Jeremiah Josiah’s Reforms

Lesson #8 for November 21, 2015

Scriptures: [2 Chronicles 33; Habakkuk 1:2-4; 2 Kings 22; 23:1-28; Philippians 2:3-8; 1 Corinthians 5:7; Prophets and Kings 384,392-405,410][i].

1.    This lesson will cover a surprising, almost stunning, story about the delightful reign of Josiah, king of Judah. His grandfather was Manasseh, the worst king in Judah’s history. Manasseh spent the first 50 years of his life doing everything he could to corrupt the people and the temple in Jerusalem. After 50 years as king, he was captured by the Assyrians and taken as a prisoner to their temporary capital in Babylon. For some reason, a little while later, he was released and returned to Jerusalem. He became king again; during the last five years of his life, he decided to try to reform and undo the evil influences of his first 50 years. When he passed away, his son Amon became king and was just as evil as the first 50 years of Manasseh’s reign. Amon was murdered by some of his own staff; his eight-year-old son Josiah became the new king.

2.    Read 2 Kings 23:25ii. Was he better than David? What do you think it was that led to this surprising experience of the new king? We know almost nothing about his mother or grandmother; but, his mother’s and grandmother’s names suggest that they may have been God-fearing women. Perhaps it was their influence that led Josiah to lead an exemplary life.

3.    Think of becoming the king of a corrupt nation at the age of eight. It is almost impossible to imagine how an eight-year-old child could have tried to stem the tide of evil done by his father and grandfather. But moral free will and freedom sometimes can take unusual turns. Someone who is free can choose what is right or choose what is wrong.

4.    As we know, unfortunately, much of the Old Testament is the story of wrong choices made by Abraham’s descendants and how God responded. This week’s story is an exception. Manasseh was the 14th ruler of the kingdom of Judah. His reign of 55 years, as already mentioned, was mostly evil. During the first ten years, he apparently co-reigned with his father, Hezekiah. We have an ancient Hebrew seal bearing the inscription: “Belonging to Manasseh, son of Hezekiah King of Judah.” A careful look at the first line on the top of that seal shows a small image of Asherah, the nude goddess of fertility with her two wings. See picture on page 6. Manasseh died in 643/642 B.C. and was succeeded by his son, Amon, who ruled for two years. Thus, his grandson Josiah lived his first six years under the final years of reform under Manasseh and then two years of evil under his father, Amon.

5.    Read 2 Chronicles 33iii. It is a chronicle of the evil deeds of Manasseh and is hardly readable. Remember that he was the son of Hezekiah who was one of the good kings!

6.    Having read the story of Manasseh, do you expect to see him in heaven? If so, what does that say to us about the love, kindness, and forgiveness of God? One of the earliest acts of Manasseh was the killing of the prophet Isaiah.

According to the Jewish tradition as recorded in the Talmud, Isaiah hid himself in a tree while fleeing from Manasseh but was betrayed by the fringes of his garment. The tree was sawn in half on Manasseh’s command, killing the prophet. There is an echo of this account in Hebrews 11:37, 38, describing the sufferings of Old Testament prophets (compare also Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, pp. 381, 382). One can imagine the two men sitting down somewhere along the river close to the tree of life as Manasseh tells Isaiah the story of God’s grace: how he was captured by the Assyrians and taken to Babylon where he finally turned to God and repented of his ways. (Adult Teacher’s Bible Study Guide, p. 107.)

7.    In the new earth, will Isaiah remember being sawn in two in that hollow log at the order of Manasseh? If not, will he-and we-remember other aspects of the struggles on this earth and the battles in the great controversy over the character and government of God? If everything is forgotten as some would claim, what would be the point of the whole great controversy? If Isaiah does remember, will he hold it against Manasseh? Against God? What might he say to Manasseh?

8.    No doubt, Manasseh had some time for serious thinking as he was hauled to Babylon with nose hooks and bronze fetters on his body. That led to true repentance.

But this repentance, remarkable though it was, came too late to save the kingdom from the corrupting influence of years of idolatrous practices. Many had stumbled and fallen, never again to rise.—Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 383.0.

9.    We know little about Amon, his son, except that his reign was worse than his father’s, and he never repented.

10.    Back in the days of Samuel, the children of Israel pleaded for a king. (1 Samuel 8) They felt that the chaos in their nation was a result of not having any central leadership. They were also very concerned about the evil ways of Samuel’s sons. So, they began to pray for a king. A well-known preacher once said: “Be careful what you pray for. You just might get it.” Thus, Israel ended up with three kings-Saul, David, and Solomon-under the united monarchy and then, the terrible slide into idolatry and destruction of the kings from the two kingdoms that followed.

11.    Josiah came to the throne at a time of great turmoil, apostasy, and violence and a time of threats from nations south and north.

From a human point of view the divine purpose for the chosen nation seemed almost impossible of accomplishment.—Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 384.2.

12.    To get an idea of how bad things were, look at Habakkuk 1:2-4iv. How do you think our days compare with Josiah’s? Habakkuk received the terrible news that changes would come, but not for the better. The Babylonians were on their way.

13.    Read 2 Kings 22:1-2[v]. How can we explain the righteous behavior of this young man who grew up in such a terrible environment? Was he influenced by the last few good years of the reign of Manasseh, his grandfather? Or, was it primarily the good influence of his mother and possibly his grandmother? Or, was it good, God-loving advisors?

14.    One of the early things that Josiah did was to clean up the temple in Jerusalem. It is easy for us to think of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, a beautiful building with the ark of the covenant inside and the other articles mentioned in Scripture. What we usually do not recognize is the fact that Solomon began a long history of putting pagan idols in that beautiful temple. In the days of Josiah, the temple had deteriorated considerably. Josiah realized that in order to institute a new kind of worship, he would need to clean it up. Read 2 Kings 22:3-7vi.

15.    Unfortunately, Josiah learned that it was not as easy to reform the thinking of the people of Judah as it was to clean up the temple. Do we need any cleansing in our churches today? Do we need any cleansing in our church institutions? Or, even our church hierarchy?

16.    A remarkable thing happened as those trusted workmen were cleansing the temple and restoring it to its original beauty. Read 2 Kings 22:8-11vii.

17.    We do not know exactly what or how much was included in that “Book of the Law.” Looking at the comments that are made in Scripture, scholars suspect it may have been the book of Deuteronomy. (See Deuteronomy 17:18-20viii.)

18.    When Josiah first had some of that book read to him, he tore his clothes in dismay. So, what did he do next? Read 2 Kings 22:12-20ix. One of the most respected prophets of Judah in those days was a woman named Huldah. She lived in Jerusalem with her husband Shallum who was responsible for the temple robes. When the leading men of the nation went to Huldah with their question about what should be done, she basically repeated a message that had been given previously by Jeremiah. Because of the reforms that he had undertaken, King Josiah was promised that the times of terrible trouble and destruction would not come until after his death.

Through Huldah the Lord sent Josiah word that Jerusalem’s ruin could not be averted. Even should the people now humble themselves before God, they could not escape their punishment. So long had their senses been deadened by wrongdoing that, if judgment should not come upon them, they would soon return to the same sinful course. “Tell the man that sent you to me,” the prophetess declared, “Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read: 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 kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.” 2 Kings 22:15-17.—Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 399.1.

19.    The good news was that Josiah did not just sit down and relax. Contrast the response of Hezekiah after Isaiah spoke to him. (2 Kings 20) Josiah determined to do everything he could to try to straighten things out not only in Judah but also in the former kingdom of Israel to the north. He wanted to do what was right in the sight of the Lord.

. . .but in announcing the retributive judgments of Heaven, the Lord had not withdrawn opportunity for repentance and reformation; and Josiah, discerning in this a willingness on the part of God to temper His judgments with mercy, determined to do all in his power to bring about decided reforms. He arranged at once for a great convocation, to which were invited the elders and magistrates in Jerusalem and Judah, together with the common people. These, with the priests and Levites, met the king in the court of the temple. —Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 400.1.

20.    Read 2 Kings 23:1-28[x] to see what Josiah did. First, he summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem and then read the whole book of the covenant to them. Then, he personally made a covenant with the Lord, and all the people also promised to keep that covenant. He began by ordering the removal from Solomon’s Temple of all the objects used in the worship of Baal, of the goddess Asherah, and of the stars. He burned those objects and scattered their ashes. He removed the priests who had been placed there by the prior kings of Judah and whose work had been to offer sacrifices on the pagan altars in the area of the temple. Those priests worshiped Baal, the sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars. After destroying the idol to Asherah, he destroyed the living quarters in the temple occupied by the temple prostitutes-both female and male. He brought to Jerusalem all the priests from outlying areas who had been conducting those pagan worship services. Then, he tore down the altars and tried to destroy every trace of pagan worship in the surrounding areas. Do we need to clean our “soul temples” just like that?

21.    Next, he destroyed the temple and the “god” Molech in the Valley of Hinnom where people had previously offered their sons and daughters as burnt offerings. Then, he took upon himself the task of destroying the pagan temples and idols left by prior kings including King Ahaz, King Manasseh, and even King Solomon. He desecrated the altars that King Solomon had built for his foreign wives on the Mount of Olives east of Jerusalem-idols to Astarte the goddess of Sidon, Chemosh the “god” of Moab, and Molech the “god” of Ammon. He scattered human bones over the sites where those idols had been. He then turned his attention to the northern territory formerly occupied by the kingdom of Israel-later called Samaria-and tore down the pagan places of worship there as well.

