Manasseh began to reign at the age of twelve, and he reigned for 55 years in Jerusalem. His mother was named Hephzibah.

He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He erected altars for Baal, crafted an Asherah, just as King Ahab of Israel had done, and worshipped and served the stars of heaven.

He made his son into a burnt offering, practiced witchcraft, used divination, and consorted with mediums and spirit-channelers. He practiced many things that the LORD considered to be evil and provoked him.

He also erected the carved image of Asherah that he had made inside the Temple about which the LORD had spoken to David and to his son Solomon, "I will put my Name forever in this Temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all of the tribes of Israel.

And I will not make Israel's feet to wander anymore from the land that I have given to their ancestors, if they will only be careful to do everything that I have commanded them according to the entire Law that my servant Moses commanded them."

therefore this is what the LORD God of Israel says: "Look! I'm going to bring such a disaster to Jerusalem and Judah that both ears of those who hear about it will ring.

I'll stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line that is Samaria and the plumb line that is Ahab's dynasty. Then I'll wipe Jerusalem like one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down!

I will abandon the survivors of my heritage and hand them over to their enemies. They will become war booty and spoil to all of their enemies,

because they have done what I consider to be evil and they have provoked me from the day their ancestors left Egypt right up to this day!'"

In addition to this, Manasseh shed lots of innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another besides his sin by which he caused Judah to sin by practicing what the LORD considered to be evil.

The rest of Manasseh's deeds, including everything that he accomplished and the sin that he practiced, are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not?

Manasseh died, as did his ancestors, and he was buried in the garden at his home in the Garden of Uzza. His son Amon became king in his place.

Amon began to reign at the age of 22, and ruled for two years in Jerusalem. His mother was named Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.

because he completely adopted his father's lifestyle, serving the same idols his father had served and worshipped.

As a result, he abandoned the LORD God of his ancestors and did not walk in the LORD's way.

Later on, Amon's staff conspired against him and killed the king inside his own home.

But afterward, the people of the land executed everyone who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land installed his son Josiah to be king in his place.

He was buried in his own grave in the Garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah became king in his place.

Josiah was an eight year old child when he began to reign, and he reigned for 31 years in Jerusalem. His mother was named Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath.

"Go to the high priest Hilkiah, so he can count the money that has been brought into the LORD's Temple by the doorkeepers who have been gathering it from the people.

including paying the carpenters, builders, and masons, as well as buying timber and pre-carved stone to repair the Temple.

Later on, Hilkiah the high priest informed Shaphan the scribe, "I've discovered the Book of the Law in the LORD's Temple." Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he began to read it.

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."

and issued these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Shaphan's son Ahikam, Micaiah's son Achbor, Shaphan the scribe, and the king's servant Asaiah:

"Go ask the LORD for me, for the people, and for all of Judah about what's written in this book that has been discovered, because the LORD's anger is burning against us, since our ancestors have not listened to the words written in this book and have not lived according to everything that is written concerning us."

So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the prophet Huldah, the wife of Tikvah's son Shallum, the grandson of Harhas and supervisor of the royal wardrobe, who lived in the Second Quarter in Jerusalem. They spoke with her,

and she told them, "This is what the LORD God of Israel says: "Tell the man who sent you to me:

"This is what the Lord says: "Look! I'm bringing disaster on this place and on its inhabitants everything written in the book that the king of Judah has read

because they have abandoned me, burned incense to other gods, and they have provoked me to anger with everything that they've done. Therefore my anger is kindled against this place and it won't be quenched!'"

because your heart was sensitive, and you humbled yourself in the LORD's presence when you heard what I had to say against this place and against its inhabitants that they would become a desolation and a curse and you have torn your clothes and cried out before me, be assured that I have truly heard you,' declares the LORD.

"Therefore, look! I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be placed in your grave in peace. Your eyes will never see all the evil that I will bring on this place.'"'"

At this, the king sent for and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.

The king went up to the LORD's Temple, accompanied by all the men of Judah, everyone who lived in Jerusalem, the priests, the prophets, and everyone including those who were unimportant and those who were important and he read to them everything written in the Book of the Covenant that had been discovered in the LORD's Temple.

The king stood beside a pillar and made a covenant in the presence of the LORD: to follow after the LORD, to keep his commandments, his testimonies, and his statutes with all of his heart and soul, and to carry out what was written in the covenant contained in the book. All the people consented to enter into the covenant.

