Josiah in the Bible

Meaning: the Lord burns; the fire of the Lord

Exact Match

And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, 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.

Verse ConceptsDivine ManifestationsSanctity Of LifeBirths ForetoldDuplicating WordsBonesBurning Idolatrous ThingsMan Of God

And the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.

Verse ConceptsTrapKings Of All Israel Or Judah

Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath.

Verse Concepts30 To 40 YearsAge When CrownedMothers Of KingsGrandmothers

And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of the LORD, saying,

Shaphan the scribe reported to King Josiah, brought up the matter to him, and told him, "Your servants have distributed the money that was found in the Temple by giving it to the workmen who supervise the LORD's Temple."

Verse ConceptsWages

“Therefore, behold, [King Josiah,] I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be taken to your grave in peace, and your eyes will not see all the evil (catastrophe) which I will bring on this place.”’” So they brought back word to the king. Cross references: 2 Kings 22:4 : 2 Kin 12:4 end of crossrefs

Verse ConceptsDeath In PeaceGathered To One's People

King Josiah sent word and they brought to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.

Verse Conceptselders, as community leadersAssembling LeadersThe Elders Gathered

Josiah brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord to the Brook Kidron outside Jerusalem, and burned it there, and ground it to dust, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people [who had sacrificed to it].

Verse ConceptsTombsBurning Idolatrous Things

Then Josiah brought all the [idolatrous] priests from the cities of Judah, and desecrated the high places where the priests had burned incense [to idols], from Geba to Beersheba, [that is, north to south]; and he tore down the high places of the gates which were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one’s left at the city gate.

Verse ConceptsGatesGovernorsHigh Places

Josiah also defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of Ben-hinnom (son of Hinnom), so that no man could make his son or his daughter pass through the fire [as a burnt offering] for Molech.

Verse ConceptsFalse GodsChild sacrificeHuman SacrificesPolluting The Landdrums

Moreover, the altar which [was] in Bethel, the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin, had built, even that altar and the high place, [Josiah] tore down. Then he burned down the high place and crushed [the] pole of Asherah worship to dust and burned it with fire.

Verse ConceptsGrindingAltars, Pagan

And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, 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.

Verse ConceptsTombsWord Of GodBonesBurning Idolatrous Things

Then Josiah said, “What is this monument (gravestone) that I see?” The men of the city told him, “It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done to the altar of Bethel.”

Verse ConceptsBurial Of Unnamed People

So Josiah said, "Let him rest and let no man move his bones." So they left his bones undisturbed with the bones of the prophet who had come from Samaria.

Verse ConceptsUnnamed Prophets Of The Lord

And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the LORD to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel.

Verse ConceptsSamaritansreuniting

But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to the LORD in Jerusalem.

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.

Verse ConceptsAbolitionHousehold GodsMediumsSpiritismFortunetellingSpiritism AvoidedAbandoning IdolsThe Law Given To IsraelOccultismwitchespsychics

Before him there was no king like Josiah who turned to the Lord with all his heart and all his soul and all his might, in accordance with all the Law of Moses; nor did anyone like him arise after him.

Verse ConceptsCommitment, to GodConsecration, Examples OfWhole HeartednessUnique IndividualsTaking The Law To HeartGuidance And Strength

Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

Verse ConceptsHistorical Booksaccomplishments

In his days Pharaohnechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he slew him at Megiddo, when he had seen him.

Verse ConceptsKingsRivers And StreamsKilling KingsRiver Euphrates

And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's stead.

Verse ConceptsProphecy, Fulfilment Of OtAnointing KingsCorpses Of Other PeopleKings Of All Israel Or Judah

The people of the land took Josiah's son Jehoahaz, anointed him, and installed him as king in his father's place. Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king. He reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal. She was the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

Verse ConceptsTwo To Four MonthsAge When CrownedMothers Of Kings

And Pharaohnechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away: and he came to Egypt, and died there.

Verse ConceptsKings ExiledPeople Renaming PeopleKings Of All Israel Or Judah

And the sons of Josiah were, the firstborn Johanan, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum.

Verse ConceptsFirstborn Sons

But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.

Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years.

Verse Concepts30 To 40 YearsKings of judahteenager

In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still a youth, Josiah began to seek the God of his ancestor David, and in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherah poles, the carved images, and the cast images.

Verse ConceptsChildren, Good Examples OfPurgingYouthful Devotionteenager

Then Josiah burned the bones of the [pagan] priests on their altars and purged and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.

Verse ConceptsBonesBurning People

In the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign, when he had purged the land and the [Lord’s] house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder (secretary), to repair the house of the Lord his God.

Verse ConceptsPurification

But you shall say the following to King Josiah of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord: ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel, concerning the words which you have heard,

And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the LORD their God. And all his days they departed not from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.

Verse ConceptsAbolitionReformation

Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the LORD in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

Verse ConceptsYearsThe Number Fourteen

And Josiah gave to the people, of the flock, lambs and kids, all for the passover offerings, for all that were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bullocks: these were of the king's substance.

Verse ConceptsThree Thousand And UpThirty Thousand And Up

So all the service of the LORD was prepared the same day, to keep the passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of the LORD, according to the commandment of king Josiah.

Verse ConceptsThe Altar Of The Lord

And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover kept.

After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates: and Josiah went out against him.

Verse ConceptsempiresRivers And StreamsRiver Euphrates

But Neco sent messengers to Josiah, saying, “What business do we have with each other, O King of Judah? I am not coming against you today, but against the house with which I am at war, and God has ordered me to hurry. Stop for your own sake from interfering with God who is with me, so that He will not destroy you.”

Verse ConceptsConfrontationResistanceHasteWhat Have We In Common?

Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.

And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded.

Verse ConceptsArchers, Men Shot By

His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations.

Verse ConceptsBereavement, Expression OfLamentingSongsTraditionsWritingBooksMournersanniversary

Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his goodness, according to that which was written in the law of the LORD,

Verse ConceptsFaithfulness, Examples OfLoyalty

Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father's stead in Jerusalem.

To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.

Verse ConceptsLordship, Human And DivineProphecy, Inspiration Of OtTimes Of People

It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.

