Josiah’s Reforms

1 ^wThen the king sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him. 2 And the king went up to the house of the Lord, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And ^xhe read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant ^ythat had been found in the house of the Lord. 3 And the king stood ^zby the pillar and ^amade a covenant before the Lord, ^bto walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant.

4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests ^cof the second order and the keepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels made for ^dBaal, for ^eAsherah, and for all the host of heaven. ^fHe burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 And he deposed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and the moon and the constellations ^gand all the host of the heavens. 6 And he brought out ^hthe Asherah from the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, ⁱand burned it at the brook Kidron ^jand beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves ^kof the common people. 7 And he broke down the houses of ^lthe male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the Lord, ^mwhere the women wove hangings for ^hthe Asherah. 8 And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings, from ⁿGeba to Beersheba. And he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one’s left at the gate of the city. 9 ^oHowever, the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. 10 And he defiled ^pTopheth, which is ^qin the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, ^rthat no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to ^sMolech.¹ 11 And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts.² And he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12 And the altars ^ton the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars ^uthat Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, he pulled down and broke in pieces³ and cast the dust of them ^vinto the brook Kidron. 13 And the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of ^wthe mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for ^xAshtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for ^yChemosh the abomination of Moab, and for ^zMilcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 14 And he broke in pieces the ^apillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with the bones of men.

15 Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected ^bby Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^cwho made Israel to sin, ^dthat altar with the high place he pulled down and burned,⁴ reducing it to dust. He also burned the Asherah. 16 And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it, ^eaccording to the word of the Lord that the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things. 17 Then he said, “What is that monument that I see?” And the men of the city told him, ^f“It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted⁵ these things that you have done against the altar at Bethel.” 18 And he said, “Let him be; let no man move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones ^gof the prophet who came out of Samaria. 19 And Josiah removed all the shrines also of the high places that were ^hin the cities of Samaria, which kings of Israel had made, provoking the Lord to anger. He did to them according to all that he had done at Bethel. 20 And ⁱhe sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, ^jand burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Josiah Restores the Passover

21 And the king commanded all the people, ^k“Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, ^las it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 ^mFor no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem.

24 Moreover, Josiah put away ⁿthe mediums and the necromancers and ^othe household gods and ^pthe idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish ^qthe words of the law that were written in the book ^rthat Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. 25 ^sBefore him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.

26 Still the Lord did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, ^tbecause of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. 27 And the Lord said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight, ^uas I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, ^vand the house of which I said, My name shall be there.”

Josiah’s Death in Battle

28 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 29 ^wIn his days ^xPharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. King Josiah went to meet him, and Pharaoh Neco killed him at ^yMegiddo, as soon as he saw him. 30 ^zAnd his servants carried him dead in a chariot from ^yMegiddo and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. ^aAnd the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s place.

Jehoahaz’s Reign and Captivity

31 ^bJehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was ^cHamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, ^daccording to all that his fathers had done. 33 And ^xPharaoh Neco put him in bonds at ^eRiblah in the land of ^fHamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents⁶ of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And ^xPharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and ^gchanged his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, ^hand he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim ⁱgave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco.

Jehoiakim Reigns in Judah

36 ^jJehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. 37 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, ^daccording to all that his fathers had done.

1 ^kIn his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. 2 And the Lord sent against him bands of the ^lChaldeans and ^mbands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, ⁿaccording to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servants the prophets. 3 Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the Lord, to remove them out of his sight, ^ofor the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, 4 and also ^pfor the innocent blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord would not pardon. 5 ^qNow the rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 6 So Jehoiakim ^rslept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. 7 ^sAnd the king of Egypt did not come again out of his land, ^tfor the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt ^ufrom the Brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates.

Jehoiachin Reigns in Judah

8 ^vJehoiachin was ^weighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. 9 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, ^xaccording to all that his father had done.

Jerusalem Captured

10 At that time the servants of ^yNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 11 And ^yNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it, 12 ^zand Jehoiachin the king of Judah gave himself up to the king of Babylon, himself and his mother and his servants and his officials and his palace officials. ^aThe king of Babylon took him prisoner ^bin the eighth year of his reign 13 and carried off all the treasures of the house of the Lord ^cand the treasures of the king’s house, ^dand cut in pieces all the vessels of gold in the temple of the Lord, ^ewhich Solomon king of Israel had made, ^fas the Lord had foretold. 14 ^gHe carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all the mighty men of valor, ^h10,000 captives, ⁱand all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained, ^jexcept the poorest people of the land. 15 ^kAnd he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon. The king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officials, and the chief men of the land he took into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16 And the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of valor, ^l7,000, and the craftsmen and the metal workers, 1,000, all of them strong and fit for war. 17 ^mAnd the king of Babylon ⁿmade Mattaniah, ^oJehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place, ^pand changed his name to Zedekiah.

Zedekiah Reigns in Judah

18 ^qZedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was ^rHamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 19 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, ^saccording to all that Jehoiakim had done. 20 For because of the anger of the Lord it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence.

^tAnd Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

Fall and Captivity of Judah

1 ^uAnd in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, ^vNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and laid siege to it. ^wAnd they built siegeworks all around it. 2 So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 3 On the ninth day of the fourth month ^xthe famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. 4 Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, by ^ythe king’s garden, and ^zthe Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the ^aArabah. 5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. 6 Then they captured the king ^band brought him up to the king of Babylon at ^cRiblah, and they passed sentence on him. 7 They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, ^dand put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains and took him to Babylon.

8 ^eIn the fifth month, on ^fthe seventh day of the month—that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9 ^gAnd he burned the house of the Lord ^hand the king’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. 10 And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, ⁱbroke down the walls around Jerusalem. 11 ^jAnd the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile. 12 But the captain of the guard left ^ksome of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.

13 ^lAnd the pillars ^mof bronze that were in the house of the Lord, and ⁿthe stands and ^othe bronze sea that were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried the bronze to Babylon. 14 ^pAnd they took away the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the dishes for incense and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service, 15 the fire pans also and the bowls. What was of gold the captain of the guard took away as gold, and what was of silver, as silver. 16 As for the two pillars, the one sea, and the stands that Solomon had made for the house of the Lord, ^qthe bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight. 17 ^rThe height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits,⁷ and on it was a capital of bronze. The height of the capital was three cubits. A latticework and pomegranates, all of bronze, were all around the capital. And the second pillar had the same, with the latticework.

18 ^sAnd the captain of the guard took ^tSeraiah the chief priest and ^uZephaniah the second priest and the three keepers of the threshold; 19 and from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the men of war, and ^vfive men of the king’s council who were found in the city; and the secretary of the commander of the army, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the city. 20 And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at ^wRiblah. 21 And the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at ^wRiblah in the land of Hamath. ^xSo Judah was taken into exile out of its land.

Gedaliah Made Governor of Judah

22 And over the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he appointed ^yGedaliah the son of ^zAhikam, son of Shaphan, governor. 23 ^aNow when all the captains and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor, they came with their men to Gedaliah at ^bMizpah, namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite. 24 And Gedaliah swore to them and their men, saying, “Do not be afraid because of the Chaldean officials. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.” 25 ^cBut in the seventh month, ^dIshmael the son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down Gedaliah and put him to death along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. 26 ^eThen all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces arose and went to Egypt, for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

Jehoiachin Released from Prison

27 ^fAnd in the thirty-seventh year of ^gthe exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, graciously ^hfreed⁸ Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. 28 And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life ⁱhe dined regularly at the king’s table, 30 and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, according to his daily needs, as long as he lived.

With God We Shall Do Valiantly

A Song. A Psalm of David.