Historical
23 2 Josiah readeth the Law before the people. 3 He maketh a covenant with the Lord. 4 He putteth down the idols, after he had killed their Priests. 22 He keepeth Passover. 24 He destroyeth the conjurers. 29 He was killed in Megiddo. 30 And his son Jehoahaz reigneth in his stead. 33 After he was taken, his son Jehoiakim was made King.
1 Then (A)the King [a]sent, and there gathered unto him all the Elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.
2 And the king went up into the house of the Lord, with all the men of Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the Priests and Prophets, and all the people both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant, which was found in the house of the Lord.
3 And the king stood by [b]the pillar, and made a [c]covenant before the Lord, that they should walk after the Lord, and keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all their heart, and with all their soul, that they might accomplish the words of this covenant written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.
4 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high [d]Priest, and the Priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven, and he burnt them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried [e]the powder of them into Bethel.
5 And he put down the [f]Chemarims, whom the kings of Judah had founded to burn incense in the high places, and in the cities of Judah and about Jerusalem, and also them that burnt incense unto Baal, to the sun and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.
6 And he brought out the [g]grove from the Temple of the Lord, without Jerusalem unto the valley of Kidron, and burnt it in the valley Kidron, and stamped it to powder, and cast the dust thereof upon the [h]graves of the children of the people.
7 And he brake down the houses of the Sodomites, that were in the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove.
8 Also he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the Priests had burnt incense, even from Geba to Beersheba, and destroyed the high places of the gates, that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which was at the left hand of the gate of the city.
9 Nevertheless the Priests of the high places [i]came not up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, save only they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren.
10 He defiled also [j]Topheth, which was in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man should make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molech.
11 He put down also the [k]horses that the Kings of Judah had given to the sun at the entering in of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nethan-Melech the eunuch, which was ruler of the suburbs, and burnt the chariots of the sun with fire.
12 And the altars that were on the top of the 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 did the king break down, and hasted thence, and cast the dust of them in the [l]brook Kidron.
13 Moreover the King defiled the high places that were before Jerusalem, and on the right hand of the [m]mount of corruption (which (B)Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the idol of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the idol of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon)
14 And he brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.
15 Furthermore [n]the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place made by Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin, both this altar and also the high place, brake he down, and burnt the high place, and stamped it to powder and burnt the grove.
16 And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the graves that were in the mount, and sent and took the bones out of the graves, and burnt them upon the altar and polluted it, according to the word of the Lord, that the [o]man of God proclaimed, which cried the same words.
17 Then he said, What title is that which I see? And the men of the city said unto him, It is the sepulcher of the man of God, which came from Judah, and told these things that thou hast done to the altar of Bethel.
18 Then said he, Let him alone: let none remove his bones. So his bones were saved with the bones of the [p]Prophet that came from Samaria.
19 Josiah also took away all the houses of the high places, which were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to anger the Lord, and did to them according to all the facts that he had done in Bethel.
20 And he sacrificed all the Priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burnt men’s bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.
21 ¶ Then the king commanded all the people, saying, (C)Keep the Passover unto the Lord your God, (D)as it is written in the book of this covenant.
22 And there was no Passover holden [q]like that from the days of the Judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, and of the kings of Judah.
23 And in the eighteenth year of King Josiah was this Passover celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.
24 Josiah also took away them that had familiar spirits, and the soothsayers, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were espied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, to perform the words of the (E)Law, which were written in the book that Hilkiah the Priest found in the house of the Lord.
25 Like unto him was there no king before him, that 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, neither after him arose there any like him.
26 Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the [r]fierceness of his great wrath wherewith he was angry against Judah, because of all the provocations wherewith Manasseh had provoked him.
27 Therefore the Lord said, I will put Judah also out of my sight, as I have put away Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem, which I have chosen, and the house whereof I said, (F)My name shall be there.
28 Concerning 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 (G)In his days Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt [s]went up against the king of Assyria to the river Perath. And king Josiah went against him, whom when Pharaoh saw, he slew him at Megiddo.
30 Then his servants carried him dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulcher. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s stead.
31 (H)Jehoahaz was three and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
32 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his [t]fathers had done.
33 And Pharaoh Necho put him in bonds [u]at Riblah in the land of Hamath [v]while he reigned in Jerusalem, and put the land to a tribute of an hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.
34 ¶ And Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim the son of Josiah king instead of Josiah his father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away, which when he came to Egypt, died there.
35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, and taxed the land to give the money, according to the commandment of Pharaoh: he levied of every man of the people of the land, according to his value, silver and gold to give unto Pharaoh Necho.
36 Jehoiakim was five and twenty years old, when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Zebudah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.
37 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.
24 1 Jehoiakim made subject to Nebuchadnezzar, rebelleth. 3 The cause of his ruin and all Judah’s. 6 Jehoiachin reigneth. 15 He, and his people are carried unto Babylon. 17 Zedekiah is made king.
1 In his [w]days came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: afterward he turned, and rebelled against him.
