221 Josiah was eight years old when he became king , and he reigned thirty-one e years in Jerusalem ; and his mother's name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath . 2 He did right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the way of his father David , nor did he turn aside to the right or to the left .
3 Now in the eighteenth e year of King Josiah , the king sent Shaphan , the son of Azaliah the son of Meshullam the scribe , to the house of the Lord saying , 4 " Go up to Hilkiah the high priest that he may count the money brought in to the house of the Lord which the doorkeepers have gathered from the people . 5 " Let them deliver it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord , and let them give it to the workmen who are in the house of the Lord to repair the damages of the house , 6 to the carpenters and the builders and the masons and for buying timber and hewn stone to repair the house . 7 "Only no accounting shall be made with them for the money delivered into their hands , for they deal faithfully ." 8 Then Hilkiah the high priest 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 who read it. 9 Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought back word to the king and said , "Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house , and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord ." 10 Moreover, Shaphan the scribe told the king saying , "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book ." And Shaphan read it in the presence of the king .
11 When the king heard the words of the book of the law , he tore his clothes . 12 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest , Ahikam the son of Shaphan , Achbor the son of Micaiah , Shaphan the scribe , and Asaiah the king's servant saying , 13 "Go , inquire of the Lord for me and the people and all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found , for great is the wrath of the Lord that burns against us, because e our fathers have not listened to the words of this book , to do according to all that is written concerning us." 14 So Hilkiah the priest , Ahikam , Achbor , Shaphan , and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess , the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah , the son of Harhas , keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter); and they spoke to her. 15 She said to them, "Thus says the Lord God of Israel , 'Tell the man who sent you to me, 16 thus says the Lord , "Behold , I bring evil on this place and on its inhabitants , even all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read . 17 " Because e they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods that they might provoke Me to anger with all the work of their hands , therefore My wrath burns against this place , and it shall not be quenched ."' 18 "But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord thus shall you say to him, 'Thus says the Lord God of Israel , "Regarding the words which you have heard , 19 because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before e the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants that they should become a desolation and a curse , and you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I truly have heard you," declares the Lord . 20 "Therefore , behold , I will gather you to your fathers , and you will be gathered to your grave in peace , and your eyes will not see all the evil which I will bring on this place .""' So they brought back word to the king .
231 Then the king sent , and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem . 2 The king went up to the house of the Lord and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the prophets and all the people , both small and great ; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord . 3 The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord , to walk after the Lord , and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul , to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book . And all the people entered into the covenant .
4 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and the doorkeepers , to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal , for Asherah , and for all the host of heaven ; and he burned them outside e Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron , and carried their ashes to Bethel 5 He did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem , also those who burned incense to Baal , to the sun and to the moon and to the constellations and to all the host of heaven . 6 He brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord outside e Jerusalem to the brook Kidron , and burned it at the brook Kidron , and ground it to dust , and threw its dust on the graves of the common people . 7 He also broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes which were in the house of the Lord , where e the women were weaving hangings for the Asherah . 8 Then he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah , and defiled the high places where e the priests had burned incense , from Geba to Beersheba ; and he broke down the high places of the gates which were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city , which were on one's left at the city gate . 9 Nevertheless the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem , but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers . 10 He also defiled Topheth , which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom , that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire for Molech . 11 He did away with the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the sun , at the entrance of the house of the Lord , by the chamber of Nathan-melech the official , which was in the precincts ; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire . 12 The altars which were on the roof , the upper chamber of Ahaz , which the kings of Judah had made , and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord , the king broke down ; and he smashed them there and threw their dust into the brook Kidron . 13 The high places which were before e Jerusalem , which were on the right of the mount of destruction which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians , and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab , and for Milcom the abomination of the sons of Ammon , the king defiled . 14 He broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with human bones 15 Furthermore , the altar that was at Bethel and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat , who made Israel sin , had made , even that altar and the high place he broke down . Then he demolished its stones, ground them to dust , and burned the Asherah . 16 Now when Josiah turned , he saw the graves that were there on the mountain , and he sent and took the bones from the graves and burned them on the altar and defiled it according to the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed , who proclaimed these things . 17 Then he said , "What is this monument that I see ?" And the men of the city told him, " It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel ." 18 He said , "Let him alone ; let no one disturb his bones ." So they left his bones undisturbed with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria . 19 Josiah also removed all the houses of the high places which were in the cities of Samaria , which the kings of Israel had made provoking the Lord ; and he did to them just e as he had done in Bethel 20 All the priests of the high places who were there he slaughtered on the altars and burned human bones on them; then he returned to Jerusalem .
