The Prophecy of Azariah

¹Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded.

²So he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.

³For many years Israel has been without the true God, without a priest to instruct them, and without the law.

⁴But in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought Him, and He was found by them.

⁵In those days there was no safety for travelers, because the residents of the lands had many conflicts.

⁶Nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God afflicted them with all kinds of adversity.

⁷But as for you, be strong; do not be discouraged, for your work will be rewarded.”

Asa’s Reforms

⁸When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Odedthe prophet, he took courage and removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He then restored the altar of the LORD that was in front of the portico of the LORD’s temple.

⁹And he assembled all Judah and Benjamin, along with those from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had settled among them, for great numbers had come over to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.

¹⁰So they gathered together in Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign.

¹¹At that time they sacrificed to the LORD seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep from all the plunder they had brought back.

¹²Then they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul.

¹³And whoever would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, would be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman.

¹⁴They took an oath to the LORD with a loud voice, with shouting, trumpets, and rams’ horns.

¹⁵And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn it with all their heart. They had sought Him earnestly, and He was found by them. So the LORD gave them rest on every side.

¹⁶King Asa also removed his grandmotherMaacah from her position as queen mother because she had made a detestable Asherah pole. Asa chopped down the pole, crushed it, and burned it in the Kidron Valley.

¹⁷The high places were not removed from Israel, but Asa’s heart was fully devoted all his days.

¹⁸And he brought into the house of God the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated.

¹⁹And there was no war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.

Josiah Renews the Covenant

¹Then the king summoned all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.

²And he went up to the house of the LORD with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, as well as the priests and the prophets—all the people small and great—and in their hearing he read all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the LORD.

³So the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD to follow the LORD and to keep His commandments, decrees, and statutes with all his heart and all his soul, and to carry out the words of the covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant.

Josiah Destroys Idolatry

⁴Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests second in rank, and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the LORD all the articles made for Baal, Asherah, and all the host of heaven. And he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel.

⁵Josiah also did away with the idolatrous priests ordained by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem—those who had burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven.

⁶He brought the Asherah pole from the house of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem, and there he burned it, ground it to powder, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.

⁷He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the house of the LORD, where the women had woven tapestries for Asherah.

⁸Then Josiah brought all the priests from the cities of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense. He tore down the high places of the gates at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which was to the left of the city gate.

⁹Although the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.

¹⁰He also desecrated Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnomso that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter in the fireto Molech.

¹¹And he removed from the entrance to the house of the LORD the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the courtnear the chamber of an official named Nathan-melech. And Josiah burned up the chariots of the sun.

¹²He pulled down the altars that the kings of Judah had set up on the roof near the upper chamber of Ahaz, and the altars that Manasseh had set up in the two courtyards of the house of the LORD. The king pulverized them thereand threw their dust into the Kidron Valley.

¹³The king also desecrated the high places east of Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Corruption, which King Solomon of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcomthe abomination of the Ammonites.

¹⁴He smashed the sacred pillars to pieces, cut down the Asherah poles, and covered the sites with human bones.

¹⁵He even pulled down the altar at Bethel, the high place set up by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin. Then he burnedthe high place, ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole.

¹⁶And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the hillside, and he sent someone to take the bones out of the tombs, and he burned them on the altar to defile it, according to the word of the LORD proclaimed by the man of God who had foretold these things.

¹⁷Then the king asked, “What is this monument I see?”And the men of the city replied, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things that you have done to the altar of Bethel.”

¹⁸“Let him rest,” said Josiah. “Do not let anyone disturb his bones.”So they left his bones undisturbed, along with those of the prophet who had come from Samaria.

¹⁹Just as Josiah had done at Bethel, so also in the cities of Samaria he removed all the shrines of the high places set up by the kings of Israel who had provoked the LORD to anger.

²⁰On the altars he slaughtered all the priests of the high places, and he burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Josiah Restores the Passover

²¹The king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover of the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.”

²²No such Passover had been observed from the days of the judges who had governed Israel through all the days of the kings of Israel and Judah.

²³But in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign, this Passover was observed to the LORD in Jerusalem.

²⁴Furthermore, Josiah removed the mediums and spiritists, the household gods and idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. He did this to carry out the words of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had found in the house of the LORD.

²⁵Neither before nor after Josiah was there any king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, according to all the Law of Moses.

²⁶Nevertheless, the LORD did not turn away from the fury of His burning anger, which was kindled against Judah because of all that Manasseh had done to provoke Him to anger.

²⁷For the LORD had said, “I will remove Judah from My sight, just as I removed Israel. I will reject this city Jerusalem, which I chose, and the temple of which I said, ‘My Name shall be there.’”

The Death of Josiah

²⁸As for the rest of the acts of Josiah and all his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

²⁹During Josiah’s reign, Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt marched up to help the king of Assyria at the Euphrates River. King Josiah went out to confront him, but Neco faced him and killed him at Megiddo.

³⁰From Megiddo his servants carried his body in a chariot, brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah, anointed him, and made him king in place of his father.

Jehoahaz Succeeds Josiah

³¹Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah.

³²And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as his fathers had done.

