JUDAH’S KING MANASSEH

21 Manasseha was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.b 2 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight,c imitating the detestable practices of the nations that the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites.d 3 He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyede and reestablished the altars for Baal. He made an Asherah,f as King Ahab of Israel had done;g he also bowed in worship to all the stars in the skyh and served them. 4 He built altars in the Lord’s temple,i where the Lord had said, “Jerusalem is where I will put my name.”j 5 He built altars to all the stars in the skyk in both courtyards of the Lord’s temple.l 6 He sacrificed his son in the fire,A,m practiced witchcraft and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists.n He did a huge amount of evil in the Lord’s sight, angering him.o

7 Manasseh set up the carved image of Asherah, which he made, in the temple that the Lord had spoken about to David and his son Solomon: “I will establish my name forever in this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.p 8 I will never again cause the feet of the Israelites to wander from the land I gave to their ancestors if only they will be careful to do all I have commanded them—the whole law that my servant Moses commanded them.”q 9 But they did not listen; Manasseh caused them to stray so that they did worse evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites.r

10 The Lord said through his servants the prophets, 11 “Since King Manasseh of Judah has committed all these detestable actss—worse evil than the Amoritest who preceded him had done—and by means of his idols has also caused Judah to sin, 12 this is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I am about to bring such a disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that everyone who hears about it will shudder.B,u 13 I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line used on Samaria and the mason’s level used on the house of Ahab,v and I will wipew Jerusalem clean as one wipes a bowl—wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 I will abandon the remnantx of my inheritance and hand them over to their enemies. They will become plunder and spoil to all their enemies, 15 because they have done what is evil in my sight and have angered me from the day their ancestors came out of Egypt until today.’ ”y

16 Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem with it from one end to another.z This was in addition to his sin that he caused Judah to commit, so that they did what was evil in the Lord’s sight.

MANASSEH’S DEATH

17 The restaa of the events of Manasseh’s reign, along with all his accomplishments and the sin that he committed, are written in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings.ab 18 Manasseh rested with his ancestors and was buried in the garden of his own house, the garden of Uzza. His son Amon became king in his place.

JUDAH’S KING AMON

19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king,ac and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz; she was from Jotbah. 20 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, just as his father Manasseh had done.ad 21 He walked in all the ways his father had walked; he served the idols his father had served, and he bowed in worship to them.ae 22 He abandoned the Lord God of his ancestorsaf and did not walk in the ways of the Lord.ag

23 Amon’s servants conspired against him and put the king to death in his own house.ah 24 The common peopleA killedai all who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiahaj king in his place.

25 The rest of the events of Amon’s reign, along with his accomplishments, are written in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings. 26 He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah became king in his place.

JUDAH’S KING JOSIAH

22 Josiahak was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath.al 2 He did what was right in the Lord’s sight and walked in all the ways of his ancestor David;am he did not turn to the right or the left.an

JOSIAH REPAIRS THE TEMPLE

3 In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent the court secretary Shaphan son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, to the Lord’s temple,a saying, 4 “Go up to the high priest Hilkiah so that he may total up the silver brought into the Lord’s temple—the silver the doorkeepers have collected from the people.b 5 It is to be given to those doing the work—those who oversee the Lord’s temple. They in turn are to give it to the workmen in the Lord’s temple to repair the damage.c 6 They are to give it to the carpenters, builders, and masons to buy timber and quarried stone to repair the temple.d 7 But no accounting is to be required from them for the silver given to them since they work with integrity.”e

THE BOOK OF THE LAW FOUND

8 The high priest Hilkiah told the court secretary Shaphan, “I have found the book of the lawf in the Lord’s temple,” and he gave the book to Shaphan, who read it.