22.    Read 1 Kings 13xi. The work which Josiah was doing had been prophesied hundreds of years earlier by the prophet from Judah who went to condemn what Jeroboam was doing in the cities of Bethel and Dan. But, Josiah was not able to remove all the traces of evil of his predecessors.

Few realize that, in their lives, they constantly exert an influence which will be perpetuated for good or evil. Hundreds of years had elapsed since Solomon caused those idolatrous shrines to be erected on the mount; and, although Josiah had demolished them as places for worship, their debris, containing portions of architecture, were still remaining in the days of Christ. The prominence upon which those shrines had stood was called, by the true-hearted of Israel, the Mount of Offense.—Ellen G. White, The Health Reformer May, 1878; 2SDABC 1032.7. [Bold type is added.]

23.    Finally, Josiah decided the time had come for them to restore the Passover service. See 2 Chronicles 35:1-19xii.

21 King Josiah ordered the people to celebrate the Passover in honour of the LORD their God, as written in the book of the covenant. 22No Passover like this one had ever been celebrated by any of the kings of Israel or of Judah, since the time when judges ruled the nation. 23Now at last, in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah, the Passover was celebrated in Jerusalem.—American Bible Society. (1992). The Holy Bible: The Good News Translation (2nd ed., 2 Kings 23:21-23). New York: American Bible Society. [Bold type is added.]

24.    After refurbishing the temple, it was certainly appropriate to use it for the purpose for which it was intended. That Passover celebration was like no Passover celebration that had ever been offered since the days of Moses. The whole nation came together with the intention of starting something new, something that would transform the people of Judah.

25.    Does this ancient story have any lessons for us today? Paul thought it had lessons for the people in his day.

1 Corinthians 5:7-8: You must remove the old yeast of sin so that you will be entirely pure. Then you will be like a new batch of dough without any yeast, as indeed I know you actually are. For our Passover Festival is ready, now that Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us celebrate our Passover, then, not with bread having the old yeast of sin and wickedness, but with the bread that has no yeast, the bread of purity and truth.—American Bible Society. (1992). The Holy Bible: The Good News Translation (2nd ed., 1 Corinthians 5:7-8). New York: American Bible Society.

26.    Read 2 Chronicles 34:26-33; 35:20-24xiii. Unfortunately, after reigning for 31 years, Josiah made a foolish mistake. When King Necho came from Egypt with his forces to fight against the Assyrians, Josiah felt that he needed to go and oppose him in battle. But, didn’t we read that Josiah was to die in a time of peace?

But at the last he died in battle. Why?-Because he did not heed the warnings given. . . . [2 Chronicles 34:26-33; 35:20-24 quoted.] {2SDABC 1039.6} [Was God actually speaking through King Necho?]

Because Josiah died in battle, who will charge God with denying His word that Josiah should go to his grave in peace? The Lord did not give orders for Josiah to make war on the king of Egypt. When the Lord gave the king of Egypt orders that the time had come to serve Him by warfare, and the ambassadors told Josiah not to make war on Necho, no doubt Josiah congratulated himself that no word from the Lord had come directly to him.

To turn back with his army would have been humiliating, so he went on. And because of this, he was killed in battle, a battle that he should not have had anything to do with. The man who had been so greatly honored by the Lord, did not honor the word of God. The Lord had spoken in his favor, predicted good things for him; and Josiah became self-confident, and failed to heed the warning. He went against the word of God, choosing to follow his own way, and God could not shield him from the consequences of his act. (2SDABC 1039.7)

In this our day men choose to follow their own desires and their own will. [1040] Can we be surprised that there is so much spiritual blindness?—Ellen G. White, MS 163, 1903; 2SDABC 1039.8. [Content in brackets is added.]

27.    It is interesting to note that Josiah’s reforms were basically the undoing of all the evils put in place by his grandfather, Manasseh, and his father, Amon. Of course, there were still traces of pagan temples and other remnants of heathen forms of worship as we noted, some even from the time of Solomon.

28.    One of the most significant parts of this whole story was the reformation that took place as a result of reading God’s Word. Should we sometimes have church services which consist only of reading the Bible? Compare the story of Ezra as recorded in Nehemiah 8 which was approximately 230 years later. Ezra read the Bible in Hebrew and his assistants translated it into Aramaic-the language of Babylon that the people had been forced to use when taken into captivity. Would that have been the first modern language translation of the Bible? When they interpreted the law to the people, there was a tremendous reformation. Read Nehemiah 8-10xiv. Would any such reformation take place today as a result of the reading of God’s Word? God knew how things were going to work out. He knew that Josiah’s reforms were not going to be permanent. Why did He bother inspiring prophets and the king to carry out those reforms?

Josiah had read to priests and people the Book of the law found in the side of the ark in the house of God. His sensitive conscience was deeply stirred as he saw how far the people had departed from the requirements of the covenant they had made with God. He saw that they were indulging appetite to a fearful extent, and perverting their senses by the use of wine. Men in sacred offices were frequently incapacitated for the duties of their positions, because of their indulgence in wine. [Compare Nadab and Abihu as recorded in Leviticus 10:1-11xv.]

Appetite and passion were fast gaining the ascendancy over the reason and judgment of the people, till they could not discern that the retribution of God would follow upon their corrupt course. Josiah, the youthful reformer, in the fear of God demolished the profane sanctuaries and hideous idols built for heathen worship, and the altars reared for sacrifices to heathen deities. Yet there were still to be seen in Christ’s time the memorials of the sad apostasy of the king of Israel and his people—Ellen G. White, The Health Reformer April, 1878; 2SDABC 1038.8-9. [Content in brackets is added.]

29.    As we have noted before, the people of these two kingdoms-Israel to the north and Judah to the south-seemed to follow almost unthinkingly the behavior of their kings. Why do you think that was? And why was it that political peace seemed to come only when the kings were faithful to God?

30.    Why do you think Josiah sent his leading man in the government to consult Huldah the prophetess in Jerusalem when there were at least six male prophets alive at that time? How many female prophetesses can you name? The Bible mentions: Miriam; Deborah; Huldah; Isaiah’s wife; and Anna; in addition to the four daughters of Philip, the deacon-evangelist.

31.    Did faithful parenting have anything to do with the story of Josiah? If so, it must have been his mother! What should parents today learn from this story about the influence of a godly parent?

i-2 Chronicles 33; King Manasseh of Judah

33 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-five years. 2 Following the disgusting practices of the nations whom the LORD had driven out of the land as his people advanced, Manasseh sinned against the LORD. 3 He rebuilt the pagan places of worship that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He built altars for the worship of Baal, made images of the goddess Asherah, and worshiped the stars. 4 He built pagan altars in the Temple, the place that the LORD had said was where he should be worshiped forever. 5 In the two courtyards of the Temple he built altars for the worship of the stars. 6 He sacrificed his sons in Hinnom Valley as burnt offerings. He practiced divination and magic and consulted fortunetellers and mediums. He sinned greatly against the LORD and stirred up his anger. 7 He placed an image in the Temple, the place about which God had said to David and his son Solomon: “Here in Jerusalem, in this Temple, is the place that I have chosen out of all the territory of the twelve tribes of Israel as the place where I am to be worshiped. 8 And if the people of Israel will obey all my commands and keep the whole Law that my servant Moses gave them, then I will not allow them to be driven out of the land that I gave to their ancestors.” 9 Manasseh led the people of Judah to commit even greater sins than those committed by the nations whom the LORD had driven out of the land as his people advanced.

Manasseh Repents

10 Although the LORD warned Manasseh and his people, they refused to listen. 11 So the LORD let the commanders of the Assyrian army invade Judah. They captured Manasseh, stuck hooks in him, put him in chains, and took him to Babylon. 12 In his suffering he became humble, turned to the LORD his God, and begged him for help. 13 God accepted Manasseh's prayer and answered it by letting him go back to Jerusalem and rule again. This convinced Manasseh that the LORD was God.

14 After this, Manasseh increased the height of the outer wall on the east side of David's City, from a point in the valley near Gihon Spring north to the Fish Gate and the area of the city called Ophel. He also stationed an army officer in command of a unit of troops in each of the fortified cities of Judah. 15 He removed from the Temple the foreign gods and the image that he had placed there, and the pagan altars that were on the hill where the Temple stood and in other places in Jerusalem; he took all these things outside the city and threw them away. 16 He also repaired the altar where the LORD was worshiped, and he sacrificed fellowship offerings and thanksgiving offerings on it. He commanded all the people of Judah to worship the LORD, the God of Israel. 17 Although the people continued to offer sacrifices at other places of worship, they offered them only to the LORD.

The End of Manasseh's Reign

18 Everything else that Manasseh did, the prayer he made to his God, and the messages of the prophets who spoke to him in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, are all recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. 19 The king's prayer and God's answer to it, and an account of the sins he committed before he repented—the evil he did, the pagan places of worship and the symbols of the goddess Asherah that he made and the idols that he worshiped—are all recorded in The History of the Prophets.

20 Manasseh died and was buried at the palace, and his son Amon succeeded him as king.

King Amon of Judah

21 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for two years. 22 Like his father Manasseh, he sinned against the LORD, and he worshiped the idols that his father had worshiped. 23 But unlike his father, he did not become humble and turn to the LORD; he was even more sinful than his father had been.

24 Amon's officials plotted against him and assassinated him in the palace. 25 The people of Judah killed Amon's assassins and made his son Josiah king.

