And when they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept the doors had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin; and they returned to Jerusalem.

And they will give to the hand of those appointed to do the work in the house of Jehovah, and they will give it to those doing the work, working in the house of Jehovah to repair and to strengthen the house.

And they will give to the artificers and to the builders to buy stones and woods for junctions, and to frame the houses which the kings of Judah destroyed.

And the men did the work faithfully: and the overseers of them were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to set it forward; and other of the Levites, all that could skill of instruments of musick.

Also they were over the bearers of burdens, and were overseers of all that wrought the work in any manner of service: and of the Levites there were scribes, and officers, and porters.

While they were bringing out the money that had come in as gifts to the LORD's Temple, Hilkiah the priest discovered the Book of the Law of the LORD that had been handed down by Moses.

And Hilkiah will answer and say to Shaphan the scribe, I found a book of the law in the house of Jehovah. And Hilkiah will give the book to Shaphan.

And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying, All that was committed to thy servants, they do it.

They have taken out all the money which was in the Lord's house and have given it to the overseers and to the workmen.

And Shaphan the scribe will announce to the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest gave a book to me. And Shaphan will read in it before the king.

And it will be when the king heard the words of the law, and he will rend his garments.

And the king will command Hilkiah, and Ahikam son of Shaphan, and Abdon son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah servant of the king saying,

Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do after all that is written in this book.

And Hilkiah will go, and those of the king, to Huldah the prophetess, wife of Shallum son of Tikvath, son of Hasrah, watching the garments; (and she will dwell in Jerusalem in the second rank) and they will speak to her according to this

And she said to them, "Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: 'Say to the man who sent you all to me:

Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants 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 burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched.

But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus you will say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel regarding the words which you have heard,

Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So 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 inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the LORD.

And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book.

And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

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.

And Josiah will do in Jerusalem the passover to Jehovah: and they will slaughter the passover in the fourteenth day to the first month.

And he will cause the priests to stand upon their watches, and he will strengthen them to serve the house of Jehovah.

And said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which were holy unto the LORD, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build; it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders: serve now the LORD your God, and his people Israel,

"Put the holy ark in the Temple that Solomon, the son of Israel's King David, built. It will no longer be a burden on their shoulders. Now go serve the LORD your God and his people Israel. Prepare yourselves by divisions according to your ancestral households, keeping to what King David of Israel and his son Solomon wrote about this.

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.

And the service will be prepared, and the priests will stand upon their standing, and the Levites upon their divisions according to the command of the king.

Then they slaughtered the Passover lambs, and while the Levites were skinning the animals, the priests sprinkled the blood they had been given.

And they will remove the burnt-offering to give them to the divisions for the house of the fathers to the sons of the people, to bring near to Jehovah according to the writing in the book of Moses. And thus to the oxen.

And they roasted the passover with fire according to the ordinance: but the other holy offerings sod they in pots, and in caldrons, and in pans, and divided them speedily among all the people.

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.

And all the children of Israel who were present kept the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread at that time for seven days.

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.

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.

And he sent messengers to him, saying, "{What is there between us}, O king of Judah? [I am] not against you yourself this day, but against the house making war against me. And God has commanded me to make haste. Stop [opposing] God, who [is] with me that he will not destroy you."

And Josiah turned not his face from him, but to fight with him he disguised himself, and he heard not to the words of Necho from the mouth of God; and he will go forth to fight in the valley of Megiddo.

And the archers will shoot at king Josiah; and the king will say to his servants, Cause me to pass away; for I was made sick greatly.

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.

And all his acts, first and last, are recorded in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.

And the people of the land will take Jehoahaz son of Josiah, and make him king instead of his father in Jerusalem.

And the king of Egypt will remove him in Jerusalem, and he will amerce the land a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.

And the king of Egypt will make Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and he will turn his name to Jehoiakim. And Necho will take Jehoahaz his brother and bring him to Egypt

The son of twenty and five years was Jehoiakim in his reigning, and eleven years reigned he in Jerusalem: and he will do evil in the eyes of Jehovah his God.

Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel, and he will bind him in fetters to cause him to go to Babel.

And from the vessels of the house of God Nebuchadnezzar brought to Babel, and he will give them into his temple in Babel

Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and the disgusting things he did, and all there is to be said against him, are recorded in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah; and Jehoiachin his son became king in his place.

Jehoiachin was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for three months and ten days in Jerusalem, all the while doing what the LORD considered to be evil.