³³And Pharaoh Neco imprisoned Jehoahaz at Riblah in the land of Hamath so that he could not reign in Jerusalem, and he imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silverand a talent of gold.

³⁴Then Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah, and he changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt, where he died.

³⁵So Jehoiakim paid the silver and gold to Pharaoh Neco, but to meet Pharaoh’s demand he taxed the land and exacted the silver and the gold from the people, each according to his wealth.

Jehoiakim Reigns in Judah

³⁶Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah; she was from Rumah.

³⁷And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as his fathers had done.

Babylon Controls Jehoiakim

¹During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded. So Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years, until he turned and rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar.

²And the LORD sent Chaldean,Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiders against Jehoiakim in order to destroy Judah, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through His servants the prophets.

³Surely this happened to Judah at the LORD’s command, to remove them from His presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all that he had done,

⁴and also for the innocent blood he had shed. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD was unwilling to forgive.

⁵As for the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, along with all his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

Jehoiachin Reigns in Judah

⁶And Jehoiakim rested with his fathers, and his son Jehoiachin reigned in his place.

⁷Now the king of Egypt did not march out of his land again, because the king of Babylon had taken all his territory, from the Brook of Egypt to the Euphrates River.

⁸Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan; she was from Jerusalem.

⁹And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as his father had done.

The Captivity of Jerusalem

¹⁰At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched up to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege.

¹¹And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it.

¹²Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials all surrendered to the king of Babylon.So in the eighth year of his reign, the king of Babylon took him captive.

¹³As the LORD had declared, Nebuchadnezzar also carried off all the treasures from the house of the LORD and the royal palace, and he cut into pieces all the gold articles that Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD.

¹⁴He carried into exile all Jerusalem—all the commanders and mighty men of valor, all the craftsmen and metalsmiths—ten thousand captives in all. Only the poorest people of the land remained.

¹⁵Nebuchadnezzar carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, as well as the king’s mother, his wives, his officials, and the leading men of the land. He took them into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

¹⁶The king of Babylon also brought into exile to Babylon all seven thousand men of valor and a thousand craftsmen and metalsmiths—all strong and fit for battle.

¹⁷Then the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah.

Zedekiah Reigns in Judah

¹⁸Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah.

¹⁹And Zedekiah did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as Jehoiakim had done.

²⁰For because of the anger of the LORD, all this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until He finally banished them from His presence.And Zedekiah also rebelled against the king of Babylon.

Thanksgiving for Deliverance

¹Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;His loving devotion endures forever.

²Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy

³and gathered from the lands,from east and west, from north and south.

⁴Some wandered in desert wastelands,finding no path to a city in which to dwell.

⁵They were hungry and thirsty;their soul fainted within them.

⁶Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,and He delivered them from their distress.

⁷He led them on a straight pathto reach a city where they could live.

⁸Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotionand His wonders to the sons of men.

⁹For He satisfies the thirstyand fills the hungry with good things.

¹⁰Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,prisoners in affliction and chains,

¹¹because they rebelled against the words of Godand despised the counsel of the Most High.

¹²He humbled their hearts with hard labor;they stumbled, and there was no one to help.

¹³Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,and He saved them from their distress.

¹⁴He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of deathand broke away their chains.

¹⁵Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotionand His wonders to the sons of men.

¹⁶For He has broken down the gates of bronzeand cut through the bars of iron.

¹⁷Fools, in their rebellious ways,and through their iniquities, suffered affliction.

¹⁸They loathed all foodand drew near to the gates of death.

¹⁹Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,and He saved them from their distress.

²⁰He sent forth His word and healed them;He rescued them from the Pit.

²¹Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotionand His wonders to the sons of men.

²²Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgivingand declare His works with rejoicing.

²³Others went out to sea in ships,conducting trade on the mighty waters.

²⁴They saw the works of the LORD,and His wonders in the deep.

²⁵For He spoke and raised a tempestthat lifted the waves of the sea.

²⁶They mounted up to the heavens, then sunk to the depths;their courage melted in their anguish.

²⁷They reeled and staggered like drunkards,and all their skill was useless.

²⁸Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,and He brought them out of their distress.

²⁹He calmed the storm to a whisper,and the waves of the seawere hushed.

³⁰They rejoiced in the silence,and He guided them to the harbor they desired.

³¹Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotionand His wonders to the sons of men.

³²Let them exalt Him in the assembly of the peopleand praise Him in the council of the elders.

³³He turns rivers into deserts,springs of water into thirsty ground,

³⁴and fruitful land into fields of salt,because of the wickedness of its dwellers.

³⁵He turns a desert into pools of waterand a dry land into flowing springs.

³⁶He causes the hungry to settle there,that they may establish a city in which to dwell.

³⁷They sow fields and plant vineyardsthat yield a fruitful harvest.

³⁸He blesses them, and they multiply greatly;He does not let their herds diminish.

³⁹When they are decreased and humbledby oppression, evil, and sorrow,

⁴⁰He pours out contempt on the noblesand makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.

⁴¹But He lifts the needy from afflictionand increases their families like flocks.

⁴²The upright see and rejoice,and all iniquity shuts its mouth.

⁴³Let him who is wise pay heed to these thingsand consider the loving devotion of the LORD.