Chapter 12
CHAPTER XXXIV. Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand nor to the left. For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father.
And in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places and the groves, and the carved images and the molten images. And they break down the altars of Balaam in his presence. And the images that were on high above them he cut down. And the groves and the carved images and the molten images he break in pieces and made dust of them,
and strode it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them. And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Nephtali, with their mattochs round about. And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.
Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the house, he sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah, and Messiah, the governor of the city, and Joah, the son of Joahaz, the recorder to repair the house of the Lord his God. And when they came to Hilkiah, the high priest, they delivered the money that was brought into the house of God,
which the Levites that kept the doors had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin. And they returned to Jerusalem. And they put it in the hand of the workmen that had the oversight of the house of the Lord, and they gave it to the workmen that wrought in the house of the Lord to repair and amend the house.
Even to the artificers and builders gave they it, to buy hewn stone and timber for couplings, and to floor the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed. And the men did the work faithfully, and the overseers of them were Jehoth and Obadiah the Levites of the sons of Merari,
and Zechariah and Mishalom of the sons of the Kothites, to set it forward and other of the Levites all that good skill of instruments of music. Also they were over the bearers of burdens, and were overseers of all that wrought the work in any manner of service, and of the Levites there were scribes and officers and porters.
And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the Lord given by Moses. And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan.
And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying, All that was committed to thy servants, they do it. And they have gathered together the money that was found in the house of the Lord, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers,
and to the hand of the workmen. Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. And it came to pass when the king had heard the words of the law
that he rent his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahicham the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Bacah, and Shaphan the scribe,
and Asahiah, a servant of the king's, saying, Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found.
For great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do after all that is written in this book. And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed,
went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shulam, the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe.
Now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college, and they spake to her to that effect. And she answered them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Tell ye the man that sent you to me.
Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book,
which they have read before the king of Judah, because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place,
and shall not be quenched. And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
concerning the words which thou hast heard, because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof,
and humblest thyself before me, and didst rent thy clothes, and weep before me, I have even heard thee also, saith the Lord.
Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place,
and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought the king word again. Then the king sent, and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the Lord,
and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people,
great and small. And he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the Lord. 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 testimonies, and his statutes with all his heart,
and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book. And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it.
And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did, according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained
to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve, the Lord their God.
And all his days they departed not from following the Lord, the God of their fathers. Chapter 35
Moreover, Josiah kept a Passover unto the Lord in Jerusalem, and they killed the Passover on the fourteenth day
of the first month, and he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the service
of the house of the Lord, and said unto the Levites that taught all Israel which were holy unto the Lord,
Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel,
did build. It shall not be a burden upon your shoulders. Serve now the Lord your God, and his people Israel.
And prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers after your courses according to the writing
of David, king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son, and stand in the holy place
according to the divisions of the families of the fathers of your brethren, the people,
and after the division of the families of the Levites. So, kill the Passover
and sanctify yourselves and prepare your brethren that they may do according to the word of the Lord
by the hand of Moses. And Josiah gave to the people of the flock, lambs,
and kids, all for the Passover offerings, for all that were present to the number of thirty thousand
and three thousand bullocks, these were of the king's substance. And his princes gave willingly
unto the people, to the priest, and to the Levites, Hilkiah, and Zechariah,
and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God, gave unto the priest for the Passover offering
two thousand six hundred small cattle and three hundred oxen. Conaniah, also,
and Shemiah, and Nethaniel, his brethren, and Hashabiah, and Jeiel,
and Jehoshabah, chief of the Levites, gave unto the Levites for Passover offerings five thousand
small cattle and five hundred oxen. So, the service was prepared, and the priests
stood in their place, and the Levites in their courses, according to the king's commandment. And they killed the Passover,
and the priests sprinkled the blood from their hands, and the Levites flayed them,
and they removed the burnt offerings that they might give, according to the divisions of the families
of the people, to offer unto the Lord, as it is written in the book of Moses. And so did they
with the oxen, and they roasted the Passover with fire, according to the ordinance.
But the other holy offerings sawed they in pots, and cauldrons, and in pans,
and divided them speedily among all the people. And afterward, they made ready for themselves
and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron, were busied in offering
of burnt offerings, and the fat until night. Therefore, the Levites
prepared for themselves and for the priests and the sons of Aaron. And the singers,
the sons of Asaph, were in their place, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph,
and Heman, and Jeduthun, the king's seer, and the porters waited at every gate.