2 And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldeans, and bands of the Aramites, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the Ammonites, and he sent them against Judah to destroy it, (I)according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by his servants the Prophets.
3 Surely by the [x]commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah, that he might put them out of his sight for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did,
4 And for the innocent blood that he shed, (for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood) therefore the Lord would not pardon it.
5 Concerning the rest of the acts 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 [y]slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.
7 ¶ And the king of Egypt came no more out of his land: for the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt, unto the river [z]Perath, all that pertained to the king of Egypt.
8 ¶ Jehoiachin was eighteen years old, when he began to reign, and reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name also was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
9 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father had done.
10 (J)In that time came the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon up against Jerusalem: so the city was besieged.
11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it.
12 Then Jehoiachin the king of Judah [aa]came out against the king of Babylon, he, and his mother and his servants, and his princes, and his eunuchs: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year [ab]of his reign.
13 (K)And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house, and brake all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the Temple of the Lord, as the Lord had said.
14 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the strong men of war, even ten thousand into captivity, and all the workmen, and cunning men: so none remained saving the poor people of the land.
15 (L)And he carried away Jehoiachin into Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his eunuchs, and the mighty of the land, carried he away into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon,
16 And all the men of war, even seven thousand, and carpenters, and locksmiths a thousand: all that were strong and apt for war, did the king of Babylon bring to Babylon captives.
17 ¶ (M)And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his uncle king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah.
18 Zedekiah was one and twenty years old, when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
19 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.
20 Therefore certainly the wrath of the Lord was against Jerusalem and Judah, until he cast them out of his [ac]sight. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
25 1 Jerusalem is besieged of Nebuchadnezzar, and taken. 7 The sons of Zedekiah are slain before his eyes, and after are his own eyes put out. 11 Judah is brought to Babylon. 25 Gedaliah is slain. 27 Jehoiachin is exalted.
1 (N)And in the [ad]ninth year of his reign, the [ae]tenth month, and tenth day of the month Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host against Jerusalem, and pitched against it, and they built [af]forts against it round about it.
2 So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
3 And the ninth day of the month the famine was [ag]sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.
4 Then the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night, by the way of the [ah]gate, which is between two walls that was by the king’s garden: now the Chaldeans were by the city round about: and the king went by the way of the wilderness.
5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and took him in the deserts of Jericho, and all his host was scattered from him.
6 Then they took the king, and carried him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah, where they [ai]gave judgment upon him.
7 And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon.
8 And in the fifth month, and [aj]seventh day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan [ak]chief steward and servant of the king of Babylon, to Jerusalem,
9 And burnt the house of the Lord, and the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the great houses burnt he with fire.
10 And all the army of the Chaldeans that were with the chief steward, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about.
11 And the rest of the people that were left in the city, and those that were fled and [al]fallen to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did Nebuzaradan chief steward carry away captive.
12 But the chief steward left of the poor of the land to dress the vines, and to till the land.
13 (O)Also the pillars of brass that were in the house of the Lord, and the bases, and the brazen Sea that was in the house of the Lord, did the Chaldeans break, and carried the brass of them to Babylon.
14 The pots [am]also and the besoms, and the instruments of music, and the incense dishes, and all the vessels of brass that they ministered in, took they away.
15 And the ash pans, and the basins, and all that was of gold, and that was of silver, took the chief steward away,
16 With the two pillars, one Sea and the bases, which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord: the brass of all these vessels was without weight.
17 (P)The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the chapiter thereon was brass, and the height of the chapiter was with network three cubits, and pomegranates upon the chapiter round about, all of brass: and likewise was the second pillar with the network.
18 And the chief steward took Seraiah the chief Priest, and Zephaniah the [an]second Priest, and the three keepers of the door.
19 And out of the city he took an Eunuch that had the oversight of the men of war, and [ao]five men of them that were in the King’s presence, which were found in the city, and Sopher captain of the host, who mustered the people of the land, and threescore men of the people of the land, that were found in the city.
20 And Nebuzaradan the chief steward took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.
21 And the king of Babylon smote them, and slew them at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away captive out of his own land.
22 (Q)Howbeit, there remained people in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon left, and made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan ruler over them.
23 Then when all the captains of the host and their men heard, that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, to wit, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Careah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of Maachathi, they and their men.
24 And Gedaliah [ap]sware to them, and to their men, and said unto them, Fear not to be the servants of the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and ye shall be well.
25 (R)But in the seventh month Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the king’s seed, came, and ten men with him, and smote Gedaliah, and he died, and so did he the Jews, and the Chaldeans that were with him at Mizpah.
26 Then all the people both small and great, and the captains of the army arose, and came to [aq]Egypt: for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.
27 Notwithstanding in the seven and thirtieth year after [ar]Jehoiachin King of Judah was carried away, in the twelfth month and the seven and twentieth day of the month, Evil-Merodach king of Babylon in the year that he began to reign, did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of the prison,
28 And spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon,
29 And changed his prison garments: and he did continually eat bread before him, all the days of his life.
30 And his [as]portion was a continual portion given him by the king, every day a certain, all the days of his life.
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