Habakkuk 1:2-4; Habakkuk Complains of Injustice

2 O LORD, how long must I call for help before you listen, before you save us from violence? 3 Why do you make me see such trouble? How can you stand to look on such wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are all around me, and there is fighting and quarreling everywhere. 4 The law is weak and useless, and justice is never done. Evil people get the better of the righteous, and so justice is perverted.

2 Kings 22; King Josiah of Judah

22 Josiah was eight years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for thirty-one years. His mother was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah from the town of Bozkath. 2 Josiah did what was pleasing to the LORD; he followed the example of his ancestor King David, strictly obeying all the laws of God.

The Book of the Law Is Discovered

3 In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the court secretary Shaphan, the son of Azaliah and grandson of Meshullam, to the Temple with the order: 4 “Go to the High Priest Hilkiah and get a report on the amount of money that the priests on duty at the entrance to the Temple have collected from the people. 5 Tell him to give the money to the men who are in charge of the repairs in the Temple. They are to pay 6 the carpenters, the builders, and the masons, and buy the timber and the stones used in the repairs. 7 The men in charge of the work are thoroughly honest, so there is no need to require them to account for the funds.”

8 Shaphan delivered the king's order to Hilkiah, and Hilkiah told him that he had found the book of the Law in the Temple. Hilkiah gave him the book, and Shaphan read it. 9 Then he went back to the king and reported: “Your servants have taken the money that was in the Temple and have handed it over to the men in charge of the repairs.” 10 And then he said, “I have here a book that Hilkiah gave me.” And he read it aloud to the king.

11 When the king heard the book being read, he tore his clothes in dismay, 12 and gave the following order to Hilkiah the priest, to Ahikam son of Shaphan, to Achbor son of Micaiah, to Shaphan, the court secretary, and to Asaiah, the king's attendant: 13 “Go and consult the LORD for me and for all the people of Judah about the teachings of this book. The LORD is angry with us because our ancestors have not done what this book says must be done.”

14 Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to consult a woman named Huldah, a prophet who lived in the newer part of Jerusalem. (Her husband Shallum, the son of Tikvah and grandson of Harhas, was in charge of the Temple robes.) They described to her what had happened, 15 and she told them to go back to the king and give him 16 the following message from the LORD: “I am going to punish Jerusalem and all its people, as written in the book that the king has read. 17 They have rejected me and have offered sacrifices to other gods, and so have stirred up my anger by all they have done. My anger is aroused against Jerusalem, and it will not die down. 18 As for the king himself, this is what I, the LORD God of Israel, say: You listened to what is written in the book, 19 and you repented and humbled yourself before me, tearing your clothes and weeping, when you heard how I threatened to punish Jerusalem and its people. I will make it a terrifying sight, a place whose name people will use as a curse. But I have heard your prayer, 20 and the punishment which I am going to bring on Jerusalem will not come until after your death. I will let you die in peace.”

The men returned to King Josiah with this message.

23:1-28; Josiah Does Away with Pagan Worship

23 King Josiah summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 and together they went to the Temple, accompanied by the priests and the prophets and all the rest of the people, rich and poor alike. Before them all the king read aloud the whole book of the covenant which had been found in the Temple. 3 He stood by the royal column and made a covenant with the LORD to obey him, to keep his laws and commands with all his heart and soul, and to put into practice the demands attached to the covenant, as written in the book. And all the people promised to keep the covenant.

4 Then Josiah ordered the High Priest Hilkiah, his assistant priests, and the guards on duty at the entrance to the Temple to bring out of the Temple all the objects used in the worship of Baal, of the goddess Asherah, and of the stars. The king burned all these objects outside the city near Kidron Valley and then had the ashes taken to Bethel. 5 He removed from office the priests that the kings of Judah had ordained to offer sacrifices[a] on the pagan altars in the cities of Judah and in places near Jerusalem—all the priests who offered sacrifices to Baal, to the sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars. 6 He removed from the Temple the symbol of the goddess Asherah, took it out of the city to Kidron Valley, burned it, pounded its ashes to dust, and scattered it over the public burying ground. 7 He destroyed the living quarters in the Temple occupied by the temple prostitutes.[b] (It was there that women wove robes used in the worship of Asherah.) 8 He brought to Jerusalem the priests who were in the cities of Judah, and throughout the whole country he desecrated the altars where they had offered sacrifices. He also tore down the altars dedicated to the goat demons near the gate built by Joshua, the city governor, which was to the left of the main gate as one enters the city. 9 Those priests were not allowed to serve in the Temple, but they could eat the unleavened bread provided for their fellow priests.

10 King Josiah also desecrated Topheth, the pagan place of worship in Hinnom Valley, so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter as a burnt offering to the god Molech. 11 He also removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the worship of the sun, and he burned the chariots used in this worship. (These were kept in the temple courtyard, near the gate and not far from the living quarters of Nathan Melech, a high official.) 12 The altars which the kings of Judah had built on the palace roof above King Ahaz' quarters, King Josiah tore down, along with the altars put up by King Manasseh in the two courtyards of the Temple; he smashed the altars to bits[c] and threw them into Kidron Valley. 13 Josiah desecrated the altars that King Solomon had built east of Jerusalem, south of the Mount of Olives,[d] for the worship of disgusting idols—Astarte the goddess of Sidon, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Molech the god of Ammon. 14 King Josiah broke the stone pillars to pieces, cut down the symbols of the goddess Asherah, and the ground where they had stood he covered with human bones.

15 Josiah also tore down the place of worship in Bethel, which had been built by King Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into sin. Josiah pulled down the altar, broke its stones into pieces,[e] and pounded them to dust; he also burned the image of Asherah. 16 Then Josiah looked around and saw some tombs there on the hill; he had the bones taken out of them and burned on the altar. In this way he desecrated the altar, doing what the prophet had predicted long before during the festival as King Jeroboam was standing by the altar. King Josiah looked around and saw the tomb of the prophet[f] who had made this prediction. 17 “Whose tomb is that?” he asked.

The people of Bethel answered, “It is the tomb of the prophet who came from Judah and predicted these things that you have done to this altar.”

18 “Leave it as it is,” Josiah ordered. “His bones are not to be moved.”

So his bones were not moved, neither were those of the prophet who had come from Samaria.

19 In every city of Israel King Josiah tore down all the pagan places of worship which had been built by the kings of Israel, who thereby aroused the LORD's anger. He did to all those altars what he had done in Bethel. 20 He killed all the pagan priests on the altars where they served, and he burned human bones on every altar. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Josiah Celebrates the Passover

21 King Josiah ordered the people to celebrate the Passover in honor of the LORD their God, as written in the book of the covenant. 22 No Passover like this one had ever been celebrated by any of the kings of Israel or of Judah, since the time when judges ruled the nation. 23 Now at last, in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah, the Passover was celebrated in Jerusalem.

Other Changes Made by Josiah

24 In order to enforce the laws written in the book that the High Priest Hilkiah had found in the Temple, King Josiah removed from Jerusalem and the rest of Judah all the mediums and fortunetellers, and all the household gods, idols, and all other pagan objects of worship. 25 There had never been a king like him before, who served the LORD with all his heart, mind, and strength, obeying all the Law of Moses; nor has there been a king like him since.

26 But the LORD's fierce anger had been aroused against Judah by what King Manasseh had done, and even now it did not die down. 27 The LORD said, “I will do to Judah what I have done to Israel: I will banish the people of Judah from my sight, and I will reject Jerusalem, the city I chose, and the Temple, the place I said was where I should be worshiped.”

The End of Josiah's Reign

28 Everything else that King Josiah did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah.

Footnotes:

1. 2 Kings 23:5 Some ancient translations to offer sacrifices; Hebrew and he offered sacrifices.

2. 2 Kings 23:7 Men and women who practiced prostitution in the worship of fertility gods.

3. 2 Kings 23:12 Probable text smashed … to bits; Hebrew unclear.

4. 2 Kings 23:13 Hebrew here refers to it as “Mount of Destruction” or “Mount of Sin.”

5. 2 Kings 23:15 One ancient translation broke its stones into pieces; Hebrew burned the altar.

6. 2 Kings 23:16 One ancient translation during the festival … the prophet; Hebrew does not have these words.

Philippians 2:3-8; (GNT)

3 Don't do anything from selfish ambition or from a cheap desire to boast, but be humble toward one another, always considering others better than yourselves. 4 And look out for one another's interests, not just for your own. 5 The attitude you should have is the one that Christ Jesus had:

6 He always had the nature of God,

but he did not think that by force he should try to remain[a] equal with God.

7 Instead of this, of his own free will he gave up all he had,

and took the nature of a servant.

He became like a human being

and appeared in human likeness.

8 He was humble and walked the path of obedience all the way to death—

his death on the cross.