Verse ConceptsMonth 5Exile Of Judah To BabylonYears Of ZedekiahTimes Of People

The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.

Verse ConceptsLicentiousnessSpiritual HarlotryHarlotsWantonnessSacrificing On The High PlacesTimes Of PeopleWorship At Trees

Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with her whole heart, but rather in [blatant] deception [she merely pretended obedience to King Josiah’s reforms],” declares the Lord.

Verse ConceptsNot Whole HeartedPretenceRepentance, Nature OfHalf HeartednessNot Returning To GodRelated Nations

For thus saith the LORD touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more:

Verse ConceptsNo return from exileKings Of All Israel Or JudahKings of judah


“Do you think that you become a king because you have much more cedar [in your palace than Solomon]?
Did not your father [Josiah], as he ate and drank,
Do just and righteous acts [being upright and in right standing with God]?
Then all was well with him.

Verse ConceptsCedar WoodEating And DrinkingUnsuitable Rule

Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!

Verse ConceptsNot Mourning

The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon;

Verse ConceptsKings of judah

From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the LORD hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.

Verse ConceptsListeningWord Of God20 To 30 YearsThose Who Rose EarlySaying Repeatedly

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word from the LORD, saying,

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

Verse ConceptsYears Of Zedekiah

The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,

Verse ConceptsTimes Of People

And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day.

Verse ConceptsCommunicationBooksScrollsBooks Of ProphecyInspiration

And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the LORD to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people that came from the cities of Judah unto Jerusalem.

Verse ConceptsFasting, Nature OfRepentance, Examples OfMonth 9Fasting

And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah.

Verse ConceptsMaking KingsKings Of All Israel Or JudahKings of judah

The word that Jeremiah the prophet spake unto Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,

Verse ConceptsProphecy, Methods Of OtBooks Of Prophecy

Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaohnecho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah.

The word of the LORD which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.

Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah;

Verse ConceptsReturn From BabylonThose who returned from exile

In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of [the city of] Hadadrimmon in the Valley of Megiddo [over beloved King Josiah].

Verse ConceptsMegiddoMourning Due To Catastropheanniversary

Thematic Bible



Because thine heart did melt and thou meekedest thyself before me, the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place and the inhabiters of the same, how that it should be destroyed and made accursed: and tearest thy clothes and weepest before me: of that also I have heard sayeth the LORD.


And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the inferior priests and the keepers of the door, to bring out of the temple of the LORD, all the vessels that were made for Baal and for the grove and for all the host of heaven. And he burnt them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and carried the ashes of them into Bethel.


And the altars that were on the top of the parlour of Ahaz which the king of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, the king brake down, and ran thence and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.

And he brought out the grove from the temple of the LORD without Jerusalem unto the brook Kidron, and stamped it to powder, and cast the dust thereof upon the graves of people of the country.


Josiah was made king when he was eight years old, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty one years. And he did that pleased the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, bowing neither to the righthand nor to the left. Insomuch that the eighth year of his reign, when he was yet a lad, he began to seek after the God of David his father. And in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of hill altars, groves, carved Images, and Images of metal:


Because thine heart did melt and thou meekedest thyself before me, the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place and the inhabiters of the same, how that it should be destroyed and made accursed: and tearest thy clothes and weepest before me: of that also I have heard sayeth the LORD.


And the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the LORD that they should walk after the LORD, and keep his commandments and his witnesses and his ordinances with all their hearts and all their souls, and make good the words of the said covenant that were written in the foresaid book. And all the people consented to the covenant.


Because thine heart did melt and thou meekedest thyself before me, the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place and the inhabiters of the same, how that it should be destroyed and made accursed: and tearest thy clothes and weepest before me: of that also I have heard sayeth the LORD.


Insomuch that the eighth year of his reign, when he was yet a lad, he began to seek after the God of David his father. And in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of hill altars, groves, carved Images, and Images of metal:

and brake the images and cut down the groves and filled the places with the bones of men.

And in the wildernesses of them round about he plucked asunder the altars and the groves and did beat them and stamp them to powder, and beat down the idols throughout all the land of Israel: and then returned to Jerusalem again.

Insomuch that the eighth year of his reign, when he was yet a lad, he began to seek after the God of David his father. And in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of hill altars, groves, carved Images, and Images of metal: so that they brake down the altars of Baals even in his presence, and the Idols that were upon them he caused to be destroyed. And the groves, carved Images, and Images of metal he brake and made dust of them, and strawed it upon the graves of them that had offered to them.


Insomuch that the eighth year of his reign, when he was yet a lad, he began to seek after the God of David his father. And in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of hill altars, groves, carved Images, and Images of metal:

And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the hill altars where the priests did burn sacrifice, even from Geba to Beersheba. And he brake down the hill altars of the Gates, that were in the entering of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on the left hand of the gate of the city.


Because thine heart did melt and thou didst meek thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place and against the inhabiters thereof, and humblest thyself before me, and tarest thy clothes and weepest before me, that have I heard also, sayeth the LORD.


Because thine heart did melt and thou didst meek thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place and against the inhabiters thereof, and humblest thyself before me, and tarest thy clothes and weepest before me, that have I heard also, sayeth the LORD.


Because thine heart did melt and thou didst meek thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place and against the inhabiters thereof, and humblest thyself before me, and tarest thy clothes and weepest before me, that have I heard also, sayeth the LORD.


Because thine heart did melt and thou didst meek thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place and against the inhabiters thereof, and humblest thyself before me, and tarest thy clothes and weepest before me, that have I heard also, sayeth the LORD.