9 Then the court secretary Shaphan went to the king and reported,B “Your servants have emptied out the silver that was found in the temple and have given it to those doing the work—those who oversee the Lord’s temple.” 10 Then the court secretary Shaphan told the king, “The priest Hilkiah has given me a book,” and Shaphan read it in the presence of the king.g

11 When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes.h 12 Then he commanded the priest Hilkiah, Ahikami son of Shaphan, Achborj son of Micaiah, the court secretary Shaphan, and the king’s servant Asaiah, 13 “Go and inquire of the Lord for me, for the people, and for all Judah about the words in this book that has been found. For great is the Lord’s wrath that is kindled against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this book in order to do everything written about us.”k

HULDAH’S PROPHECY OF JUDGMENT

14 Sol the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the prophetessm Huldah, wife of Shallum son of Tikvah,n son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem in the Second District.o They spoke with her.

15 She said to them, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: Say to the man who sent you to me, 16 ‘This is what the Lord says: I am about to bring disaster on this place and on its inhabitants, fulfillingA all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read,p 17 because they have abandoned me and burned incense to other gods in order to anger me with all the work of their hands. My wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched.’q 18 Say this to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord: ‘This is what the Lord God of Israel says: As for the words that you heard,r 19 because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the Lords when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse,t and because you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I myself have heard’—this is the Lord’s declaration. 20 ‘Therefore, I will indeed gather you to your ancestors, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace.u Your eyes will not see all the disaster that I am bringing on this place.’ ”

Then they reportedB to the king.

COVENANT RENEWAL

23 So the king sent messengers,v and they gathered all the eldersw of Judah and Jerusalem to him. 2 Then the king went to the Lord’s temple with all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as well as the priests and the prophets—all the people from the youngest to the oldest. He read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenantx that had been found in the Lord’s temple.y 3 Next, the king stood by the pillar* z and made a covenantaa in the Lord’s presence to follow the Lord and to keep his commands, his decrees, and his statutes with all his heart and with all his soulab in order to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book; all the people agreed toD the covenant.ac

JOSIAH’S REFORMS

4 Then the king commanded the high priest Hilkiahad and the priests of the second rankae and the doorkeepers to bring out of the Lord’s sanctuary all the articles made for Baal, Asherah, and all the stars in the sky.af He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel.ag 5 Then he did away with the idolatrous priests the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense at the high placesa in the cities of Judah and in the areas surrounding Jerusalem. They had burned incense to Baal, and to the sun, moon, constellations, and all the stars in the sky.b 6 He brought out the Asherah polec from the Lord’s temple to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem. He burned it at the Kidron Valley,d beat it to dust,e and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.E,f 7 He also tore down the houses of the male cult prostitutesg that were in the Lord’s temple, in which the women were weaving tapestriesF for Asherah.h

8 Then Josiah brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and he defiled the high placesi from Gebaj to Beer-sheba,k where the priests had burned incense. He tore down the high places of the city gates at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city (on the left at the city gate). 9 The priests of the high places, however, did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem; instead, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.l

10 He defiled Topheth,m which is in Ben Hinnon Valley,n so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter in the fireA,o to Molech.p 11 He did away with the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They had been at the entrance of the Lord’s temple in the precincts by the chamber of Nathan-melech, the eunuch. He also burned the chariots of the sun.q

12 The king tore down the altars that the kings of Judah had made on the roofr of Ahaz’s upper chamber.s He also tore down the altars that Manasseh had madet in the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple. Then he smashed themB there and threw their dust into the Kidron Valley. 13 The king also defiled the high places that were across from Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Destruction, which King Solomon of Israel had built for Ashtoreth, the abhorrent idol of the Sidonians; for Chemosh, the abhorrent idol of Moab; and for Milcom, the detestable idol of the Ammonites.u 14 He broke the sacred pillars into pieces,v cut down the Asherah poles,w then filled their places with human bones.

15 He even tore down the altar at Bethelx and the high placey that had been made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. He burned the high place, crushed it to dust, and burned the Asherah.z 16 As Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mountain. He sent someone to take the bones out of the tombs, and he burned them on the altar.aa He defiled it according to the word of the Lord proclaimed by the man of GodC who proclaimed these things.ab 17 Then he said, “What is this monument I see?”

The men of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things that you have done to the altar at Bethel.”ac

18 So he said, “Let him rest. Don’t let anyone disturb his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria.ad

19 Josiah also removed all the shrines of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to anger the Lord.ae Josiah did the same things to them that he had done at Bethel. 20 He slaughtered on the altars all the priests of those high places,af and he burned human bones on the altars.ag Then he returned to Jerusalem.