1 Corinthians 5:7;

7 You must remove the old yeast of sin so that you will be entirely pure. Then you will be like a new batch of dough without any yeast, as indeed I know you actually are. For our Passover Festival is ready, now that Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

Prophets and Kings 384,With the accession of Josiah to the throne, where he was to rule for thirty-one years, those who had maintained the purity of their faith began to hope that the downward course of the kingdom was checked; for the new king, though only eight years old, feared God, and from the very beginning “he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.” 2 Kings 22:2. Born of a wicked king, beset with temptations to follow in his father’s steps, and with few counselors to encourage him in the right way, Josiah nevertheless was true to the God of Israel. Warned by the errors of past generations, he chose to do right, instead of descending to the low level of sin and degradation to which his father and his grandfather had fallen. He “turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.” As one who was to occupy a position of trust, he resolved to obey the instruction that had been given for the guidance of Israel’s rulers, and his obedience made it possible for God to use him as a vessel unto honor. {PK 384.1}

At the time Josiah began to rule, and for many years before, the truehearted in Judah were questioning whether God’s promises to ancient Israel could ever be fulfilled. From a human point of view the divine purpose for the chosen nation seemed almost impossible of accomplishment. The apostasy of former centuries had gathered strength with the passing years; ten of the tribes had been scattered among the heathen; only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained, and even these now seemed on the verge of moral and national ruin. The prophets had begun to foretell the utter destruction of their fair city, where stood the temple built by Solomon, and where all their earthly hopes of national greatness had centered. Could it be that God was about to turn aside from His avowed purpose of bringing deliverance to those who should put their trust in Him? In the face of the long-continued persecution of the righteous, and of the apparent prosperity of the wicked, could those who had remained true to God hope for better days? {PK 384.2}

392-405,The silent yet powerful influences set in operation by the messages of the prophets regarding the Babylonian Captivity did much to prepare the way for a reformation that took place in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign. This reform movement, by which threatened judgments were averted for a season, was brought about in a wholly unexpected manner through the discovery and study of a portion of Holy Scripture that for many years had been strangely misplaced and lost. {PK 392.1}

Nearly a century before, during the first Passover celebrated by Hezekiah, provision had been made for the daily public reading of the book of the law to the people by teaching priests. It was the observance of the statutes recorded by Moses, especially those given in the book of the covenant, which forms a part of Deuteronomy, that had made the reign of Hezekiah so prosperous. But Manasseh had dared set aside these statutes; and during his reign the temple copy of the book of the law, through careless neglect, had become lost. Thus for many years the people generally were deprived of its instruction. {PK 392.2}

The long-lost manuscript was found in the temple by Hilkiah, the high priest, while the building was undergoing extensive repairs in harmony with King Josiah’s plan for the preservation of the sacred structure. The high priest handed the precious volume to Shaphan, a learned scribe, who read it and then took it to the king with the story of its discovery. {PK 393.1}

Josiah was deeply stirred as he heard read for the first time the exhortations and warnings recorded in this ancient manuscript. Never before had he realized so fully the plainness with which God had set before Israel “life and death, blessing and cursing” (Deuteronomy 30:19): and how repeatedly they had been urged to choose the way of life, that they might become a praise in the earth, a blessing to all nations. “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid,” Israel had been exhorted through Moses; “for the Lord thy God. He it is that doth go with thee; He will not fail thee, not forsake thee.” Deuteronomy 31:6. {PK 393.2}

The book abounded in assurances of God’s willingness to save to the uttermost those who should place their trust fully in Him. As He had wrought in their deliverance from Egyptian bondage, so would He work mightily in establishing them in the Land of Promise and in placing them at the head of the nations of earth. {PK 393.3}

The encouragements offered as the reward of obedience were accompanied by prophecies of judgments against the disobedient; and as the king heard the inspired words, he recognized, in the picture set before him, conditions that were similar to those actually existing in his kingdom. In connection with these prophetic portrayals of departure from God, he was startled to find plain statements to the effect that the day of calamity would follow swiftly and that there would be no remedy. The language was plain; there could be no mistaking the meaning of the words. And at the close of the volume, in a summary of God’s dealings with Israel and a rehearsal of the events of the future, these matters were made doubly plain. In the hearing of all Israel, Moses had declared: {PK 393.4}

“Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak;

And hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

My doctrine shall drop as the rain,

My speech shall distill as the dew,

As the small rain upon the tender herb,

And as the showers upon the grass:

Because I will publish the name of the Lord:

Ascribe ye greatness unto our God.

He is the Rock, His work is perfect:

For all His ways are judgment:

A God of truth and without iniquity,

Just and right is He.” {PK 394.1}

Deuteronomy 32:1-4.

“Remember the days of old,

Consider the years of many generations:

Ask thy father, and he will show thee;

Thy elders, and they will tell thee.

When the Most High divided to the nations their

inheritance,

When He separated the sons of Adam,

He set the bounds of the people

According to the number of the children of Israel.

For the Lord’s portion is His people;

Jacob is the lot of His inheritance. He found him in a desert land,

And in the waste howling wilderness;

He led him about, He instructed him,

He kept him as the apple of His eye.” {PK 394.2}

Verses 7-10.

But Israel “forsook God which made him,

And lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

They provoked Him to jealousy with strange gods,

With abominations provoked they Him to anger.

They sacrificed unto devils, not to God;

To gods whom they knew not,

To new gods that came newly up,

Whom your fathers feared not.

Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful,

And hast forgotten God that formed thee. {PK 395.1}

“And when the Lord saw it, He abhorred them,

Because of the provoking of His sons, and of

His daughters.

And He said, I will hide My face from them,

I will see what their end shall be:

For they are a very froward generation,

Children in whom is no faith.

They have moved Me to jealousy with that which

is not God;

They have provoked Me to anger with their vanities:

And I will move them to jealousy with those which

are not a people;

I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.” {PK 395.2}

“I will heap mischiefs upon them;

I will spend Mine arrows upon them.

They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with

burning heat,

And with bitter destruction.” {PK 395.3}

“For they are a nation void of counsel,

Neither is there any understanding in them.

O that they were wise, that they understood this,

That they would consider their latter end! How should one chase a thousand,

And two put ten thousand to flight,

Except their Rock had sold them,

And the Lord had shut them up?

For their rock is not as our Rock,

Even our enemies themselves being judges.” {PK 395.4}

“Is not this laid up in store with Me,

And sealed up among My treasures?

To Me belongeth vengeance, and recompense;

Their foot shall slide in due time:

For the day of their calamity is at hand,

And the things that shall come upon them make haste.” {PK 396.1}

Verses 15-21, 23, 24, 28-31, 34, 35.

These and similar passages revealed to Josiah God’s love for His people and His abhorrence of sin. As the king read the prophecies of swift judgment upon those who should persist in rebellion, he trembled for the future. The perversity of Judah had been great; what was to be the outcome of their continued apostasy? {PK 396.2}

In former years the king had not been indifferent to the prevailing idolatry. “In the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young,” he had consecrated himself fully to the service of God. Four years later, at the age of twenty, he had made an earnest effort to remove temptation from his subjects by purging “Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.” “They brake down the altars of Baalim 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 brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed 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.” 2 Chronicles 34:3-5. {PK 396.3}

Not content with doing thorough work in the land of Judah, the youthful ruler had extended his efforts to the portions of Palestine formerly occupied by the ten tribes of Israel, only a feeble remnant of which now remained. “So did he,” the record reads, “in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali.” Not until he had traversed the length and breadth of this region of ruined homes, and “had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel,” did he return to Jerusalem. Verses 6, 7. {PK 397.1}

Thus Josiah, from his earliest manhood, had endeavored to take advantage of his position as king to exalt the principles of God’s holy law. And now, while Shaphan the scribe was reading to him out of the book of the law, the king discerned in this volume a treasure of knowledge, a powerful ally, in the work of reform he so much desired to see wrought in the land. He resolved to walk in the light of its counsels, and also to do all in his power to acquaint his people with its teachings and to lead them, if possible, to cultivate reverence and love for the law of heaven. {PK 398.1}

But was it possible to bring about the needed reform? Israel had almost reached the limit of divine forbearance; soon God would arise to punish those who had brought dishonor upon His name. Already the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people. Overwhelmed with sorrow and dismay, Josiah rent his garments and bowed before God in agony of spirit, seeking pardon for the sins of an impenitent nation. {PK 398.2}

At that time the prophetess Huldah was living in Jerusalem, near the temple. The mind of the king, filled with anxious foreboding, reverted to her, and he determined to inquire of the Lord through this chosen messenger to learn, if possible, whether by any means within his power he might save erring Judah, now on the verge of ruin. {PK 398.3}

The gravity of the situation and the respect in which he held the prophetess led him to choose as his messengers to her the first men of the kingdom. “Go ye,” he bade them, “inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.” 2 Kings 22:13. {PK 398.4}

Through Huldah the Lord sent Josiah word that Jerusalem’s ruin could not be averted. Even should the people now humble themselves before God, they could not escape their punishment. So long had their senses been deadened by wrongdoing that, if judgment should not come upon them, they would soon return to the same sinful course. “Tell the man that sent you to me,” the prophetess declared, “Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read: 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 kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.” Verses 15-17. {PK 399.1}

But because the king had humbled his heart before God, the Lord would acknowledge his promptness in seeking forgiveness and mercy. To him was sent the message: “Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before Me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord. Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place.” Verses 19, 20. {PK 399.2}

The king must leave with God the events of the future; he could not alter the eternal decrees of Jehovah. But in announcing the retributive judgments of Heaven, the Lord had not withdrawn opportunity for repentance and reformation; and Josiah, discerning in this a willingness on the part of God to temper His judgments with mercy, determined to do all in his power to bring about decided reforms. He arranged at once for a great convocation, to which were invited the elders and magistrates in Jerusalem and Judah, together with the common people. These, with the priests and Levites, met the king in the court of the temple. {PK 400.1}

To this vast assembly the king himself read “all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord.” 2 Kings 23:2. The royal reader was deeply affected, and he delivered his message with the pathos of a broken heart. His hearers were profoundly moved. The intensity of feeling revealed in the countenance of the king, the solemnity of the message itself, the warning of judgments impending—all these had their effect, and many determined to join with the king in seeking forgiveness. {PK 400.2}