The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of the secondary order, and the doorkeepers to take out of the LORD's Temple all of the implements that had been crafted for Baal, for Asherah, and for every star in the heavens. Then he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried the ashes to Bethel.

The king unseated the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense in the high places throughout the cities of Judah and in the environs surrounding Jerusalem, including those who had been burning incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to every star in the heavens.

He brought the Asherah from the LORD's Temple to the Kidron Brook outside Jerusalem, burned it at the Kidron brook, pulverized the ashes to dust, and scattered it over the graves of the common people.

Then he gathered together all the priests from the cities of Judah and defiled the high places from Geba to Beer-sheba, where the priests had burned incense. He also demolished the high places of the gates that had been erected to the left as one enters the city gate that is, near the entrance operated by Joshua, the governor of the city.

The king demolished the rooftop altars on top of Ahaz's upper chamber that the kings of Judah had erected, as well as the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courts of the LORD's Temple. He pulverized them where they stood and cast their dust into the Kidron Brook.

The king defiled the high places which faced Jerusalem on the south side of Corruption Mountain, which King Solomon of Israel had constructed for Ashtoreth, the Sidonian abomination, for Chemosh, the Moabite abomination, and for Milcom, the Ammonite abomination.

He broke the pillars to pieces, cut down the Asherim, and filled their locations with human bones.

Furthermore, he even broke down the altar that had been at Bethel as well as the high place constructed by Nebat's son Jeroboam, who had caused Israel to sin. He demolished its stones, pulverized them to dust, and burned the Asherah.

As Josiah turned around, he observed the graves located there on the mountain, so he sent for and recovered the bones from the graves and burned them on the altar to defile it, in keeping with the message from the LORD that the godly man had proclaimed when he was declaring these things.

He asked, "What is this monument that I'm looking at?" The men who lived in that city answered him, "It's the grave of that godly man who came from Judah and predicted these things that you've done against the altar at Bethel!"

Josiah also removed all of the temples on the high places that had been in the cities of Samaria and that the kings of Israel had erected, thereby provoking the LORD. He treated Samaria just as he had Bethel.

After he had slaughtered all the priests who served at the high places and burned their bones on those high places, he returned to Jerusalem.

From the days of the judges who ruled in Israel, no Passover had been celebrated like this, not even in all the reigns of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah.

Furthermore, Josiah removed the mediums, the necromancers, the household gods, the idols, and every despicable thing that could be seen in the territory of Judah and in Jerusalem, so that he might confirm the words of the Law that had been written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the LORD's Temple.

There had been no king like him before him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his strength, in obeying everything in the Law of Moses. No king arose like Josiah after him.

Even so, the LORD did not turn away from his fierce and great anger that burned against Judah because of everything with which Manasseh had provoked him.

During his reign, Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, marched out toward the Euphrates River to meet the king of Assyria. King Josiah went out to engage him in battle, but Pharaoh Neco killed him at Megiddo as soon as he saw him.

Josiah's servants drove his corpse in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in a tomb made for him.

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.

Pharaoah Neco placed him in custody at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, so that he would not reign in Jerusalem, and imposed a tribute of 100 talents of silver and a talent of gold.

Pharaoh Neco installed Josiah's son Eliakim as king to replace his father Josiah and changed his name to Jehoiakim. He transported Jehoahaz off to Egypt, where he died.

As a result, Jehoiakim paid the silver and gold tribute to Pharaoh, but he passed on the costs to the inhabitants of the land in taxes, in keeping with Pharaoh's orders. He exacted the silver and gold from the people who lived in the land, from each according to his assessment, in order to pay it to Pharaoh Neco.

Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother was named Zebidah. She was the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.

During his lifetime, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Jehoiakim, who became his vassal for three years, after which he turned against Nebuchadnezzar and rebelled.

The LORD sent raiding parties from the Chaldeans, Arameans, Moabites, and Ammonites against Jehoiakim. He sent them against Judah to destroy it, in keeping with the message from the LORD that he had spoken through his servants, the prophets.

as well as for the innocent blood that he had shed. He had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD would not forgive them.

Now the rest of Jehoiakim's actions, and everything that he undertook, are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not?

Jehoiakim died, as did his ancestors, and his son Jehoiachin became king in his place.