And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the inferior priests and the keepers of the door, to bring out of the temple of the LORD, all the vessels that were made for Baal and for the grove and for all the host of heaven. And he burnt them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and carried the ashes of them into Bethel. And he put down the Chemarims which the kings of Judah had set to burn offerings in the hill altars in the cities of Judah round about Jerusalem and also them that burnt sacrifices unto Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven. And he brought out the grove from the temple of the LORD without Jerusalem unto the brook Kidron, and stamped it to powder, and cast the dust thereof upon the graves of people of the country. read more.
And he brake down the cells of the male whores that were in the house of the LORD, where the women wove little houses for the grove. And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the hill altars where the priests did burn sacrifice, even from Geba to Beersheba. And he brake down the hill altars of the Gates, that were in the entering of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on the left hand of the gate of the city. Nevertheless, the priests of the hill altars came not up at the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, save only they did eat of the sweet bread among their brethren. And he defiled Tophet also, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, because no man should offer his son or his daughter in fire to Moloch. He put down the horses that the kings of Israel had given to the son at the entering of the house of the LORD, in the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain which was the ruler of the suburbs, and burnt the chariots of the sun with fire. And the altars that were on the top of the parlour of Ahaz which the king of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, the king brake down, and ran thence and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. And the hill altars that were before Jerusalem on the righthand of the mount Nashith, which Solomon king of Israel built to Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians and to Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and to Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, the king defiled: and brake the images and cut down the groves and filled the places with the bones of men. Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, the hill altar made by Jeroboam the son of Nebat which made Israel sin - both the altar and also the hill - he brake down and burnt the hill and stamped it to powder, and burnt the grove. And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the graves that were in the mount and sent and fetched the bones out of the graves and burnt them upon the altar and polluted it according to the word of the LORD that the man of God had proclaimed, which openly had denounced the same things. Then the king said, "What meaneth yonder grave stone that I see?" And the men of the city told him, "It is the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Judah and openly denounced the selfsame things that thou hast done to the altar of Bethel." And he said, "Let him be: see that no man move his bones." And so his bones escaped with the bones of a Prophet that came out of Samaria. And thereto all the houses of the hill altars of the cities of Samaria which the kings of Israel had made, to anger withal, Josiah put out of the way and did to them in all points as he did in Bethel. And he sacrificed all the priests of the hill altars that were there, even upon the altars, and burnt men's bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.


And he put down the Chemarims which the kings of Judah had set to burn offerings in the hill altars in the cities of Judah round about Jerusalem and also them that burnt sacrifices unto Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.



Nebuzaradan the chief Marshal carried away, and left of the poor of the land to dress the vines and to till the ground.

And over the people that remained in the land of Judah, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon left, he set Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan. And when all the captains of the men of war and the men heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, there came to Gedaliah to Mizphah: Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite and Jaazaniah the son of Maachathi and their men.

But Nebuzaradan the chief captain let the rascal people, and those that had nothing, dwell still in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and corn fields at the same time.

Now when the captains of the Host of Judah, which with their fellows were scattered abroad on every side in the land, understood that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and that man, wife and child, yea and the poor men in the land that were not led captive to Babylon should be under his Jurisdiction: They came to Gedaliah unto Mizphah: Namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathah the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of Maachathi, with their companions. And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, swore unto them and their fellows on this manner, "Be not afraid to serve the Chaldeans; dwell in the land, and do the king of Babylon service, so shall ye prosper. read more.
Behold, I dwell at Mizphah to be an officer on the Chaldeans' behalf, and to satisfy such as come to us. Therefore gather you wine, corn and oil, and keep them in your warehouses, and dwell in your cities that ye have in keeping." Yea all the Jews also that dwelt in Moab, under the Ammonites, in Idumaea and in all the countries, when they heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan governor upon them that were left in Judah: All the Jews, I say, returned out of all places where they were fled unto: and came in to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah unto Mizphah, and gathered wine and other fruits, and that very much.

But the poor people of the country did Nebuzaradan the chief Captain leave in the land, to occupy the vineyards and fields.


And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, his father's brother, king in his stead, and changed his name and called him Zedekiah. Zedekiah was twenty one years old when he began to reign and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, in all points like to Jehoiakim. read more.
For through the wrath of the LORD it so chanced to Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out of his sight. And the said Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

And Zedekiah was twenty one years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And he did that displeased the LORD his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet at the mouth of the LORD. And thereto he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar which had received an oath of him by God, and was too stiff necked and too hard hearted to turn unto the LORD God of Israel. read more.
Thereto, all the rulers of the priests with the people trespassed apace after all manner of abominations of the heathen, and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, sending them betimes: for he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God and despised their words and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD so arose against his people that it was past remedy. And so he brought upon them the king of Chaldeans and slew their young men with the sword in their holy temple, and neither spared young man nor maiden, neither old man, neither so much as him that stooped for age: But gave all into his hand. And all the vessels of the house of God both great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king and his lords he carried to Babylon, every whit. And they burnt the house of God and brake down the walls of Jerusalem and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire with all the goodly stuff thereof, and marred it. And he carried away them that had escaped the sword to Babylon, where they were servants to him and his children, until the kingdom of Persia began to rule; to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had her pleasure of her Sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate, she kept Sabbath until she had fulfilled seventy years.


And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah and was forty one years old when he began to reign, and reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. His mother's name was Naamah an Ammonite. And Judah wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD and angered him above all that their fathers did, with their sin which they sinned. For they also made them hill altars and images and groves on every high hill and under every green tree. read more.
And thereto there was a stews of male children in the land, and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel. And the fifth year of king Rehoboam came Shishak king of Egypt up to Jerusalem, and took away the treasure of the house of the LORD, and the treasure of the king's house and all that was to be had. And he took away the shields of gold which Solomon made. In whose stead, king Rehoboam made brazen shields and put them in the keeping of the captains of the guard which waited at the door of the king's house. And as oft as the king went in to the house of the LORD, they of his guard bare them, and ever brought them again into the guard chamber. The rest of the acts of king Rehoboam and all he did, are written in the book of Acts of the kings of Judah. And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their lives. And Rehoboam laid him to rest with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonite. And Abijam his son reigned in his room.


