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3 Now (A)in the eighteenth 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 “(B)Go up to Hilkiah the high priest that he may [a]count the money brought in to the house of the Lord which the doorkeepers have gathered from the people. 5 (C)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 [b]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 (D)no accounting shall be made with them for the money delivered into their hands, for they deal faithfully.”
The Lost Book
8 Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “(E)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, (F)he tore his clothes. 12 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, (G)Ahikam the son of Shaphan, [c](H)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 (I)great is the wrath of the Lord that burns against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”
Huldah Predicts
14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of [d](J)Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the (K)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 (L)bring evil on this place and on its inhabitants, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read. 17 (M)Because 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 (N)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 (O)because your heart was tender and (P)you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants that they should become (Q)a desolation and a (R)curse, and you have (S)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 (T)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.
Josiah’s Covenant
23 (U)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 (V)he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant (W)which was found in the house of the Lord. 3 (X)The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, (Y)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 [e]entered into the covenant.
Reforms under Josiah
4 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and (Z)the priests of the second order and the [f]doorkeepers, (AA)to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, for [g]Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and (AB)he burned them outside 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 (AC)host of heaven. 6 He brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord outside Jerusalem to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and (AD)ground it to dust, and (AE)threw its dust on the graves of the [h]common people. 7 He also broke down the houses of the (AF)male cult prostitutes which were in the house of the Lord, where (AG)the women were weaving [i]hangings for the Asherah. 8 Then he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from (AH)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 (AI)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 (AJ)He also defiled [j]Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, (AK)that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire for (AL)Molech. 11 He did away with the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the (AM)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 (AN)The altars which were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and (AO)the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, the king broke down; and he [k]smashed them there and (AP)threw their dust into the brook Kidron. 13 The high places which were before Jerusalem, which were on the right of (AQ)the mount of destruction which Solomon the king of Israel had built for (AR)Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for (AS)Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the sons of Ammon, the king defiled. 14 (AT)He broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherim and (AU)filled their places with human bones.
15 Furthermore, (AV)the altar that was at Bethel and the (AW)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 [l](AX)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 (AY)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, “(AZ)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 [m]left his bones undisturbed (BA)with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria. 19 Josiah also removed all the houses of the high places which were (BB)in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made provoking [n]the Lord; and he did to them [o]just as he had done in Bethel. 20 All the priests of the high places who were there (BC)he slaughtered on the altars and burned human bones on them; then he returned to Jerusalem.
Passover Reinstituted
21 Then the king commanded all the people saying, “(BD)Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God (BE)as it is written in this book of the covenant.” 22 (BF)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 year of King Josiah, this Passover was observed to the Lord in Jerusalem.
24 Moreover, Josiah [p]removed (BG)the mediums and the spiritists and the (BH)teraphim and (BI)the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, (BJ)that he might [q]confirm the words of the law which were written (BK)in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. 25 Before him there was no king (BL)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, (BM)because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. 27 The Lord said, “I will remove Judah also from My sight, (BN)as I have removed Israel. And (BO)I will cast off Jerusalem, this city which I have chosen, and the [r]temple of which I said, ‘My name shall be there.’”
Jehoahaz Succeeds Josiah
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 (BP)In his days (BQ)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 (BR)Megiddo. 30 (BS)His servants drove [s]his body in a chariot from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. (BT)Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.
37 As Paul was about to be brought into (A)the barracks, he said to the [a]commander, “May I say something to you?” And he *said, “Do you know Greek? 38 Then you are not (B)the Egyptian who some [b]time ago stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out (C)into the wilderness?” 39 But Paul said, “(D)I am a Jew of Tarsus in (E)Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.” 40 When he had given him permission, Paul, standing on (F)the stairs, (G)motioned to the people with his hand; and when there [c]was a great hush, he spoke to them in the [d](H)Hebrew dialect, saying,
Paul’s Defense before the Jews
22 “(I)Brethren and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.”
2 And when they heard that he was addressing them in the [e](J)Hebrew dialect, they became even more quiet; and he *said,
3 “(K)I am (L)a Jew, born in (M)Tarsus of (N)Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated [f]under (O)Gamaliel, [g](P)strictly according to the law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as (Q)you all are today. 4 (R)I persecuted this (S)Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons, 5 as also (T)the high priest and all (U)the Council of the elders [h]can testify. From them I also (V)received letters to (W)the brethren, and started off for (X)Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem [i]as prisoners to be punished.
6 “(Y)But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, 7 and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ 8 And I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am (Z)Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ 9 And those who were with me (AA)saw the light, to be sure, but (AB)did not [j]understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. 10 And I said, ‘(AC)What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.’ 11 But since I (AD)could not see because of the [k]brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and came into Damascus.
12 “A certain (AE)Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and (AF)well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, 13 came to me, and standing near said to me, ‘(AG)Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And [l](AH)at that very time I looked up at him. 14 And he said, ‘(AI)The God of our fathers has (AJ)appointed you to know His will and to (AK)see the (AL)Righteous One and to hear an [m]utterance from His mouth. 15 For you will be (AM)a witness for Him to all men of (AN)what you have seen and heard. 16 Now why do you delay? (AO)Get up and be baptized, and (AP)wash away your sins, (AQ)calling on His name.’
BOOK 1
The Righteous and the Wicked Contrasted.
1 How blessed is the man who (A)does not walk in the (B)counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the [a](C)path of sinners,
Nor (D)sit in the seat of scoffers!
2 But his (E)delight is (F)in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates (G)day and (H)night.
3 He will be like (I)a tree firmly planted by [b]streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its [c]leaf does not wither;
And [d]in whatever he does, (J)he prospers.
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