Jehoiachin became king at the age of eighteen years, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem. His mother was named Hausa. She was the daughter of Elzaphan of Jerusalem.

At that time, the servants of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Jerusalem and the city was placed under siege.

King Jehoiachin of Judah surrendered to the king of Babylon (as did his mother, his servants, his princes, and his officers) during the eighth year of his reign.

Nebuchadnezzar carried off from there all of the treasures of the LORD's Temple, along with the treasures in the king's palace. He cut into pieces all the gold vessels in the LORD's Temple that King Solomon of Israel had made, just as the LORD had said would happen.

Then Nebuchadnezzar sent away into exile all of Jerusalem all the captains, all the valiant soldiers, 10,000 captives, and all of the craftsmen and ironworkers. Nobody remained except the poorest people of the land.

He sent Jehoiachin into exile to Babylon, along with the king's mother, the king's wives, his officials, and the leading men of the land. He took them into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

All 7,000 of the most valiant soldiers and 1,000 of the craftsmen and ironworkers all physically fit and trained for battle were brought by the king of Babylon into exile in Babylon.

The king of Babylon installed Jehoiachin's uncle Mattaniah as king in his place and then changed his name to Zedekiah.

because through the LORD's anger these things happened to Jerusalem and Judah until he threw them from his presence.

Zedekiah then rebelled against the king of Babylon, so on the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his entire army approached Jerusalem, attacked it, encamped against it, and built a siege wall that surrounded the city.

The city was breached, and the entire army left during the night through the gate that stood between the two walls beside the royal garden, even though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city. They escaped through the Arabah,

but the Chaldean army pursued the king and overtook him in the Jericho plains, where his entire army was scattered.

The Chaldeans captured the king and brought him to Riblah, where the king of Babylon determined his sentence.

They executed Zedekiah's sons in his presence, blinded Zedekiah, bound him with bronze chains, and transported him to Babylon.

and set fire to the LORD's Temple, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He even incinerated the lavish homes.

Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried the survivors of the people who remained in the city, those who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude into exile.

However, the captain of the guard left some of the poor people of the land to work as vinedressers and farmers.

The Chaldeans also broke into pieces and carried back to Babylon the bronze pillars that stood in the LORD's Temple, along with the stands and the bronze sea that used to be in the LORD's Temple.

They also confiscated the pots, shovels, snuffers, spoons, and the rest of the bronze vessels that were used in ministry.

The captain of the guard also confiscated the fire pans, basins, and whatever had been crafted of pure gold and pure silver.

The bronze contained in the two pillars, the one sea, and the stands that Solomon had crafted for the LORD's Temple could not be inventoried for weight.

The height of one of the pillars was eighteen cubits, and the capital on top of it was three cubits high. A latticework carved in the form of pomegranates encircled the capital, crafted completely out of brass. The second pillar was identical to the first.

one overseer from the city who supervised the soldiers, five of the king's advisors who had been discovered in the city, the scribe who served the army captain who mustered the army of the land, and 60 men of the land who were discovered in the city.

where the king of Babylon executed them in the land of Hamath. And so Judah was transported into exile from the land.

When all the captains of the armies, along with their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, these men visited Gedaliah at Mizpah: Nethaniah's son Ishmael, Kareah's son Johanan, Tanhumeth the Netophathite's son Seraiah, and Jaazaniah, who was descended from the Maacathites.

Gedaliah made this promise to them and to their men: "Don't be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and things will go well with you."

Nevertheless, seven months later, Nethaniah's son Ishmael, the grandson of Elishama from the royal family, came with ten men and attacked Gedaliah. As a result, he died along with the Jews and Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.

Then all the people, including those who were insignificant and those who were important, fled with the captains of the armed forces to Egypt, because they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

He spoke kindly to him and elevated his position above the thrones of the kings with him in Babylon.

Jehoiachin changed out of his prison clothes and had regular meals in the king's presence every day for the rest of his life,

and a regular stipend was provided to him by the king in accordance with his needs for as long as he lived.

who fathered Noah, who fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Japheth's descendants were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.

Gomer's descendants were Ashkenaz, Diphath, and Togarmah.

Javan's descendants were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Rodanim.

Ham's descendants were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.

Cush's descendants were Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raama, and Sabteca. Raamah's descendants were Sheba and Dedan.

the Pathrusim, the Casluhim (from whom the Philistines descended), and the Caphtorim.