And then the king sent and gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabiters of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the Prophets and all the people both small and great. And he read in the ears of them all the words of the book of the covenant, which was found in the house of the LORD. And the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the LORD that they should walk after the LORD, and keep his commandments and his witnesses and his ordinances with all their hearts and all their souls, and make good the words of the said covenant that were written in the foresaid book. And all the people consented to the covenant. read more.
And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the inferior priests and the keepers of the door, to bring out of the temple of the LORD, all the vessels that were made for Baal and for the grove and for all the host of heaven. And he burnt them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and carried the ashes of them into Bethel. And he put down the Chemarims which the kings of Judah had set to burn offerings in the hill altars in the cities of Judah round about Jerusalem and also them that burnt sacrifices unto Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven. And he brought out the grove from the temple of the LORD without Jerusalem unto the brook Kidron, and stamped it to powder, and cast the dust thereof upon the graves of people of the country. And he brake down the cells of the male whores that were in the house of the LORD, where the women wove little houses for the grove. And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the hill altars where the priests did burn sacrifice, even from Geba to Beersheba. And he brake down the hill altars of the Gates, that were in the entering of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on the left hand of the gate of the city. Nevertheless, the priests of the hill altars came not up at the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, save only they did eat of the sweet bread among their brethren. And he defiled Tophet also, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, because no man should offer his son or his daughter in fire to Moloch. He put down the horses that the kings of Israel had given to the son at the entering of the house of the LORD, in the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain which was the ruler of the suburbs, and burnt the chariots of the sun with fire. And the altars that were on the top of the parlour of Ahaz which the king of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, the king brake down, and ran thence and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. And the hill altars that were before Jerusalem on the righthand of the mount Nashith, which Solomon king of Israel built to Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians and to Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and to Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, the king defiled: and brake the images and cut down the groves and filled the places with the bones of men. Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, the hill altar made by Jeroboam the son of Nebat which made Israel sin - both the altar and also the hill - he brake down and burnt the hill and stamped it to powder, and burnt the grove. And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the graves that were in the mount and sent and fetched the bones out of the graves and burnt them upon the altar and polluted it according to the word of the LORD that the man of God had proclaimed, which openly had denounced the same things. Then the king said, "What meaneth yonder grave stone that I see?" And the men of the city told him, "It is the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Judah and openly denounced the selfsame things that thou hast done to the altar of Bethel." And he said, "Let him be: see that no man move his bones." And so his bones escaped with the bones of a Prophet that came out of Samaria. And thereto all the houses of the hill altars of the cities of Samaria which the kings of Israel had made, to anger withal, Josiah put out of the way and did to them in all points as he did in Bethel. And he sacrificed all the priests of the hill altars that were there, even upon the altars, and burnt men's bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem. And the king commanded all the people, saying, "Keep the feast of passover unto the LORD your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant." For there was no passover held like that from the days of the judges that judged Israel, and throughout all the days of the kings of Israel and of Judah. And in the eighteenth year of king Josiah was this passover holden to the LORD in Jerusalem. And thereto workers with spirits, soothsayers, Images of witchcraft, idols and all other abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, Josiah put out of the way to make good the words of the law, which were written in the book that Helkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD. Like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any such. Notwithstanding, the LORD turned not from his fierce and great wrath wherewith he was angry against Judah upon all the provocations that Manasseh provoked him. But the LORD said, "I will put Judah, too, out of my sight, as I have done Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I have said, 'My name shall be there.'" The rest of the deeds of Josiah and all he did are written in the book of the Stories of the Kings of Judah. In his days, Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went against the king of Assyria to the river of Euphrates. And king Josiah went against him, and was slain of him at Megiddo when he had seen him. And his servants carried him dead from Megiddo and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in his father's room.


Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty one years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath.

But the people of the land slew all that conspired against king Amon, and made Josiah his son king in his room. The rest of the acts of Amon which he did are written in the Chronicle of the Kings of Judah. And they buried him in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.

And Amon was his son, and Josiah was son to him.

And the people of the land slew all that had conspired against king Amon. And thereto the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his room.


After all this, when Josiah had finished the temple, Neco king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish upon Euphrates, and Josiah went out against him. And the other sent messengers to him, saying, "What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I came not against thee now at this time, but against a house with whom I have war, and God bade me haste. Leave off therefore and meddle not with God, which is with me, lest he destroy thee." Nevertheless, Josiah turned not his face from him, but made him ready to fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Neco out of the mouth of God. And when he was come to fight in the valley of Megiddo, read more.
the shooters shot against the king Josiah. And the king said to his servants, "Carry me away for I am sore hurt." And his servants had him out of the chariot and put him in another, and brought him to Jerusalem where he died and was buried in the sepulchre of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

In his days, Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went against the king of Assyria to the river of Euphrates. And king Josiah went against him, and was slain of him at Megiddo when he had seen him. And his servants carried him dead from Megiddo and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in his father's room.


And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, "I have found the book of the law in the temple of the LORD." And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. And then Shaphan the scribe went to the king and brought him word again, and said, "Thy servants poured out the silver that was found in the temple, and have delivered it unto the workmen that have the oversight of the house of the LORD." Furthermore Shaphan the scribe showed the king saying, "Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me here a book." And Shaphan read it before the king. read more.
And the king, as soon as he had heard the words of the book of the law, he rent his clothes and commanded Hilkiah the priest and Ahikam the son of Shaphan and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king's, saying, "Go ye and seek of the LORD for me, and the people, and for all Judah; concerning the words of this book that is found. For it is a great wrath of the LORD that is kindled upon us, that our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do in all points as it is written therein." And Hilkiah the high priest and Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went unto Huldah the Prophetess, wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah the son of Harahas keeper of the robes - which Prophetess dwelt in Jerusalem in the second ward - and communed with her. And she said to them, "Thus sayeth the LORD God of Israel: 'Tell the man that sent you to me, thus sayeth the LORD: behold I will bring evil upon this place and on the dwellers therein - even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read - because they have forsaken me and have burnt offerings unto other gods, to anger me with all the works of their hands. Therefore is my wrath kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched. But to the king of Judah which sent you to enquire of the LORD, so shall ye say: thus sayeth the LORD God of Israel, as touching the words which thou heardest. Because thine heart did melt and thou meekedest thyself before me, the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place and the inhabiters of the same, how that it should be destroyed and made accursed: and tearest thy clothes and weepest before me: of that also I have heard sayeth the LORD. And therefore, see, I will receive ye unto thy fathers and will fetch thee unto thy grave in peace, thine eyes shall see none of the evil which I will bring upon this place." And they brought the king word again.

And as they brought out the money that was brought into the house, Hilkiah the priest found the book of the law of the LORD given by Moses. And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, "I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD," and gave the book to Shaphan. And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word again, saying, "All that was committed to thy servants, that do they: read more.
And they have poured out the money that was found in the house of the LORD and have delivered into the hands of the overseers of the workmen." And then Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, "Hilkiah the priest hath given me a book." And he read it before the king. And when the king had heard the words of the law, he tare his clothes, and commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and the said Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah, a servant of the king's, saying, "Go and enquire of the LORD for me and for them that are left in Israel and Judah concerning the words of the book that is found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that is fallen upon us, because our fathers kept not the word of the LORD, to do after all that is written in this book." And Hilkiah, with them that pertained to the king, went to Huldah, a prophetess, wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe - which prophetess dwelt in Jerusalem in the second ward - and they communed so with her. And she said unto them, "Thus sayeth the LORD God of Israel: 'Tell ye the man that sent you to me, even thus sayeth the LORD: See, I will bring evil upon this place and upon the inhabiters thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah, because they have forsaken me and have offered unto other gods to anger me with all manner works of their hands, therefore is my wrath set on fire against this place and shall not be quenched. And as for the king of Judah, which sent you to enquire of the LORD, so shall ye say unto him: Thus sayeth the LORD God of Israel concerning the words which thou hast heard: Because thine heart did melt and thou didst meek thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place and against the inhabiters thereof, and humblest thyself before me, and tarest thy clothes and weepest before me, that have I heard also, sayeth the LORD. Behold, I will take thee to thy fathers and thou shalt be put in thy grave in peace, and thine eyes shall not see all the mischief that I will bring upon this place and upon the inhabiters of the same.'" And they brought the king word again. Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and the inhabiters of Jerusalem and the Priests and Levites and all the people great and small: and read all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the LORD. And the king stood at his standing and made a covenant before the LORD, to follow the LORD and to keep his commandments, his witnesses and his statutes with all his heart and with all his soul and to fulfill the words of the covenant written in the said book. And he made to come forth all that were found in Jerusalem and Benjamin, and the inhabiters of Jerusalem promised to keep the covenant of the God which was the God of their fathers. And Josiah put away all manner of abominations out of all lands that pertained to the children of Israel, and brought all that were found in Israel, to serve the LORD their God. And they turned not aside from after the LORD God of their fathers as long as he lived.


And the king commanded all the people, saying, "Keep the feast of passover unto the LORD your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant." For there was no passover held like that from the days of the judges that judged Israel, and throughout all the days of the kings of Israel and of Judah. And in the eighteenth year of king Josiah was this passover holden to the LORD in Jerusalem.

And Josiah held the feast of Passover unto the LORD in Jerusalem, and they slew Passover in the fourteenth day of the first month. And he set the priests in their offices and aided them in the service of the house of the LORD. And he said to the Levites that taught throughout all Israel and were sanctified unto the LORD, "Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build; ye need not to bear it upon your shoulders. Wherefore now serve the LORD your God and his people Israel. read more.
And prepare yourselves by your ancient households and companies, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and the writing of Solomon his son. And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the ancient households of your brethren the children of the people, and after the division of the ancient households of the Levites, and kill Passover; sanctify and prepare your brethren that they may do according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses." And Josiah gave to the common people in lambs and kids, for Passover offerings only, unto all that were present thirty thousand by tally, and three thousand oxen; even of the king's substance. And his lords gave willingly both unto the people and also unto the priests and unto the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God, gave unto the priests for Passover offerings two thousand and six hundred lambs and kids, and three hundred oxen. And Conaniah with Shemaiah and Nethanel his brethren, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, lords of the Levites, gave unto the Levites five thousand Passover offerings, and five hundred oxen. And so the service went forward: and the priests stood in their places, and the Levites in their companies at the king's commandment. And they slew Passover: and the priests sprinkled the blood, receiving it of the Levites, and the Levites stripped the beasts. And they fetched away the burnt offerings, to give them unto the common people as they were divided by ancient houses, for to offer unto the LORD; like as it is written in the book of Moses. And so did they with the oxen too. And they dressed the Passover with fire as the manner was. But the other hallowed, dedicated beasts they sod in pots, cauldrons and pans and divided them quickly among all the common people. And afterward they made ready for themselves and for the priests and for the children of Aaron, which were busied in offering of burnt offerings and the fat until night. And therefore the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests the sons of Aaron. And the singers the children of Asaph stood in their standing according to the commandment of David and Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun the king's seer of visions: and the porters waited at every gate, and might not depart from their service. But their brethren the Levites prepared for them. And so all the service of the LORD went forward the said day, in offering Passover of burnt offerings upon the altar of the LORD, according to the commandment of king Josiah. And so the children of Israel that could be found, offered Passover the same time and kept the feast of sweet bread seven days. And there was no Passover like to that kept in Israel, from the time of Samuel the prophet: neither did any of the kings of Israel hold such a Passover feast as did Josiah and the priests and Levites and all Judah, and as much of Israel as could be had, and the inhabiters of Jerusalem. And this Passover was holden in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah.


And the eighteenth year of his reign king Josiah sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah the son of Meshullam the scribe to the house of the LORD, saying, "Go to Hilkiah the high priest, and let him sum the silver that is brought into the house of the LORD, which the keepers of the doors have gathered of the people; and let them deliver it into the hands of the workmen that have the oversight of the house of the LORD, which shall give it to them that work upon the house of the LORD, to repair the decayed places thereof - read more.
even unto carpenters and masons, and for to buy timber and free stone to repair the house. Howbeit, let no reckoning be made with them of the money that is delivered into their hands, but let them do it of their conscience."

Josiah was made king when he was eight years old, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty one years. And he did that pleased the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, bowing neither to the righthand nor to the left. Insomuch that the eighth year of his reign, when he was yet a lad, he began to seek after the God of David his father. And in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of hill altars, groves, carved Images, and Images of metal: read more.
so that they brake down the altars of Baals even in his presence, and the Idols that were upon them he caused to be destroyed. And the groves, carved Images, and Images of metal he brake and made dust of them, and strawed it upon the graves of them that had offered to them.