Josiah now proposed that those highest in authority unite with the people in solemnly covenanting before God to co-operate with one another in an effort to institute decided changes. “The king stood by a 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 their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book.” The response was more hearty than the king had dared hope for: “All the people stood to the covenant.” Verse 3. {PK 400.3}

In the reformation that followed, the king turned his attention to the destruction of every vestige of idolatry that remained. So long had the inhabitants of the land followed the customs of the surrounding nations in bowing down to images of wood and stone, that it seemed almost beyond the power of man to remove every trace of these evils. But Josiah persevered in his effort to cleanse the land. Sternly he met idolatry by slaying “all the priests of the high places;” “moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord.” Verses 20, 24. {PK 401.1}

In the days of the rending of the kingdom, centuries before, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, in bold defiance of the God whom Israel had served, was endeavoring to turn the hearts of the people away from the services of the temple in Jerusalem to new forms of worship, he had set up an unconsecrated altar at Bethel. During the dedication of this altar, where many in years to come were to be seduced into idolatrous practices, there had suddenly appeared a man of God from Judea, with words of condemnation for the sacrilegious proceedings. He had “cried against the altar,” declaring: {PK 401.2}

“O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee.” 1 Kings 13:2. This announcement had been accompanied by a sign that the word spoken was of the Lord. {PK 402.1}

Three centuries had passed. During the reformation wrought by Josiah, the king found himself in Bethel, where stood this ancient altar. The prophecy uttered so many years before in the presence of Jeroboam, was now to be literally fulfilled. {PK 402.2}

“The altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove. {PK 402.3}

“And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchers that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchers, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words. {PK 402.4}

“Then he said, What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulcher of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel. And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.” 2 Kings 23:15-18. {PK 402.5}

On the southern slopes of Olivet, opposite the beautiful temple of Jehovah on Mount Moriah, were the shrines and images that had been placed there by Solomon to please his idolatrous wives. See 1 Kings 11:6-8. For upwards of three centuries the great, misshapen images had stood on the “Mount of Offense,” mute witnesses to the apostasy of Israel’s wisest king. These, too, were removed and destroyed by Josiah. {PK 402.6}

The king sought further to establish the faith of Judah in the God of their fathers by holding a great Passover feast, in harmony with the provisions made in the book of the law. Preparation was made by those having the sacred services in charge, and on the great day of the feast, offerings were freely made. “There was not holden such a Passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah.” 2 Kings 23:22. But the zeal of Josiah, acceptable though it was to God, could not atone for the sins of past generations; nor could the piety displayed by the king’s followers effect a change of heart in many who stubbornly refused to turn from idolatry to the worship of the true God. {PK 405.1}

For more than a decade following the celebration of the Passover, Josiah continued to reign. At the age of thirty-nine he met death in battle with the forces of Egypt, “and was buried in one of the sepulchers of his fathers.” “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 are written in the lamentations.” 2 Chronicles 35:24, 25. Like unto Josiah “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. Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fierceness of His great wrath, ... because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked Him withal.” 2 Kings 23:25, 26. The time was rapidly approaching when Jerusalem was to be utterly destroyed and the inhabitants of the land carried captive to Babylon, there to learn the lessons they had refused to learn under circumstances more favorable. {PK 405.2}

410 Through Jeremiah the word of the Lord to His people was: “Return, thou backsliding Israel, ... and I will not cause Mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God.... Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you.” “Thou shalt call Me, my Father; and shalt not turn away from Me.” “Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.” Jeremiah 3:12-14, 19, 22. {PK 410.1}

And in addition to these wonderful pleadings, the Lord gave His erring people the very words with which they might turn to Him. They were to say: “Behold, we come unto Thee; for Thou art the Lord our God. Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.... We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.” Verses 22-25. {PK 410.2}

The reformation under Josiah had cleansed the land of the idolatrous shrines, but the hearts of the multitude had not been transformed. The seeds of truth that had sprung up and given promise of an abundant harvest had been choked by thorns. Another such backsliding would be fatal; and the Lord sought to arouse the nation to a realization of their danger. Only as they should prove loyal to Jehovah could they hope for the divine favor and for prosperity. {PK 410.3}

ii-2 Kings 23:25

25 There had never been a king like him before, who served the LORD with all his heart, mind, and strength, obeying all the Law of Moses; nor has there been a king like him since.

iii-2 Chronicles 33:King Manasseh of Judah

33 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-five years. 2 Following the disgusting practices of the nations whom the LORD had driven out of the land as his people advanced, Manasseh sinned against the LORD. 3 He rebuilt the pagan places of worship that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He built altars for the worship of Baal, made images of the goddess Asherah, and worshiped the stars. 4 He built pagan altars in the Temple, the place that the LORD had said was where he should be worshiped forever. 5 In the two courtyards of the Temple he built altars for the worship of the stars. 6 He sacrificed his sons in Hinnom Valley as burnt offerings. He practiced divination and magic and consulted fortunetellers and mediums. He sinned greatly against the LORD and stirred up his anger. 7 He placed an image in the Temple, the place about which God had said to David and his son Solomon: “Here in Jerusalem, in this Temple, is the place that I have chosen out of all the territory of the twelve tribes of Israel as the place where I am to be worshiped. 8 And if the people of Israel will obey all my commands and keep the whole Law that my servant Moses gave them, then I will not allow them to be driven out of the land that I gave to their ancestors.” 9 Manasseh led the people of Judah to commit even greater sins than those committed by the nations whom the LORD had driven out of the land as his people advanced.

Manasseh Repents

10 Although the LORD warned Manasseh and his people, they refused to listen. 11 So the LORD let the commanders of the Assyrian army invade Judah. They captured Manasseh, stuck hooks in him, put him in chains, and took him to Babylon. 12 In his suffering he became humble, turned to the LORD his God, and begged him for help. 13 God accepted Manasseh's prayer and answered it by letting him go back to Jerusalem and rule again. This convinced Manasseh that the LORD was God.

14 After this, Manasseh increased the height of the outer wall on the east side of David's City, from a point in the valley near Gihon Spring north to the Fish Gate and the area of the city called Ophel. He also stationed an army officer in command of a unit of troops in each of the fortified cities of Judah. 15 He removed from the Temple the foreign gods and the image that he had placed there, and the pagan altars that were on the hill where the Temple stood and in other places in Jerusalem; he took all these things outside the city and threw them away. 16 He also repaired the altar where the LORD was worshiped, and he sacrificed fellowship offerings and thanksgiving offerings on it. He commanded all the people of Judah to worship the LORD, the God of Israel. 17 Although the people continued to offer sacrifices at other places of worship, they offered them only to the LORD.

The End of Manasseh's Reign

18 Everything else that Manasseh did, the prayer he made to his God, and the messages of the prophets who spoke to him in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, are all recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. 19 The king's prayer and God's answer to it, and an account of the sins he committed before he repented—the evil he did, the pagan places of worship and the symbols of the goddess Asherah that he made and the idols that he worshiped—are all recorded in The History of the Prophets.

20 Manasseh died and was buried at the palace, and his son Amon succeeded him as king.

King Amon of Judah

21 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for two years. 22 Like his father Manasseh, he sinned against the LORD, and he worshiped the idols that his father had worshiped. 23 But unlike his father, he did not become humble and turn to the LORD; he was even more sinful than his father had been.

24 Amon's officials plotted against him and assassinated him in the palace. 25 The people of Judah killed Amon's assassins and made his son Josiah king.

iv-Habakkuk 1:2-4 Habakkuk Complains of Injustice

2 O LORD, how long must I call for help before you listen, before you save us from violence? 3 Why do you make me see such trouble? How can you stand to look on such wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are all around me, and there is fighting and quarreling everywhere. 4 The law is weak and useless, and justice is never done. Evil people get the better of the righteous, and so justice is perverted.

v-2 Kings 22:1-2 King Josiah of Judah

22 Josiah was eight years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for thirty-one years. His mother was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah from the town of Bozkath. 2 Josiah did what was pleasing to the LORD; he followed the example of his ancestor King David, strictly obeying all the laws of God.

vi-2 Kings 22:3-7 The Book of the Law Is Discovered

3 In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the court secretary Shaphan, the son of Azaliah and grandson of Meshullam, to the Temple with the order: 4 “Go to the High Priest Hilkiah and get a report on the amount of money that the priests on duty at the entrance to the Temple have collected from the people. 5 Tell him to give the money to the men who are in charge of the repairs in the Temple. They are to pay 6 the carpenters, the builders, and the masons, and buy the timber and the stones used in the repairs. 7 The men in charge of the work are thoroughly honest, so there is no need to require them to account for the funds.”

vii-2 Kings 22:8-11

8 Shaphan delivered the king's order to Hilkiah, and Hilkiah told him that he had found the book of the Law in the Temple. Hilkiah gave him the book, and Shaphan read it. 9 Then he went back to the king and reported: “Your servants have taken the money that was in the Temple and have handed it over to the men in charge of the repairs.” 10 And then he said, “I have here a book that Hilkiah gave me.” And he read it aloud to the king.

11 When the king heard the book being read, he tore his clothes in dismay,

viii-Deuteronomy 17:18-20

18 When he becomes king, he is to have a copy of the book of God's laws and teachings made from the original copy kept by the levitical priests. 19 He is to keep this book near him and read from it all his life, so that he will learn to honor the LORD and to obey faithfully everything that is commanded in it. 20 This will keep him from thinking that he is better than other Israelites and from disobeying the LORD's commands in any way. Then he will reign for many years, and his descendants will rule Israel for many generations.

ix-2 Kings 22:12-20

12 and gave the following order to Hilkiah the priest, to Ahikam son of Shaphan, to Achbor son of Micaiah, to Shaphan, the court secretary, and to Asaiah, the king's attendant: 13 “Go and consult the LORD for me and for all the people of Judah about the teachings of this book. The LORD is angry with us because our ancestors have not done what this book says must be done.”