PASSOVER OBSERVED

21 The king commanded all the people, “Observe the Passover of the Lord your God as written in the book of the covenant.”ah 22 No such Passover had ever been observed from the time of the judges who judged Israel through the entire time of the kings of Israel and Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the Lord’s Passover was observed in Jerusalem.ai

FURTHER ZEAL FOR THE LORD

24 In addition, Josiah eradicated the mediums, the spiritists,aj household idols,ak images, and all the abhorrent thingsal that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. He did this in order to carry out the words of the law that were written in the book that the priest Hilkiah found in the Lord’s temple.am 25 Before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strengthan according to all the law of Moses, and no one like him arose after him.ao

26 In spite of all that, the Lord did not turn from the fury of his intense burning anger, which burned against Judah because of all the affronts with which Manasseh had angered him.a 27 For the Lord had said, “I will also remove Judah from my presence just as I have removed Israel.b I will reject this city Jerusalem, that I have chosen, and the temple about which I said, ‘My name will be there.’ ”c

JOSIAH’S DEATH

28 The rest of the events of Josiah’s reign,d along with all his accomplishments, are written in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings. 29 During his reign, Pharaoh Neco king of Egypte marched up to help the king of Assyria at the Euphrates River. King Josiah went to confront him, and at Megiddof when Neco saw him he killed him. 30 From Megiddo his servants carried his dead body in a chariot, brought him into Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb.g Then the common people* took Jehoahaz son of Josiah, anointed him, and made him king in place of his father.h

JUDAH’S KING JEHOAHAZ

31 Jehoahazi wasj twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutalk daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. 32 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight just as his ancestors had done.l 33 Pharaoh Neco imprisoned him at Riblahm in the land of Hamathn to keep him from reigning in Jerusalem, and he imposed on the land a fine of seventy-five hundred poundsB of silver and seventy-five poundsC of gold.

JUDAH’S KING JEHOIAKIM

34 Theno Pharaoh Neco made Eliakimp son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim.q But Neco took Jehoahaz and went to Egypt, and he died there.r 35 So Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but at Pharaoh’s command he taxed the land to give it. He exacted the silver and the gold from the common people, each according to his assessment,s to give it to Pharaoh Neco.

36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah; she was from Rumah. 37 He did what was evilt in the Lord’s sight just as his ancestors had done.

JEHOIAKIM’S REBELLION AND DEATH

24 Duringu Jehoiakim’s reign,v King Nebuchadnezzarw of Babylonx attacked.y Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years, and then he turned and rebelled against him. 2 The Lord sent Chaldean, Aramean,z Moabite,aa and Ammonite raiders against Jehoiakim. He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord he had spoken through his servants the prophets.ab 3 Indeed, this happened to Judah at the Lord’s command to remove them from his presence.ac It was because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all he had done,ad 4 and also because of all the innocent blood he had shed. He had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood,ae and the Lord was not willing to forgive.

5 The rest of the events of Jehoiakim’s reign, along with all his accomplishments, are written in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings.af 6 Jehoiakim rested with his ancestors, and his son Jehoiachin became king in his place.ag

7 Now the king of Egypt did not march out of his land again,ah for the king of Babylon took everything that had belonged to the king of Egypt,ai from the Brook of Egypt to the Euphrates River.aj

JUDAH’S KING JEHOIACHIN

8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan; she was from Jerusalem.ak 9 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight just as his father had done.

DEPORTATIONS TO BABYLON

10 At that timeal the servants of King Nebuchadnezzaram of Babylon marched up to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege. 11 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it. 12 King Jehoiachin of Judah, along with his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials,A surrendered to the king of Babylon.an

So the king of Babylon took him captive in the eighth year of his reign. 13 He also carried off from there all the treasures of the Lord’s temple and the treasures of the king’s palace, and he cut into pieces all the gold articles that King Solomon of Israel had madeao for the Lord’s sanctuary, just as the Lord had predicted.a 14 He deported all Jerusalem and all the commanders and all the best soldiersb—ten thousand captivesc including all the craftsmen and metalsmiths.d Except for the poorest people of the land,e no one remained.