And the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the LORD that they should walk after the LORD, and keep his commandments and his witnesses and his ordinances with all their hearts and all their souls, and make good the words of the said covenant that were written in the foresaid book. And all the people consented to the covenant. And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the inferior priests and the keepers of the door, to bring out of the temple of the LORD, all the vessels that were made for Baal and for the grove and for all the host of heaven. And he burnt them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and carried the ashes of them into Bethel. And he put down the Chemarims which the kings of Judah had set to burn offerings in the hill altars in the cities of Judah round about Jerusalem and also them that burnt sacrifices unto Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven. read more.
And he brought out the grove from the temple of the LORD without Jerusalem unto the brook Kidron, and stamped it to powder, and cast the dust thereof upon the graves of people of the country. And he brake down the cells of the male whores that were in the house of the LORD, where the women wove little houses for the grove. And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the hill altars where the priests did burn sacrifice, even from Geba to Beersheba. And he brake down the hill altars of the Gates, that were in the entering of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on the left hand of the gate of the city. Nevertheless, the priests of the hill altars came not up at the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, save only they did eat of the sweet bread among their brethren. And he defiled Tophet also, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, because no man should offer his son or his daughter in fire to Moloch. He put down the horses that the kings of Israel had given to the son at the entering of the house of the LORD, in the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain which was the ruler of the suburbs, and burnt the chariots of the sun with fire. And the altars that were on the top of the parlour of Ahaz which the king of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, the king brake down, and ran thence and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. And the hill altars that were before Jerusalem on the righthand of the mount Nashith, which Solomon king of Israel built to Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians and to Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and to Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, the king defiled: and brake the images and cut down the groves and filled the places with the bones of men. Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, the hill altar made by Jeroboam the son of Nebat which made Israel sin - both the altar and also the hill - he brake down and burnt the hill and stamped it to powder, and burnt the grove. And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the graves that were in the mount and sent and fetched the bones out of the graves and burnt them upon the altar and polluted it according to the word of the LORD that the man of God had proclaimed, which openly had denounced the same things. Then the king said, "What meaneth yonder grave stone that I see?" And the men of the city told him, "It is the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Judah and openly denounced the selfsame things that thou hast done to the altar of Bethel." And he said, "Let him be: see that no man move his bones." And so his bones escaped with the bones of a Prophet that came out of Samaria. And thereto all the houses of the hill altars of the cities of Samaria which the kings of Israel had made, to anger withal, Josiah put out of the way and did to them in all points as he did in Bethel. And he sacrificed all the priests of the hill altars that were there, even upon the altars, and burnt men's bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.

And thereto workers with spirits, soothsayers, Images of witchcraft, idols and all other abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, Josiah put out of the way to make good the words of the law, which were written in the book that Helkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD. Like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any such.


Hezekiah begat Manasseh; Manasseh begat Amon; Amon begat Josiah; Josiah begat Jechoniah and his brethren about the time they were carried away to Babylon.


And behold, there came a man of God out of Judah with the word of God, to Bethel, as Jeroboam stood by the altar to offer, and cried against the altar at the commandment of the LORD and said, "Altar, altar, thus sayeth the LORD: 'Behold, a child shall be born of the house of David, Josiah by name, which upon thee shall offer the priests of the hill altars that sacrifice upon thee, and shall burn men's bones upon thee.'" And he gave them the same time a sign, saying, "This is the sign, of that the LORD hath promised: Behold, the altar shall rent and the ashes that are in it shall fall out."


Hezekiah begat Manasseh; Manasseh begat Amon; Amon begat Josiah; Josiah begat Jechoniah and his brethren about the time they were carried away to Babylon.


And Jeremiah lamented Josiah, and all singing men and singing women speak of Josiah to this day, and made it an ordinance in Israel: and they be written in lamentations.


'Take of the prisoners that are come from Babylon: namely, Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah: and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah.


Thinkest thou to reign, now that thou provokest me to wrath with thy Cedar trees? Did not thy father eat and drink, and prosper well, as long as he dealt with equity and righteousness?


Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty one years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. And he did that seemed right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the ways of David his father, and bowed neither to the righthand nor to the left. And the eighteenth year of his reign king Josiah sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah the son of Meshullam the scribe to the house of the LORD, saying, read more.
"Go to Hilkiah the high priest, and let him sum the silver that is brought into the house of the LORD, which the keepers of the doors have gathered of the people; and let them deliver it into the hands of the workmen that have the oversight of the house of the LORD, which shall give it to them that work upon the house of the LORD, to repair the decayed places thereof - even unto carpenters and masons, and for to buy timber and free stone to repair the house. Howbeit, let no reckoning be made with them of the money that is delivered into their hands, but let them do it of their conscience." And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, "I have found the book of the law in the temple of the LORD." And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. And then Shaphan the scribe went to the king and brought him word again, and said, "Thy servants poured out the silver that was found in the temple, and have delivered it unto the workmen that have the oversight of the house of the LORD." Furthermore Shaphan the scribe showed the king saying, "Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me here a book." And Shaphan read it before the king. And the king, as soon as he had heard the words of the book of the law, he rent his clothes and commanded Hilkiah the priest and Ahikam the son of Shaphan and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king's, saying, "Go ye and seek of the LORD for me, and the people, and for all Judah; concerning the words of this book that is found. For it is a great wrath of the LORD that is kindled upon us, that our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do in all points as it is written therein." And Hilkiah the high priest and Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went unto Huldah the Prophetess, wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah the son of Harahas keeper of the robes - which Prophetess dwelt in Jerusalem in the second ward - and communed with her. And she said to them, "Thus sayeth the LORD God of Israel: 'Tell the man that sent you to me, thus sayeth the LORD: behold I will bring evil upon this place and on the dwellers therein - even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read - because they have forsaken me and have burnt offerings unto other gods, to anger me with all the works of their hands. Therefore is my wrath kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched. But to the king of Judah which sent you to enquire of the LORD, so shall ye say: thus sayeth the LORD God of Israel, as touching the words which thou heardest. Because thine heart did melt and thou meekedest thyself before me, the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place and the inhabiters of the same, how that it should be destroyed and made accursed: and tearest thy clothes and weepest before me: of that also I have heard sayeth the LORD. And therefore, see, I will receive ye unto thy fathers and will fetch thee unto thy grave in peace, thine eyes shall see none of the evil which I will bring upon this place." And they brought the king word again. And then the king sent and gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabiters of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the Prophets and all the people both small and great. And he read in the ears of them all the words of the book of the covenant, which was found in the house of the LORD. And the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the LORD that they should walk after the LORD, and keep his commandments and his witnesses and his ordinances with all their hearts and all their souls, and make good the words of the said covenant that were written in the foresaid book. And all the people consented to the covenant. And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the inferior priests and the keepers of the door, to bring out of the temple of the LORD, all the vessels that were made for Baal and for the grove and for all the host of heaven. And he burnt them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and carried the ashes of them into Bethel. And he put down the Chemarims which the kings of Judah had set to burn offerings in the hill altars in the cities of Judah round about Jerusalem and also them that burnt sacrifices unto Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven. And he brought out the grove from the temple of the LORD without Jerusalem unto the brook Kidron, and stamped it to powder, and cast the dust thereof upon the graves of people of the country. And he brake down the cells of the male whores that were in the house of the LORD, where the women wove little houses for the grove. And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the hill altars where the priests did burn sacrifice, even from Geba to Beersheba. And he brake down the hill altars of the Gates, that were in the entering of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on the left hand of the gate of the city. Nevertheless, the priests of the hill altars came not up at the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, save only they did eat of the sweet bread among their brethren. And he defiled Tophet also, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, because no man should offer his son or his daughter in fire to Moloch. He put down the horses that the kings of Israel had given to the son at the entering of the house of the LORD, in the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain which was the ruler of the suburbs, and burnt the chariots of the sun with fire. And the altars that were on the top of the parlour of Ahaz which the king of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, the king brake down, and ran thence and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. And the hill altars that were before Jerusalem on the righthand of the mount Nashith, which Solomon king of Israel built to Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians and to Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and to Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, the king defiled: and brake the images and cut down the groves and filled the places with the bones of men. Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, the hill altar made by Jeroboam the son of Nebat which made Israel sin - both the altar and also the hill - he brake down and burnt the hill and stamped it to powder, and burnt the grove. And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the graves that were in the mount and sent and fetched the bones out of the graves and burnt them upon the altar and polluted it according to the word of the LORD that the man of God had proclaimed, which openly had denounced the same things. Then the king said, "What meaneth yonder grave stone that I see?" And the men of the city told him, "It is the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Judah and openly denounced the selfsame things that thou hast done to the altar of Bethel." And he said, "Let him be: see that no man move his bones." And so his bones escaped with the bones of a Prophet that came out of Samaria. And thereto all the houses of the hill altars of the cities of Samaria which the kings of Israel had made, to anger withal, Josiah put out of the way and did to them in all points as he did in Bethel. And he sacrificed all the priests of the hill altars that were there, even upon the altars, and burnt men's bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem. And the king commanded all the people, saying, "Keep the feast of passover unto the LORD your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant." For there was no passover held like that from the days of the judges that judged Israel, and throughout all the days of the kings of Israel and of Judah. And in the eighteenth year of king Josiah was this passover holden to the LORD in Jerusalem. And thereto workers with spirits, soothsayers, Images of witchcraft, idols and all other abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, Josiah put out of the way to make good the words of the law, which were written in the book that Helkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD. Like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any such. Notwithstanding, the LORD turned not from his fierce and great wrath wherewith he was angry against Judah upon all the provocations that Manasseh provoked him. But the LORD said, "I will put Judah, too, out of my sight, as I have done Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I have said, 'My name shall be there.'" The rest of the deeds of Josiah and all he did are written in the book of the Stories of the Kings of Judah. In his days, Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went against the king of Assyria to the river of Euphrates. And king Josiah went against him, and was slain of him at Megiddo when he had seen him. And his servants carried him dead from Megiddo and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in his father's room.


And he did that seemed right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the ways of David his father, and bowed neither to the righthand nor to the left.


And Josiah held the feast of Passover unto the LORD in Jerusalem, and they slew Passover in the fourteenth day of the first month. And he set the priests in their offices and aided them in the service of the house of the LORD. And he said to the Levites that taught throughout all Israel and were sanctified unto the LORD, "Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build; ye need not to bear it upon your shoulders. Wherefore now serve the LORD your God and his people Israel. read more.
And prepare yourselves by your ancient households and companies, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and the writing of Solomon his son. And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the ancient households of your brethren the children of the people, and after the division of the ancient households of the Levites, and kill Passover; sanctify and prepare your brethren that they may do according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses." And Josiah gave to the common people in lambs and kids, for Passover offerings only, unto all that were present thirty thousand by tally, and three thousand oxen; even of the king's substance. And his lords gave willingly both unto the people and also unto the priests and unto the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God, gave unto the priests for Passover offerings two thousand and six hundred lambs and kids, and three hundred oxen. And Conaniah with Shemaiah and Nethanel his brethren, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, lords of the Levites, gave unto the Levites five thousand Passover offerings, and five hundred oxen. And so the service went forward: and the priests stood in their places, and the Levites in their companies at the king's commandment. And they slew Passover: and the priests sprinkled the blood, receiving it of the Levites, and the Levites stripped the beasts. And they fetched away the burnt offerings, to give them unto the common people as they were divided by ancient houses, for to offer unto the LORD; like as it is written in the book of Moses. And so did they with the oxen too. And they dressed the Passover with fire as the manner was. But the other hallowed, dedicated beasts they sod in pots, cauldrons and pans and divided them quickly among all the common people. And afterward they made ready for themselves and for the priests and for the children of Aaron, which were busied in offering of burnt offerings and the fat until night. And therefore the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests the sons of Aaron. And the singers the children of Asaph stood in their standing according to the commandment of David and Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun the king's seer of visions: and the porters waited at every gate, and might not depart from their service. But their brethren the Levites prepared for them. And so all the service of the LORD went forward the said day, in offering Passover of burnt offerings upon the altar of the LORD, according to the commandment of king Josiah. And so the children of Israel that could be found, offered Passover the same time and kept the feast of sweet bread seven days. And there was no Passover like to that kept in Israel, from the time of Samuel the prophet: neither did any of the kings of Israel hold such a Passover feast as did Josiah and the priests and Levites and all Judah, and as much of Israel as could be had, and the inhabiters of Jerusalem. And this Passover was holden in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah.