14 Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to consult a woman named Huldah, a prophet who lived in the newer part of Jerusalem. (Her husband Shallum, the son of Tikvah and grandson of Harhas, was in charge of the Temple robes.) They described to her what had happened, 15 and she told them to go back to the king and give him 16 the following message from the LORD: “I am going to punish Jerusalem and all its people, as written in the book that the king has read. 17 They have rejected me and have offered sacrifices to other gods, and so have stirred up my anger by all they have done. My anger is aroused against Jerusalem, and it will not die down. 18 As for the king himself, this is what I, the LORD God of Israel, say: You listened to what is written in the book, 19 and you repented and humbled yourself before me, tearing your clothes and weeping, when you heard how I threatened to punish Jerusalem and its people. I will make it a terrifying sight, a place whose name people will use as a curse. But I have heard your prayer, 20 and the punishment which I am going to bring on Jerusalem will not come until after your death. I will let you die in peace.”

x-2 Kings 23:1-28 Josiah Does Away with Pagan Worship

23 King Josiah summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 and together they went to the Temple, accompanied by the priests and the prophets and all the rest of the people, rich and poor alike. Before them all the king read aloud the whole book of the covenant which had been found in the Temple. 3 He stood by the royal column and made a covenant with the LORD to obey him, to keep his laws and commands with all his heart and soul, and to put into practice the demands attached to the covenant, as written in the book. And all the people promised to keep the covenant.

4 Then Josiah ordered the High Priest Hilkiah, his assistant priests, and the guards on duty at the entrance to the Temple to bring out of the Temple all the objects used in the worship of Baal, of the goddess Asherah, and of the stars. The king burned all these objects outside the city near Kidron Valley and then had the ashes taken to Bethel. 5 He removed from office the priests that the kings of Judah had ordained to offer sacrifices[a] on the pagan altars in the cities of Judah and in places near Jerusalem—all the priests who offered sacrifices to Baal, to the sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars. 6 He removed from the Temple the symbol of the goddess Asherah, took it out of the city to Kidron Valley, burned it, pounded its ashes to dust, and scattered it over the public burying ground. 7 He destroyed the living quarters in the Temple occupied by the temple prostitutes.[b] (It was there that women wove robes used in the worship of Asherah.) 8 He brought to Jerusalem the priests who were in the cities of Judah, and throughout the whole country he desecrated the altars where they had offered sacrifices. He also tore down the altars dedicated to the goat demons near the gate built by Joshua, the city governor, which was to the left of the main gate as one enters the city. 9 Those priests were not allowed to serve in the Temple, but they could eat the unleavened bread provided for their fellow priests.

10 King Josiah also desecrated Topheth, the pagan place of worship in Hinnom Valley, so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter as a burnt offering to the god Molech. 11 He also removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the worship of the sun, and he burned the chariots used in this worship. (These were kept in the temple courtyard, near the gate and not far from the living quarters of Nathan Melech, a high official.) 12 The altars which the kings of Judah had built on the palace roof above King Ahaz' quarters, King Josiah tore down, along with the altars put up by King Manasseh in the two courtyards of the Temple; he smashed the altars to bits[c] and threw them into Kidron Valley. 13 Josiah desecrated the altars that King Solomon had built east of Jerusalem, south of the Mount of Olives,[d] for the worship of disgusting idols—Astarte the goddess of Sidon, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Molech the god of Ammon. 14 King Josiah broke the stone pillars to pieces, cut down the symbols of the goddess Asherah, and the ground where they had stood he covered with human bones.

15 Josiah also tore down the place of worship in Bethel, which had been built by King Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into sin. Josiah pulled down the altar, broke its stones into pieces,[e] and pounded them to dust; he also burned the image of Asherah. 16 Then Josiah looked around and saw some tombs there on the hill; he had the bones taken out of them and burned on the altar. In this way he desecrated the altar, doing what the prophet had predicted long before during the festival as King Jeroboam was standing by the altar. King Josiah looked around and saw the tomb of the prophet[f] who had made this prediction. 17 “Whose tomb is that?” he asked.

The people of Bethel answered, “It is the tomb of the prophet who came from Judah and predicted these things that you have done to this altar.”

18 “Leave it as it is,” Josiah ordered. “His bones are not to be moved.”

So his bones were not moved, neither were those of the prophet who had come from Samaria.

19 In every city of Israel King Josiah tore down all the pagan places of worship which had been built by the kings of Israel, who thereby aroused the LORD's anger. He did to all those altars what he had done in Bethel. 20 He killed all the pagan priests on the altars where they served, and he burned human bones on every altar. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Josiah Celebrates the Passover

21 King Josiah ordered the people to celebrate the Passover in honor of the LORD their God, as written in the book of the covenant. 22 No Passover like this one had ever been celebrated by any of the kings of Israel or of Judah, since the time when judges ruled the nation. 23 Now at last, in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah, the Passover was celebrated in Jerusalem.

Other Changes Made by Josiah

24 In order to enforce the laws written in the book that the High Priest Hilkiah had found in the Temple, King Josiah removed from Jerusalem and the rest of Judah all the mediums and fortunetellers, and all the household gods, idols, and all other pagan objects of worship. 25 There had never been a king like him before, who served the LORD with all his heart, mind, and strength, obeying all the Law of Moses; nor has there been a king like him since.

26 But the LORD's fierce anger had been aroused against Judah by what King Manasseh had done, and even now it did not die down. 27 The LORD said, “I will do to Judah what I have done to Israel: I will banish the people of Judah from my sight, and I will reject Jerusalem, the city I chose, and the Temple, the place I said was where I should be worshiped.”

The End of Josiah's Reign

28 Everything else that King Josiah did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah.

Footnotes:

1. 2 Kings 23:5 Some ancient translations to offer sacrifices; Hebrew and he offered sacrifices.

2. 2 Kings 23:7 Men and women who practiced prostitution in the worship of fertility gods.

3. 2 Kings 23:12 Probable text smashed … to bits; Hebrew unclear.

4. 2 Kings 23:13 Hebrew here refers to it as “Mount of Destruction” or “Mount of Sin.”

5. 2 Kings 23:15 One ancient translation broke its stones into pieces; Hebrew burned the altar.

6. 2 Kings 23:16 One ancient translation during the festival … the prophet; Hebrew does not have these words.

xi-1 Kings 13

13 At the LORD's command a prophet from Judah went to Bethel and arrived there as Jeroboam stood at the altar to offer the sacrifice. 2 Following the LORD's command, the prophet denounced the altar: “O altar, altar, this is what the LORD says: A child, whose name will be Josiah, will be born to the family of David. He will slaughter on you the priests serving at the pagan altars who offer sacrifices on you, and he will burn human bones on you.” 3 And the prophet went on to say, “This altar will fall apart, and the ashes on it will be scattered. Then you will know that the LORD has spoken through me.”

4 When King Jeroboam heard this, he pointed at him and ordered, “Seize that man!” At once the king's arm became paralyzed so that he couldn't pull it back. 5 The altar suddenly fell apart and the ashes spilled to the ground, as the prophet had predicted in the name of the LORD. 6 King Jeroboam said to the prophet, “Please pray for me to the LORD your God, and ask him to heal my arm!”

The prophet prayed to the LORD, and the king's arm was healed. 7 Then the king said to the prophet, “Come home with me and have something to eat. I will reward you for what you have done.”

8 The prophet answered, “Even if you gave me half of your wealth, I would not go with you or eat or drink anything with you. 9 The LORD has commanded me not to eat or drink a thing, and not to return home the same way I came.” 10 So he did not go back the same way he had come, but by another road.

The Old Prophet of Bethel

11 At that time there was an old prophet living in Bethel. His sons[a] came and told him what the prophet from Judah had done in Bethel that day and what he had said to King Jeroboam. 12 “Which way did he go when he left?” the old prophet asked them. They showed him[b] the road 13 and he told them to saddle his donkey for him. They did so, and he rode off 14 down the road after the prophet from Judah and found him sitting under an oak tree. “Are you the prophet from Judah?” he asked.

“I am,” the man answered.

15 “Come home and have a meal with me,” he said.

16 But the prophet from Judah answered, “I can't go home with you or accept your hospitality. And I won't eat or drink anything with you here, 17 because the LORD has commanded me not to eat or drink a thing, and not to return home the same way I came.”

18 Then the old prophet from Bethel said to him, “I, too, am a prophet just like you, and at the LORD's command an angel told me to take you home with me and offer you my hospitality.” But the old prophet was lying.

19 So the prophet from Judah went home with the old prophet and had a meal with him. 20 As they were sitting at the table, the word of the LORD came to the old prophet, 21 and he cried out to the prophet from Judah, “The LORD says that you disobeyed him and did not do what he commanded. 22 Instead, you returned and ate a meal in a place he had ordered you not to eat in. Because of this you will be killed, and your body will not be buried in your family grave.”

23 After they had finished eating, the old prophet saddled the donkey for the prophet from Judah, 24 who rode off. On the way a lion met him and killed him. His body lay on the road, and the donkey and the lion stood beside it. 25 Some men passed by and saw the body on the road, with the lion standing near by. They went on into Bethel and reported what they had seen.

26 When the old prophet heard about it, he said, “That is the prophet who disobeyed the LORD's command! And so the LORD sent the lion to attack and kill him, just as the LORD said he would.” 27 Then he said to his sons, “Saddle my donkey for me.” They did so, 28 and he rode off and found the prophet's body lying on the road, with the donkey and the lion still standing by it. The lion had not eaten the body or attacked the donkey. 29 The old prophet picked up the body, put it on the donkey, and brought it back to Bethel to mourn over it and bury it. 30 He buried it in his own family grave, and he and his sons mourned over it, saying, “Oh my brother, my brother!” 31 After the burial the prophet said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in this grave and lay my body next to his. 32 The words that he spoke at the LORD's command against the altar in Bethel and against all the places of worship in the towns of Samaria will surely come true.”

Jeroboam's Fatal Sin

33 King Jeroboam of Israel still did not turn from his evil ways but continued to choose priests from ordinary families to serve at the altars he had built. He ordained as priest anyone who wanted to be one. 34 This sin on his part brought about the ruin and total destruction of his dynasty.

Footnotes:

1. 1 Kings 13:11 Some ancient translations sons; Hebrew son.

2. 1 Kings 13:12 Some ancient translations showed him; Hebrew saw.

xii-2 Chronicles 35:1-19 Josiah Celebrates the Passover

35 King Josiah celebrated the Passover at Jerusalem in honor of the LORD; on the fourteenth day of the first month they killed the animals for the festival. 2 He assigned to the priests the duties they were to perform in the Temple and encouraged them to do them well. 3 He also gave these instructions to the Levites, the teachers of Israel, who were dedicated to the LORD: “Put the sacred Covenant Box in the Temple that King Solomon, the son of David, built. You are no longer to carry it from place to place, but you are to serve the LORD your God and his people Israel. 4 Take your places in the Temple by clans, according to the responsibilities assigned to you by King David and his son King Solomon, 5 and arrange yourselves so that some of you will be available to help each family of the people of Israel. 6 You are to kill the Passover lambs and goats. Now make yourselves ritually clean and prepare the sacrifices in order that your fellow Israelites may follow the instructions which the LORD gave through Moses.”

7 For the use of the people at the Passover, King Josiah contributed from his own herds and flocks 30,000 sheep, lambs, and young goats, and 3,000 bulls. 8 His officials also made contributions for the people, the priests, and the Levites to use. And the officials in charge of the Temple—Hilkiah, the High Priest, Zechariah, and Jehiel—gave the priests 2,600 lambs and young goats and 300 bulls for sacrifices during the festival. 9 The leaders of the Levites—Conaniah, Shemaiah and his brother Nethanel, Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad—contributed 5,000 lambs and young goats and 500 bulls for the Levites to offer as sacrifices.

10 When everything was arranged for the Passover, the priests and the Levites took their posts, as commanded by the king. 11 After the lambs and goats had been killed, the Levites skinned them, and the priests sprinkled the blood on the altar. 12 Then they divided among the people, by family groups, the animals for burnt offerings, so that they could offer them according to the instructions in the Law of Moses. 13 The Levites roasted the Passover sacrifices over the fire, according to the regulations, and boiled the sacred offerings in pots, kettles, and pans, and quickly distributed the meat to the people. 14 After this was done, the Levites provided meat for themselves and for the priests descended from Aaron, for the priests were kept busy until night, burning the animals that were burned whole and the fat of the sacrifices. 15 The following musicians of the Levite clan of Asaph were in the places assigned to them by King David's instructions: Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, the king's prophet. The guards at the Temple gates did not need to leave their posts, because the other Levites prepared the Passover for them. 16 So, as King Josiah had commanded, everything was done that day for the worship of the LORD, the keeping of the Passover Festival, and the offering of burnt offerings on the altar. 17 For seven days all the people of Israel who were present celebrated the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. 18 Since the days of the prophet Samuel, the Passover had never been celebrated like this. None of the former kings had ever celebrated a Passover like this one celebrated by King Josiah, the priests, the Levites, and the people of Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem 19 in the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign.

xiii-2 Chronicles 34:26-33; 26 As for the king himself, this is what I, the LORD God of Israel, say: You listened to what is written in the book, 27 and you repented and humbled yourself before me, tearing your clothes and weeping, when you heard how I threatened to punish Jerusalem and its people. I have heard your prayer, 28 and the punishment which I am going to bring on Jerusalem will not come until after your death. I will let you die in peace.”

The men returned to King Josiah with this message.

Josiah Makes a Covenant to Obey the LORD

29 King Josiah summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, 30 and together they went to the Temple, accompanied by the priests and the Levites and all the rest of the people, rich and poor alike. Before them all the king read aloud the whole book of the covenant, which had been found in the Temple. 31 He stood by the royal column[a] and made a covenant with the LORD to obey him, to keep his laws and commands with all his heart and soul, and to put into practice the demands attached to the covenant, as written in the book. 32 He made the people of Benjamin and everyone else present in Jerusalem promise to keep the covenant. And so the people of Jerusalem obeyed the requirements of the covenant they had made with the God of their ancestors. 33 King Josiah destroyed all the disgusting idols that were in the territory belonging to the people of Israel, and as long as he lived, he required the people to serve the LORD, the God of their ancestors.

Footnotes:

1. 2 Chronicles 34:31 Probable text (see 2 K 23.3) by the royal column; Hebrew in his place.

35:20-24 The End of Josiah's Reign

20 After King Josiah had done all this for the Temple, King Neco of Egypt led an army to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates River. Josiah tried to stop him, 21 but Neco sent Josiah this message: “This war I am fighting does not concern you, King of Judah. I have not come to fight you, but to fight my enemies, and God has told me to hurry. God is on my side, so don't oppose me, or he will destroy you.” 22 But Josiah was determined to fight. He refused to listen to what God was saying through King Neco, so he disguised himself and went into battle on the plain of Megiddo.

23 During the battle King Josiah was struck by Egyptian arrows. He ordered his servants, “Take me away; I'm badly hurt!” 24 They lifted him out of his chariot, placed him in a second chariot which he had there, and took him to Jerusalem. There he died and was buried in the royal tombs. All the people of Judah and Jerusalem mourned his death.

xiv-Nehemiah 8-10Ezra Reads the Law to the People

8 By the seventh month the people of Israel were all settled in their towns. On the first day of that month they all assembled in Jerusalem, in the square just inside the Water Gate. They asked Ezra, the priest and scholar of the Law which the LORD had given Israel through Moses, to get the book of the Law. 2 So Ezra brought it to the place where the people had gathered—men, women, and the children who were old enough to understand. 3 There in the square by the gate he read the Law to them from dawn until noon, and they all listened attentively.

4 Ezra was standing on a wooden platform that had been built for the occasion. The following men stood at his right: Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah; and the following stood at his left: Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam.

5 As Ezra stood there on the platform high above the people, they all kept their eyes fixed on him. As soon as he opened the book, they all stood up. 6 Ezra said, “Praise the LORD, the great God!”

All the people raised their arms in the air and answered, “Amen! Amen!” They knelt in worship, with their faces to the ground.

7 Then they rose and stood in their places, and the following Levites explained the Law to them: Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah. 8 They gave an oral translation[a] of God's Law and explained[b] it so that the people could understand it.

9 When the people heard what the Law required, they were so moved that they began to cry. So Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra, the priest and scholar of the Law, and the Levites who were explaining the Law told all the people, “This day is holy to the LORD your God, so you are not to mourn or cry. 10 Now go home and have a feast. Share your food and wine with those who don't have enough. Today is holy to our Lord, so don't be sad. The joy that the LORD gives you will make you strong.”

11 The Levites went around calming the people and telling them not to be sad on such a holy day. 12 So all the people went home and ate and drank joyfully and shared what they had with others, because they understood what had been read to them.

The Festival of Shelters

13 The next day the heads of the clans, together with the priests and the Levites, went to Ezra to study the teachings of the Law. 14 They discovered that the Law, which the LORD gave through Moses, ordered the people of Israel to live in temporary shelters during the Festival of Shelters. 15 So they gave the following instructions and sent them[c] all through Jerusalem and the other cities and towns: “Go out to the hills and get branches from pines, olives, myrtles, palms, and other trees to make shelters according to the instructions written in the Law.”

16 So the people got branches and built shelters on the flat roofs of their houses, in their yards, in the Temple courtyard, and in the public squares by the Water Gate and by the Ephraim Gate. 17 All the people who had come back from captivity built shelters and lived in them. This was the first time it had been done since the days of Joshua son of Nun, and everybody was excited and happy. 18 From the first day of the festival to the last they read a part of God's Law every day. They celebrated for seven days, and on the eighth day there was a closing ceremony, as required in the Law.

The People Confess Their Sins

9 1-2 On the twenty-fourth day of the same month the people of Israel gathered to fast in order to show sorrow for their sins. They had already separated themselves from all foreigners. They wore sackcloth and put dust on their heads as signs of grief. Then they stood and began to confess the sins that they and their ancestors had committed. 3 For about three hours the Law of the LORD their God was read to them, and for the next three hours they confessed their sins and worshiped the LORD their God.

4 There was a platform for the Levites, and on it stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani. They prayed aloud to the LORD their God.

5 The following Levites gave a call to worship: Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah. They said:

“Stand up and praise the LORD your God;

praise him forever and ever!

Let everyone praise his glorious name,

although no human praise is great enough.”