21 Then the king commanded all the people saying , " Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God as it is written in this book of the covenant . 22 Surely such a Passover had not been celebrated from the days of the judges who judged Israel , nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and of the kings of Judah . 23 But in the eighteenth e year of King Josiah , this Passover was observed to the Lord in Jerusalem .
24 Moreover , Josiah removed the mediums and the spiritists and the teraphim and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem , that he might confirm the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord .
25 Before 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 However , the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath with which His anger burned against Judah , because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. 27 The Lord said , "I will remove Judah also from My sight , as I have removed Israel . And I will cast off Jerusalem , this city which I have chosen , and the temple of which I said , 'My name shall be there .' "
28 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and all that he did , are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles e of the Kings of Judah ? 29 In his days Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates . And King Josiah went to meet him, and when Pharaoh Neco saw him he killed him at Megiddo . 30 His servants drove his body in a chariot from Megiddo , and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb . Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father .
31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three e years old when he became king , and he reigned three months in Jerusalem ; and his mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah . 32 He did evil in the sight of the Lord , according to all that his fathers had done . 33 Pharaoh Neco imprisoned him at Riblah in the land of Hamath , that he might not reign in Jerusalem ; and he imposed on the land a fine of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold . 34 Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father , and changed his name to Jehoiakim . But he took Jehoahaz away and brought him to Egypt , and he died there . 35 So Jehoiakim gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh , but he taxed the land in order to give the money at the command of Pharaoh . He exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land , each according to his valuation , to give it to Pharaoh Neco .
36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five e years old when he became king , and he reigned eleven e years in Jerusalem ; and his mother's name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah 37 He did evil in the sight of the Lord , according to all that his fathers had done .
341 Josiah was eight years old when he became king , and he reigned thirty-one e years in Jerusalem . 2 He did 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 to the left .
3 For in the eighth year of his reign while he was still a youth , he began to seek the God of his father David ; and in the twelfth e year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places , the Asherim , the carved images and the molten images . 4 They tore down the altars of the Baals in his presence , and the incense altars that were high above them he chopped down ; also the Asherim , the carved images and the molten images he broke in pieces and ground to powder and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. 5 Then he burned the bones of the priests on their altars and purged Judah and Jerusalem . 6 In the cities of Manasseh , Ephraim , Simeon , even as far as Naphtali , in their surrounding ruins , 7 he also tore down the altars and beat the Asherim and the carved images into powder , and chopped down all the incense altars throughout the land of Israel . Then he returned to Jerusalem .
8 Now in the eighteenth e year of his reign , when he had purged the land and the house , he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah , and Maaseiah an official of the city , and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder , to repair the house of the Lord his God . 9 They came to Hilkiah the high priest and delivered the money that was brought into the house of God , which the Levites , the doorkeepers , had collected from Manasseh and Ephraim , and from all the remnant of Israel , and from all Judah and Benjamin and the inhabitants of Jerusalem . 10 Then they gave it into the hands of the workmen who had the oversight of the house of the Lord , and the workmen who were working in the house of the Lord used it to restore and repair the house . 11 They in turn gave it to the carpenters and to the builders to buy quarried stone and timber for couplings and to make beams for the houses which the kings of Judah had let go to ruin . 12 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 the Levites , all who were skillful with musical instruments . 13 They were also over the burden bearers , and supervised all the workmen e from job to job ; and some of the Levites were scribes and officials and gatekeepers .
14 When they were bringing out the money which had been brought into the house of the Lord , Hilkiah the priest found the book of the law of the Lord given by Moses . 15 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 . 16 Then Shaphan brought the book to the king and reported further word to the king , saying , "Everything that was entrusted e to your servants they are doing . 17 "They have also emptied out the money which was found in the house of the Lord , and have delivered it into the hands of the supervisors and the workmen ." 18 Moreover, Shaphan the scribe told the king saying , "Hilkiah the priest gave me a book ." And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king . 19 When the king heard the words of the law , he tore his clothes . 20 Then the king commanded Hilkiah , Ahikam the son of Shaphan , Abdon the son of Micah , Shaphan the scribe , and Asaiah the king's servant , saying , 21 "Go , inquire of the Lord for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah , concerning the words of the book which has been found ; for great is the wrath of the Lord which is poured out on us because e our fathers have not observed the word of the Lord , to do according to all that is written in this book ." 22 So Hilkiah and those whom the king had told went to Huldah the prophetess , the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath , the son of Hasrah , the keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter); and they spoke to her regarding this . 23 She said to them, "Thus says the Lord , the God of Israel , 'Tell the man who sent you to Me, 24 thus says the Lord , "Behold , I am bringing evil on this place and on its inhabitants , even all the curses written in the book which they have read in the presence of the king of Judah . 25 " Because e they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods , that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands ; therefore My wrath will be poured out on this place and it shall not be quenched ."' 26 "But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord , thus you will say to him, 'Thus says the Lord God of Israel regarding the words which you have heard , 27 " Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before e God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants , and because you humbled yourself before Me, tore your clothes and wept before Me, I truly have heard you," declares the Lord . 28 "Behold , I will gather you to your fathers and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace , so your eyes will not see all the evil which I will bring on this place and on its inhabitants .""' And they brought back word to the king .
