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^(C1)Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem.

^(C1)He did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of his father David and did not turn aside to the right or the left.

For in the eighth year of his reign while he was still a youth, he began to ^(C1)seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began ^(C2)to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the ^(F1)Asherim, the carved images, and the cast metal images.

They tore down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and he chopped down ^(C1)the incense altars that were high above them; also he broke in pieces the Asherim, the carved images, and the cast metal images, and ^(C2)ground them to powder, and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.

Then ^(C1)he burned the bones of the priests on their altars and purged Judah and Jerusalem.

^(C1)In the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, in their surrounding spaces,

he also tore down the altars and ^(C1)crushed the ^(F1)Asherim and the carved images into powder, and chopped down all the incense altars throughout the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

^(C1)Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, Maaseiah ^(C2)an official of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the secretary, to repair the house of the LORD his God.

They came to ^(C1)Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the ^(F1)doorkeepers, had collected ^(F2)from ^(C2)Manasseh and Ephraim, and from all the remnant of Israel, from all Judah and Benjamin and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Then they handed it over to the workmen who had the oversight of the house of the LORD, and the workmen who were working in the house of the LORD ^(F1)used it to restore and repair the house.

They in turn gave it to the carpenters and the builders to buy quarried stone and timber for couplings, and to make beams for the houses ^(C1)which the kings of Judah had let go to ruin.

^(C1)The men did the work faithfully with foremen over them to supervise: Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites of the sons of Merari, Zechariah and Meshullam of the sons of the Kohathites, and ^(C2)the Levites, all who were skillful with musical instruments.

They were also in charge of ^(C1)the burden bearers, and supervised all the workmen from job to job; and some of the Levites were scribes, and officials, and gatekeepers.

When they were bringing out the money which had been brought into the house of the LORD, ^(C1)Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD given by Moses.

Hilkiah responded and said to Shaphan the scribe, "I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD." And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan.

Then Shaphan brought the book to the king and ^(F1)reported further word to the king, saying, "Everything that was ^(F2)entrusted to your servants, they are doing.

"They have also emptied out the money which was found in the house of the LORD, and have handed it over to the supervisors and the workmen."

Moreover, Shaphan the scribe informed the king, saying, "Hilkiah the priest gave me a book." And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.

When the king heard ^(C1)the words of the Law, ^(C2)he tore his clothes.

Then the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, ^(F1)Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying,

"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 ^(C1)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."

So Hilkiah and those ^(F1)whom the king had told went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of ^(F2)Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, the keeper of the wardrobe (she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter); and they spoke to her regarding this.

Then she said to them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: 'Tell the man who sent you to Me,

this is what the LORD says: "Behold, ^(C1)I am bringing ^(F1)evil on this place and on its inhabitants, all ^(C2)the curses written in the book which they have read in the presence of the king of Judah.

"^(C1)Since they have abandoned Me and have burned incense to other gods, so that they may provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands, My wrath will be poured out on this place and it will not be quenched."'

"But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the LORD, this is what you shall say to him: 'This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: In regard to the words which you have heard,

"^(C1)Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and its inhabitants, and because you humbled yourself before Me, tore your clothes, and wept before Me, I have indeed heard you," declares the LORD.

"Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace, so your eyes will not see all the evil which I am bringing on this place and its inhabitants."'" And they brought back word to the king.

^(C1)Then the king sent word and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.

The king went up to the house of the LORD ^(F1)with ^(C1)all the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests, the Levites, and all the people, from the greatest to the least; and he read in their ^(F2)presence all the words of the Book of the Covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.

Then the king ^(C1)stood ^(F1)in his place and ^(C2)made a covenant before the LORD to walk after the LORD, and to keep His commandments, His testimonies, and His statutes with all his heart and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that are written in this book.

Furthermore, he made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin stand with him. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem acted in accordance with the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

Josiah ^(C1)removed all the abominations from all the lands belonging to the sons of Israel, and made all who were present in Israel serve the LORD their God. Throughout his ^(F1)lifetime they did not turn from following the LORD God of their fathers.

Then Josiah ^(C1)celebrated the Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem, and ^(C2)they slaughtered the Passover animals on the fourteenth day of the first month.

He appointed the priests to their offices and ^(C1)encouraged them in the service of the house of the LORD.

He also said to ^(C1)the Levites who taught all Israel and who were holy to the LORD, "Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built; ^(C2)it will not be a burden on your shoulders. Now serve the LORD your God and His people Israel.