And the eighteenth year of his reign king Josiah sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah the son of Meshullam the scribe to the house of the LORD, saying, "Go to Hilkiah the high priest, and let him sum the silver that is brought into the house of the LORD, which the keepers of the doors have gathered of the people; and let them deliver it into the hands of the workmen that have the oversight of the house of the LORD, which shall give it to them that work upon the house of the LORD, to repair the decayed places thereof - read more.
even unto carpenters and masons, and for to buy timber and free stone to repair the house.

And in the eighteenth year of his reign when he had purged the land and the temple, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God. And when they came to Hilkiah the high priest, men delivered them the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept the entries had gathered of the hands of Manasseh and Ephraim and of all that yet remained in Israel and of all Judah and Benjamin and of the inhabiters of Jerusalem. And they put it in the hands of the workmen that had the oversight of the house of the LORD. which gave it to the laborers that wrought on the house of the LORD, to repair and mend it, read more.
and to masons and carpenters to buy hewed stone and timber for to make couples and beams for the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed: And the men wrought in the work of fidelity. And the overseers of them, to courage them forward, were Jahath and Obadiah, Levites of the children of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam of the children of the Kohathites; and as many other of the Levites as could skill of instruments of Music. And over the bearers of burdens and over all that wrought, in whatsoever workmanship it were, went there scribes, officers and porters of the Levites.


And he did that seemed right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the ways of David his father, and bowed neither to the righthand nor to the left.

And thereto workers with spirits, soothsayers, Images of witchcraft, idols and all other abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, Josiah put out of the way to make good the words of the law, which were written in the book that Helkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD. Like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any such.


And he did that seemed right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the ways of David his father, and bowed neither to the righthand nor to the left.


And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the inferior priests and the keepers of the door, to bring out of the temple of the LORD, all the vessels that were made for Baal and for the grove and for all the host of heaven. And he burnt them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and carried the ashes of them into Bethel.



And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the inferior priests and the keepers of the door, to bring out of the temple of the LORD, all the vessels that were made for Baal and for the grove and for all the host of heaven. And he burnt them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and carried the ashes of them into Bethel.


Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and the inhabiters of Jerusalem and the Priests and Levites and all the people great and small: and read all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the LORD. And the king stood at his standing and made a covenant before the LORD, to follow the LORD and to keep his commandments, his witnesses and his statutes with all his heart and with all his soul and to fulfill the words of the covenant written in the said book. read more.
And he made to come forth all that were found in Jerusalem and Benjamin, and the inhabiters of Jerusalem promised to keep the covenant of the God which was the God of their fathers. And Josiah put away all manner of abominations out of all lands that pertained to the children of Israel, and brought all that were found in Israel, to serve the LORD their God. And they turned not aside from after the LORD God of their fathers as long as he lived.

Insomuch that the eighth year of his reign, when he was yet a lad, he began to seek after the God of David his father. And in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of hill altars, groves, carved Images, and Images of metal: so that they brake down the altars of Baals even in his presence, and the Idols that were upon them he caused to be destroyed. And the groves, carved Images, and Images of metal he brake and made dust of them, and strawed it upon the graves of them that had offered to them. And he burnt the bones of the priests upon the altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. read more.
And even so did he in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon and of Naphtali thereto. And in the wildernesses of them round about he plucked asunder the altars and the groves and did beat them and stamp them to powder, and beat down the idols throughout all the land of Israel: and then returned to Jerusalem again.


And he sacrificed all the priests of the hill altars that were there, even upon the altars, and burnt men's bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.


Because thine heart did melt and thou meekedest thyself before me, the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place and the inhabiters of the same, how that it should be destroyed and made accursed: and tearest thy clothes and weepest before me: of that also I have heard sayeth the LORD.




Insomuch that the eighth year of his reign, when he was yet a lad, he began to seek after the God of David his father. And in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of hill altars, groves, carved Images, and Images of metal:


Insomuch that the eighth year of his reign, when he was yet a lad, he began to seek after the God of David his father. And in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of hill altars, groves, carved Images, and Images of metal:


Nevertheless, Josiah turned not his face from him, but made him ready to fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Neco out of the mouth of God. And when he was come to fight in the valley of Megiddo,


Nevertheless, Josiah turned not his face from him, but made him ready to fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Neco out of the mouth of God. And when he was come to fight in the valley of Megiddo,


And he did that seemed right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the ways of David his father, and bowed neither to the righthand nor to the left.


For thou, O LORD God, art the thing that I long for; thou art my hope even from my youth.

Josiah was made king when he was eight years old, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty one years. And he did that pleased the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, bowing neither to the righthand nor to the left. Insomuch that the eighth year of his reign, when he was yet a lad, he began to seek after the God of David his father. And in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of hill altars, groves, carved Images, and Images of metal:


And thereto all the houses of the hill altars of the cities of Samaria which the kings of Israel had made, to anger withal, Josiah put out of the way and did to them in all points as he did in Bethel. And he sacrificed all the priests of the hill altars that were there, even upon the altars, and burnt men's bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem. And the king commanded all the people, saying, "Keep the feast of passover unto the LORD your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant." read more.
For there was no passover held like that from the days of the judges that judged Israel, and throughout all the days of the kings of Israel and of Judah. And in the eighteenth year of king Josiah was this passover holden to the LORD in Jerusalem. And thereto workers with spirits, soothsayers, Images of witchcraft, idols and all other abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, Josiah put out of the way to make good the words of the law, which were written in the book that Helkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD. Like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any such.


References

Hastings

Easton

American

Fausets

Morish

Smith

Watsons