29 Then the king sent and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem . 30 The king went up to the house of the Lord and 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 hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord . 31 Then 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 testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and with all his soul , to perform the words of the covenant written in this book . 32 Moreover, he made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand with him. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God , the God of their fathers . 33 Josiah removed all the abominations from all the lands belonging to the sons of Israel , and made all who were present in Israel to serve the Lord their God . Throughout his lifetime e they did not turn from following the Lord God of their fathers .
351 Then Josiah celebrated the Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem , and they slaughtered the Passover animals on the fourteenth e day of the first month . 2 He set the priests in their offices and encouraged them in the service of the house of the Lord . 3 He also said to 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 ; it will be a burden on your shoulders no longer. Now serve the Lord your God and His people Israel . 4 " Prepare yourselves by your fathers' households in your divisions , according to the writing of David king of Israel and according to the writing of his son Solomon . 5 "Moreover, stand in the holy place according to the sections of the fathers' households of your brethren the lay people , and according to the Levites , by division of a father's household . 6 "Now slaughter the Passover animals, sanctify yourselves and prepare for your brethren to do according to the word of the Lord by Moses ." 7 Josiah contributed to the lay people , to all who were present , flocks of lambs and young e goats e , all for the Passover offerings , numbering 30,000 e plus 3,000 e bulls ; these were from the king's possessions . 8 His officers also contributed a freewill offering to the people , the priests and the Levites . Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel , the officials of the house of God , gave to the priests for the Passover offerings 2,600 e from the flocks and 300 e bulls . 9 Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethanel , his brothers , and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad , the officers of the Levites , contributed to the Levites for the Passover offerings 5,000 e from the flocks and 500 e bulls . 10 So the service was prepared , and the priests stood at their stations and the Levites by their divisions according to the king's command . 11 They slaughtered the Passover animals, and while the priests sprinkled the blood received from their hand , the Levites skinned them. 12 Then they removed the burnt offerings 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 also with the bulls . 13 So they roasted the Passover animals on the fire according to the ordinance , and they boiled the holy things in pots , in kettles , in pans , and carried them speedily to all the lay people . 14 Afterwards 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 ; therefore the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests , the sons of Aaron . 15 The singers , the sons of Asaph , were also at their stations according to the command of David , Asaph , Heman , and Jeduthun the king's seer ; and the gatekeepers at each gate did not have to depart from their service , because the Levites their brethren prepared for them. 16 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 . 17 Thus the sons of Israel who were present celebrated the Passover at that time , and the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days . 18 There had not been celebrated a Passover 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 . 19 In the eighteenth e year of Josiah's reign this Passover was celebrated .
20 After all this , when Josiah had set the temple in order , Neco king of Egypt came up to make war at Carchemish on the Euphrates , and Josiah went out to engage him. 21 But Neco sent messengers to him, saying , " What have we to do with each other, O King of Judah ? I am not coming against you today but against the house with which I am at war , and God has ordered me to hurry . Stop for your own sake from interfering with God who is with me, so that He will not destroy you." 22 However, Josiah would not turn away from him, but disguised himself in order to make war with him; nor did he listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God , but came to make war on the plain of Megiddo . 23 The archers shot King Josiah , and the king said to his servants , "Take me away , for I am badly wounded ." 24 So his servants took him out of the chariot and carried him in 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 . 25 Then Jeremiah chanted a lament for Josiah . And all the male and female singers speak about Josiah in their lamentations to this day . And they made them an ordinance in Israel ; behold , they are also written in the Lamentations . 26 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his deeds of devotion as written in the law of the Lord , 27 and his acts , first to last , behold , they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah .
