughter the Passover animals, keep one another consecrated, and prepare for your countrymen to act in accordance with the word of the LORD by Moses."

Josiah contributed to the lay people, to all who were present, flocks of lambs and young goats, all for the Passover offerings, numbering thirty thousand, plus three thousand bulls; these were from the king's property.

His officers also contributed a voluntary offering to the people, the priests, and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the officials of the house of God, gave the priests 2,600 from the flocks and three hundred bulls, for the Passover offerings.

Conaniah also, and his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, the officers of the Levites, contributed five thousand from the flocks and five hundred bulls to the Levites for the Passover offerings.

Afterward they prepared for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron, were offering the burnt offerings and the fat until night; so the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron.

The singers, the sons of Asaph, were also at their positions according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer; and the gatekeepers at each gate did not have to leave their service, because their kinsmen the Levites prepared for them.

And the sons of Israel who were present celebrated the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days.

But Neco sent messengers to him, saying, "What business do you have with me, King of Judah? I am not coming against you today, but against the house with which I am at war, and God has told me to hurry. For your own sake, stop interfering with God who is with me, so that He does not destroy you."

The archers shot King Josiah, and the king said to his servants, "Take me away, for I am badly wounded."

So his servants took him out of the chariot and carried him on the second chariot which he had, and brought him to Jerusalem where he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

Then Jeremiah chanted a song of mourning for Josiah. And all the male and female singers speak about Josiah in their songs of mourning to this day. And they made them an ordinance in Israel; behold, they are also written in the Lamentations.

Joahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem.

Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem; and he did evil in the sight of the LORD his God.

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned for three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did evil in the sight of the LORD.

Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem.

He did evil in the sight of the LORD his God; he did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet who spoke for the LORD.

"This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: 'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to rebuild for Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

'And every survivor, at whatever place he may live, the people of that place are to support him with silver and gold, with equipment and cattle, together with a voluntary offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.'"

Some of the heads of fathers' households, when they arrived at the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem, offered willingly for the house of God to erect it on its site.