The Prayer of Confession

6 And then the people of Israel prayed this prayer:

“You, LORD, you alone are LORD;

you made the heavens and the stars of the sky.

You made land and sea and everything in them;

you gave life to all.

The heavenly powers bow down and worship you.

7 You, LORD God, chose Abram

and led him out of Ur in Babylonia;

you changed his name to Abraham.

8 You found that he was faithful to you,

and you made a covenant with him.

You promised to give him the land of the Canaanites,

the land of the Hittites and the Amorites,

the land of the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Girgashites,

to be a land where his descendants would live.

You kept your promise, because you are faithful.

9 “You saw how our ancestors suffered in Egypt;

you heard their call for help at the Red Sea.

10 You worked amazing miracles against the king,

against his officials and the people of his land,

because you knew how they oppressed your people.

You won then the fame you still have today.

11 Through the sea you made a path for your people

and led them through on dry ground.

Those who pursued them drowned in deep water,

as a stone sinks in the raging sea.

12 With a cloud you led them in daytime,

and at night you lighted their way with fire.

13 At Mount Sinai you came down from heaven;

you spoke to your people

and gave them good laws and sound teachings.

14 You taught them to keep your Sabbaths holy,

and through your servant Moses you gave them your laws.

15 “When they were hungry, you gave them bread from heaven,

and water from a rock when they were thirsty.

You told them to take control of the land

which you had promised to give them.

16 But our ancestors grew proud and stubborn

and refused to obey your commands.

17 They refused to obey; they forgot all you did;

they forgot the miracles you had performed.

In their pride they chose a leader

to take them back to slavery in Egypt.

But you are a God who forgives;

you are gracious and loving, slow to be angry.

Your mercy is great; you did not forsake them.

18 They made an idol in the shape of a bull-calf

and said it was the god who led them from Egypt!

How much they insulted you, LORD!

19 But you did not abandon them there in the desert,

for your mercy is great.

You did not take away the cloud or the fire

that showed them the path by day and night.

20 In your goodness you told them what they should do;

you fed them manna and gave them water to drink.

21 Through forty years in the desert

you provided all that they needed;

their clothing never wore out,

and their feet were not swollen with pain.

22 “You let them conquer nations and kingdoms,

lands that bordered their own.

They conquered the land of Heshbon, where Sihon ruled,

and the land of Bashan, where Og was king.

23 You gave them as many children as there are stars in the sky,

and let them conquer and live in the land

that you had promised their ancestors to give them.

24 They conquered the land of Canaan;

you overcame the people living there.

You gave your people the power to do as they pleased

with the people and kings of Canaan.

25 Your people captured fortified cities,

fertile land, houses full of wealth,

cisterns already dug,

olive trees, fruit trees, and vineyards.

They ate all they wanted and grew fat;

they enjoyed all the good things you gave them.

26 “But your people rebelled and disobeyed you;

they turned their backs on your Law.

They killed the prophets who warned them,

who told them to turn back to you.

They insulted you time after time,

27     so you let their enemies conquer and rule them.

In their trouble they called to you for help,

and you answered them from heaven.

In your great mercy you sent them leaders

who rescued them from their foes.

28 When peace returned, they sinned again,

and again you let their enemies conquer them.

Yet when they repented and asked you to save them,

in heaven you heard, and time after time

you rescued them in your great mercy.

29 You warned them to obey your teachings,

but in pride they rejected your laws,

although keeping your Law is the way to life.

Hard-headed and stubborn, they refused to obey.

30 Year after year you patiently warned them.

You inspired your prophets to speak,

but your people were deaf,

so you let them be conquered by other nations.

31 And yet, because your mercy is great,

you did not forsake or destroy them.

You are a gracious and merciful God!

32 “O God, our God, how great you are!

How terrifying, how powerful!

You faithfully keep your covenant promises.

From the time when Assyrian kings oppressed us,

even till now, how much we have suffered!

Our kings, our leaders, our priests and prophets,

our ancestors, and all our people have suffered.

Remember how much we have suffered!

33 You have done right to punish us;

you have been faithful, even though we have sinned.

34 Our ancestors, our kings, leaders, and priests

have not kept your Law.

They did not listen to your commands and warnings.

35 With your blessing, kings ruled your people

when they lived in the broad, fertile land you gave them;

but they failed to turn from sin and serve you.

36 And now we are slaves in the land that you gave us,

this fertile land which gives us food.

37 What the land produces goes to the kings

that you put over us because we sinned.

They do as they please with us and our livestock,

and we are in deep distress!”

The People Sign an Agreement

38 Because of all that has happened, we, the people of Israel, hereby make a solemn written agreement, and our leaders, our Levites, and our priests put their seals to it.

10 The first to sign was the governor, Nehemiah son of Hacaliah, and then Zedekiah signed. The following also signed:

Priests:

- 2-8 Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah,

- Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah,

- Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch,

- Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah,

- Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch,

- Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin,

- Maaziah, Bilgai, and Shemaia.

Levites:

- 9-13 Jeshua son of Azaniah,

- Binnui of the clan of Henadad,

- Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Hodiah,

- Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan,

- Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah,

- Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah,

- Hodiah, Bani, and Beninu.

Leaders of the people:

- 14-27 Parosh, Pahath Moab,

- Elam, Zattu, Bani,

- Bunni, Azgad, Bebai,

- Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin,

- Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur,

- Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai,

- Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai,

- Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir,

- Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua,

- Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah,

- Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub,

- Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek,

- Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,

- Ahiah, Hanan, Anan,

- Malluch, Harim, and Baanah.

The Agreement

28 We, the people of Israel, the priests, the Levites, the Temple guards, the Temple musicians, the Temple workers, and all others who in obedience to God's Law have separated themselves from the foreigners living in our land, we, together with our wives and all our children old enough to understand, 29 do hereby join with our leaders in an oath, under penalty of a curse if we break it, that we will live according to God's Law, which God gave through his servant Moses; that we will obey all that the LORD, our Lord, commands us; and that we will keep all his laws and requirements.

30 We will not intermarry with the foreigners living in our land.

31 If foreigners bring grain or anything else to sell to us on the Sabbath or on any other holy day, we will not buy from them.

Every seventh year we will not farm the land, and we will cancel all debts.

32 Every year we will each contribute one-eighth of an ounce of silver to help pay the expenses of the Temple.

33 We will provide for the Temple worship the following: the sacred bread, the daily grain offering, the animals to be burned each day as sacrifices, the sacred offerings for Sabbaths, New Moon Festivals, and other festivals, the other sacred offerings, the offerings to take away the sins of Israel, and anything else needed for the Temple.

34 We, the people, priests, and Levites, will draw lots each year to determine which clans are to provide wood to burn the sacrifices offered to the LORD our God, according to the requirements of the Law.

35 We will take to the Temple each year an offering of the first grain we harvest and of the first fruit that ripens on our trees.

36 The first son born to each of us we will take to the priests in the Temple and there, as required by the Law, dedicate him to God. We will also dedicate the first calf born to each of our cows, and the first lamb or kid born to each of our sheep or goats.

37 We will take to the priests in the Temple the dough made from the first grain harvested each year and our other offerings of wine, olive oil, and all kinds of fruit.

We will take to the Levites, who collect tithes in our farming villages, the tithes from the crops that grow on our land. 38 Priests who are descended from Aaron are to be with the Levites when tithes are collected, and for use in the Temple the Levites are to take to the Temple storerooms one-tenth of all the tithes they collect. 39 The people of Israel and the Levites are to take the contributions of grain, wine, and olive oil to the storerooms where the utensils for the Temple are kept and where the priests who are on duty, the Temple guards, and the members of the Temple choir have their quarters.

We will not neglect the house of our God.

Footnotes:

1. Nehemiah 8:8 The Law was written in Hebrew, but in Babylonia the Jews had adopted Aramaic as the language for daily life. Because of this a translation was necessary.

2. Nehemiah 8:8 They gave … explained; or They read God's Law and then translated it, explaining.

3. Nehemiah 8:15 Probable text So they … sent them; Hebrew It also ordered that the following instructions be sent

xv-Leviticus 10:1-11The Sin of Nadab and Abihu

10 Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his fire pan, put live coals in it, added incense, and presented it to the LORD. But this fire was not holy, because the LORD had not commanded them to present it. 2 Suddenly the LORD sent fire, and it burned them to death there in the presence of the LORD. 3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD was speaking about when he said, ‘All who serve me must respect my holiness; I will reveal my glory to my people.’”[a] But Aaron remained silent.

4 Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, Aaron's uncle, and said to them, “Come here and carry your cousins' bodies away from the sacred Tent and put them outside the camp.” 5 So they came and took hold of the clothing on the corpses and carried them outside the camp, just as Moses had commanded.

6 Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not leave your hair uncombed or tear your clothes to show that you are in mourning. If you do, you will die, and the LORD will be angry with the whole community. But all other Israelites are allowed to mourn this death caused by the fire which the LORD sent. 7 Do not leave the entrance of the Tent or you will die, because you have been consecrated by the anointing oil of the LORD.” So they did as Moses said.

Rules for Priests

8 The LORD said to Aaron, 9 “You and your sons are not to enter the Tent of my presence after drinking wine or beer; if you do, you will die. This is a law to be kept by all your descendants. 10 You must distinguish between what belongs to God and what is for general use, between what is ritually clean and what is unclean. 11 You must teach the people of Israel all the laws which I have given to you through Moses.”

Footnotes:

1. Leviticus 10:3 I will reveal my glory to my people; or my people must honor me.

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