They might not depart from their service, for their brethren, the Levites, prepared for them.
So, all the service of the Lord was prepared the same day
to keep the Passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of the Lord, according to the commandment
of King Josiah. And the children of Israel that were present kept the Passover at that time,
and the feast of unleavened bread seven days, and there was no Passover like
to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet. Neither did
all the kings of Israel keep such a Passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites,
and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah, was this Passover kept. After all this,
when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho, king of Egypt,
came up to fight against Char-Chemish by Euphrates,
and Josiah went out against him. But he sent ambassadors to him,
saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not
against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war.
For God commanded me to make haste, forbear thee from meddling
with God who is with me, that he destroy thee not. Nevertheless,
Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself,
that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho
from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.
And the archer shot at king Josiah, and the king said to his
servants, Have me away, for I am sore wounded. His servants
therefore took him out of that chariot and put him in the second
chariot that he had, and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died.
and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers, and all Judah
and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah, and Jeremiah lamented for
Josiah, and all the singing men and the singing women
spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them
an ordinance in Israel, and behold, they were written in the lamentations.
Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his goodness,
according to that which was 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.
Chapter 36 Then the people of the land took Jeohahaz,
the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father's stead
in Jerusalem. Jeohahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to
reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And the king
of Egypt put him down at Jerusalem, and condemned the land in a
hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. And the king of Egypt made
Eliakim, his brother, king over Judah and Jerusalem, and turned his
name to Jeohakim. Necho took Jeohahaz, his brother,
and carried him to Egypt. Jeohakim was twenty and 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.
Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar, king, of Babylon,
and bound him in fetters to carry him to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar
also carried the vessels of the house of the Lord to Babylon,
and put them in his temple at Babylon. Now the rest of the acts
of Jeohakim and his abominations which he did, and that which
was found in him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings
of Israel and Judah. And Jehoachin, his son, reigned
in his stead. Jehoachin was eight years old when he began to reign,
and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem, and he did
that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. And when the year was expired,
King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon with the goodly vessels of the
house of the Lord, and made Zedekiah, his brother,
king over Judah and Jerusalem. Zedekiah was one
and twenty years old when he began to reign,
and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem, and he did that which
was evil in the sight of the Lord his God,
and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet, speaking from
the mouth of the Lord. And he also rebelled against King
Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God, but he
stiffened his neck and hardened his heart from turning unto
the Lord God of Israel. Moreover, all the
chief of the priests and the people transgressed
very much after all the abominations of the heathen,
and polluted the house of the Lord, which he
had hollowed in Jerusalem. And the Lord God of their
fathers sent to them messengers rising up
betimes and sending, because he had compassion on his
people and on his dwelling place. But they
mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words,
and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose
against his people, till there was no remedy.
Therefore he brought upon them the king of the
Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword,
in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion
upon young men or maiden, old men or him
that stooped of age. He gave them all into his
hand, and all the vessels of the house of
God, great and small, the treasures of the
house of the Lord, and the treasures of the
king and his princes, all these he brought
to Babylon. And they burnt the house of God,
and break down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt
all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed
all the goodly vessels thereof. And
them that had escaped from
the sword carried he away
to Babylon, where they were
servants to him and his sons, until the
reign of the kingdom of Persia.
To fulfill the word of the
Lord by the mouth of
Jeremiah until the land had
enjoyed her sabbaths, for as
long as she lay desolate,
she kept sabbath, to fulfill
threescore and ten years. Now, in the
first year of Cyrus, king
of Persia, that the word
of the Lord spoken by
the mouth of Jeremiah might
be accomplished, the Lord stirred
up the spirit of Cyrus,
king of Persia, and he made a
proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put
it also in writing, saying, Thus saith
Cyrus, king of Persia, all the
kingdoms of the earth, hath the
Lord God of heaven given
me, and he hath charged me
to build him in house
in Jerusalem, which is in Judah,
who is there among you, of all
his people, the Lord his
God be with him, and
let him go up. End
of chapter 36 End of
2nd Chronicles Recording by Simon