"^(C1)Prepare yourselves by your fathers' households in your divisions, according to the writing of David king of Israel and ^(C2)according to the writing of his son Solomon.

"Furthermore, ^(C1)stand in the holy place according to the sections of the fathers' households of your countrymen, the ^(F1)lay people, and according to the Levites, by division of a father's household.

"Now ^(C1)slaughter the Passover animals, ^(C2)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 ^(F1)voluntary offering to the people, the priests, and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, ^(C1)the officials of the house of God, gave the priests 2,600 from the flocks and three hundred bulls, for the Passover offerings.

^(C1)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.

So the service was prepared, and ^(C1)the priests stood at their positions and the Levites by their divisions according to the king's command.

^(F1)(C1)They slaughtered the Passover animals, and while ^(C2)the priests ^(F2)sprinkled the blood received from their hand, ^(C3)the Levites skinned the animals.

Then they removed the burnt offerings so that they might give them to the sections of the fathers' households of the lay people to present to the LORD, as it is written in the Book of Moses. They did this with the bulls as well.

So ^(C1)they roasted the Passover animals on the fire according to the ordinance, and they boiled ^(C2)the holy things in pots, in kettles, and in pans and carried them quickly to all the lay people.

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 ^(C1)according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer; and ^(C2)the gatekeepers at each gate did not have to leave their service, because their kinsmen the Levites prepared for them.

So all the service of the LORD was prepared on that day to celebrate the Passover, and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the LORD according to the command of King Josiah.

And ^(C1)the sons of Israel who were present celebrated the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days.

^(C1)There had not been a Passover celebrated like it in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet; nor had any of the kings of Israel celebrated such a Passover as Josiah did with the priests, the Levites, all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

In the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign this Passover was celebrated.

^(C1)After all this, when Josiah had set the ^(F1)temple in order, Neco king of Egypt came up to wage war at ^(C2)Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to engage him.

But ^(F1)Neco sent messengers to him, saying, "^(F2)(C1)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."

However, Josiah would not turn ^(F1)away from him, but ^(C1)disguised himself in order to fight against him; nor did he listen to the words of Neco ^(C2)from the mouth of God, but he came to wage war on the plain of ^(C3)Megiddo.

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 ^(F1)where he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. ^(C1)All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

Then ^(C1)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.

Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his deeds of devotion as written in the Law of the LORD,

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

^(C1)Then the people of the land took ^(F1)(C2)Joahaz the son of Josiah and made him king in place of his father in Jerusalem.

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

Then the king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem, and imposed a fine on the land of ^(F1)a hundred talents of silver and ^(F2)one talent of gold.

The king of Egypt made ^(F1)Joahaz's brother Eliakim king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But ^(C1)Neco took his brother Joahaz and brought him to Egypt.

^(C1)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.

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up ^(C1)against him and ^(C2)bound him with bronze chains to take him to Babylon.

^(C1)Nebuchadnezzar also brought some of the articles of the house of the LORD to Babylon, and he put them in his temple in Babylon.

^(C1)Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and ^(F1)the abominations which he committed, and what was found against him, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. And his son Jehoiachin became king in his place.

^(C1)Jehoiachin was ^(F1)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.

^(C1)At the turn of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent men and had him brought to Babylon with the valuable articles of the house of the LORD; and he made his relative ^(C2)Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.

^(C1)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; ^(C1)he did not humble himself ^(C2)before Jeremiah the prophet ^(F1)who spoke for the LORD.

^(C1)He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear allegiance by God. But ^(C2)he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD God of Israel.

Furthermore, all the officials of the priests and the people were very unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations; and they defiled the house of the LORD which He had sanctified in Jerusalem.

Yet the LORD, the God of their fathers, ^(C1)sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place;

but they continually ^(C1)mocked the messengers of God, ^(C2)despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, ^(C3)until the wrath of the LORD rose against His people, until there was no remedy.

^(C1)So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or frail; He handed them all over to him.

^(C1)He brought all the articles of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king and his officers, to Babylon.

Then ^(C1)they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its fortified buildings with fire and destroyed all its valuable articles.

He ^(C1)took into exile those who had escaped from the sword to Babylon; and ^(C2)they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia,

^(C1)to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until ^(C2)the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. ^(C3)All the days of its desolation it kept the Sabbath ^(F1)(C4)until seventy years were complete.

^(C1)Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia—in order to fulfill the word of the LORD ^(C2)by the mouth of Jeremiah—the LORD ^(C3)stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia so that he sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,

"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 build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may the LORD his God be with him; ^(F1)go up then!'"