15 Nebuchadnezzar deported Jehoiachin to Babylon. He took the king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officials, and the leading men of the land into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.f 16 The king of Babylon brought captive into Babylon all seven thousand of the best soldiers and one thousand craftsmen and metalsmiths—all strong and fit for war. 17 And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’sB uncle, king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah.g

JUDAH’S KING ZEDEKIAH

18 Zedekiahh was twenty-one years old when he became king,i and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutalj daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. 19 Zedekiah did what was evil in the Lord’s sight just as Jehoiakim had done.k 20 Because of the Lord’s anger,l it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he finally banished them from his presence.m Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.n

NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S SIEGE OF JERUSALEM

25 In the ninth yearo of Zedekiah’s reign,p on the tenth day of the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army.q They laid siege to the city and built a siege wall against it all around.r 2 The city was under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year.

3 By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that the common people had no food.s 4 Then the city was broken into,t and all the warriors fledu at night by way of the city gate between the two walls near the king’s garden,v even though the Chaldeans surrounded the city. As the king made his way along the route to the Arabah,w 5 the Chaldean army pursued him and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. Zedekiah’s entire army left him and scattered.x 6 The Chaldeans seized the kingy and brought him up to the king of Babylonz at Riblah,aa and they passed sentence on him. 7 They slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes. Finally, the king of Babylon blinded Zedekiah, bound him in bronze chains, and took him to Babylon.ab

JERUSALEM DESTROYED

8 Onac the seventh day of the fifth month—which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guards, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem.ad 9 He burned the Lord’s temple,ae the king’s palace,af and all the houses of Jerusalem; he burned downag all the great houses. 10 The whole Chaldean army with the captain of the guards tore down the wallsah surrounding Jerusalem. 11 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guards, deported the rest of the people who remained in the city, the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the population.ai 12 But the captain of the guards left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.aj

13 Nowak the Chaldeans broke into pieces the bronze pillarsal of the Lord’s temple, the water carts, and the bronze basin,A,am which were in the Lord’s temple, and carried the bronze to Babylon.an 14 They also took the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, dishes, and all the bronze articles used in the priests’ service.ao 15 The captain of the guards took away the firepans and sprinkling basins—whatever was gold or silver.ap

16 As for the two pillars, the one basin, and the water carts that Solomon had made for the Lord’s temple, the weight of the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure.aq 17 One pillar was twenty-seven feetB tall and had a bronze capital on top of it. The capital, encircled by a grating and pomegranates of bronze, stood five feetA high. The second pillar was the same, with its own grating.ar

18 The captain of the guardsas also took away Seraiahat the chief priest, Zephaniahau the priest of the second rank, and the three doorkeepers. 19 From the city he took a court officialB who had been appointed over the warriors; five trusted royal aidesC,av found in the city; the secretary of the commander of the army, who enlisted the people of the land for military duty; and sixty men from the common peopleD who were found within the city. 20 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guards, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.a 21 The king of Babylon put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah went into exile from its land.b

GEDALIAH MADE GOVERNOR

22 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon appointed Gedaliahc son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, over the rest of the people he left in the land of Judah.d 23 When all the commanders of the armies—they and their men—heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah.e The commanders included Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite—they and their men.f 24 Gedaliah swore an oath to them and their men, assuring them, “Don’t be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well for you.”g

25 In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down Gedaliah, and he died. Also, they killed the Judeans and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.h 26 Then all the people, from the youngest to the oldest, and the commanders of the army, left and went to Egypt, for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.i

JEHOIACHIN PARDONED

27 Onj the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Judah’s King Jehoiachin, in the year Evil-merodach became king of Babylon, he pardoned King Jehoiachink of Judah and released himE from prison.l 28 He spoke kindlym to him and set his throne over the thrones of the kings who were with him in Babylon.n 29 So Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes, and he dined regularly in the presence of the king of Babylon for the rest of his life.o 30 As for his allowance, a regular allowancep was given to him by the king, a portion for each day, for the rest of his life.