And at the return of the year king Nebuchadnezzar sent and he will bring him to Babel, with the vessels of desire of the house of Jehovah, and he will make Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.

And he will do the evil in the eyes of Jehovah his God; he was not humbled from before Jeremiah the prophet from the mouth of Jehovah.

And also he rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar who caused him to swear by God: and he will harden his neck and strengthen his heart from turning back to Jehovah the God of Israel.

Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.

And Jehovah the God of their fathers will send to them by the hand of his messengers, rising early and sending; for he compassionated upon his people, and upon his dwelling:

But they mocked the messengers of God and despised His words, and ill-treated His prophets until the wrath of Jehovah arose against His people, until there was no healing.

Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.

And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon.

And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.

And all who had not come to death by the sword he took away prisoners to Babylon; and they became servants to him and to his sons till the kingdom of Persia came to power:

to fulfil the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath, to fulfil seventy years.

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,

Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,

Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem.

And every one who is left, of any of the places where he is a sojourner, assist him do the men of his place with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, along with a free-will offering for the house of God, that is in Jerusalem.'

Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.

And all they that were about them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, beside all that was willingly offered.

And the king Cyrus brought forth the vessels of the house of Jehovah, which Nebuchadnezzar brought forth from Jerusalem; and he will give them into the house of his God.

And Cyrus king of Persia will bring them forth by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and he will number them to Sheshbazzar, prince to Judah.

All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand and four hundred. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up with them of the captivity that were brought up from Babylon unto Jerusalem.

And these the sons of the province coming up from the captivity of the exiles which Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile to Babel; and they will turn back to Jerusalem and Judah, a man to his city;

The men of Beth-el and Ai, two hundred twenty and three.

The children of the porters: the children of Shallum, the children of Ater, the children of Talmon, the children of Akkub, the children of Hatita, the children of Shobai, in all an hundred thirty and nine.

All the Nethinims, and the children of Solomon's servants, were three hundred ninety and two.

From the sons of the priests: the sons of Habiah, the sons of Koz, the sons of Barzillai, who took a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and he will be called by their name.

These sought their writing of those being enrolled, and they found not: and they will be polluted from the priesthood.

The governor told them that they should not eat of the most holy things [the priests’ food] until a priest stood up with Urim and Thummim [who by consulting these articles in his breastplate could determine God’s will in the matter].

The whole congregation together was forty and two thousand three hundred and threescore,

As well as their men-servants and their women-servants, of whom there were seven thousand, three hundred and thirty-seven: and they had two hundred men and women to make music.

So the priests, and the Levites, and some of the people, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, dwelt in their cities, and all Israel in their cities.

Seven months after the Israelis had settled in their cities, they all gathered together in Jerusalem as a united body.

And Joshua the son of Josedek, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and they will build the altar of the God of Israel, to bring up upon it burnt-offerings as written in the law of Moses the man of God.

And they will prepare the altar upon its foundations; for in the terror upon them from the people of the lands: and they will bring up burnt-offerings upon it to Jehovah, burnt-offerings for morning and for evening.

And they will do the festival of tents as written, and the burnt-offerings of a day in a day, in number according to judgment, the word of a day in its day.

And afterward offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of the LORD that were consecrated, and of every one that willingly offered a freewill offering unto the LORD.

They gave money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters; and meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia.

Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the LORD.

And Joshua will stand, his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, as one, to superintend over the doing of the work in the house of God: the sons of Henadad their sons, and their brethren the Levites.

And those building will lay the foundation of the temple of Jehovah, and they will cause the priests to stand, being clothed, with trumpets, and the Levites sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise Jehovah according to the hands of David king of Israel.

And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.

Now a number of the priests, the Levities, and the leading officials of the elders who were very elderly had seen the former Temple with their own eyes. When they observed the foundation of the Temple being laid, they wept with a loud voice, while the rest of them shouted for joy.

And the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin will hear that the sons of the captivity were building the temple to Jehovah God of Israel;

they came to Zerubbabel and to the principal fathers, and said unto them, "We will build with you: for we seek the Lord your God like as ye do. And we have done sacrifice unto him, since the time that Esarhaddon the king of Assyria brought us up hither."

But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.

And the people of the land will be slackening the hands of the people of Judah, and terrifying them in building,

And hired counsellers against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

While Artaxerxes was king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their co-conspirators wrote in the Aramaic language and script to King Artaxerxes of Persia. Aramaic: