2 Kings 23-25

Chapter 23

1 Then the king sent messengers, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. ² And the king went up to the house of the Lord and every man of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, the prophets, and all the people, from the small to the great; and he read in their ^[a]presence all the words of the Book of the Covenant which was found in the house of the Lord. ³ And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments, His provisions, and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people ^[b]entered into the covenant.

⁴ Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of the second order, and the ^[c]doorkeepers to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the utensils that had been made for Baal, for ^[d]Asherah, and for all the heavenly ^[e]lights; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley, and carried their ashes to Bethel. ⁵ Then he did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem, as well as those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the remaining heavenly ^[f]lights. ⁶ He also brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord outside Jerusalem to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and ground it to dust, and threw its dust on the graves of the ^[g]common people. ⁷ And he tore down the cubicles of the male cult prostitutes which were in the house of the Lord, where the women were weaving ^[h]hangings for the Asherah. ⁸ Then he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; and he tore down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one’s left at the city gate. ⁹ Nevertheless the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. ¹⁰ He also defiled ^[i]Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, so that no one would make his son or his daughter pass through the fire for Molech. ¹¹ And he did away with the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the official, which was at the ^[j]covered courtyard; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. ¹² The king also tore down the altars that were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courtyards of the house of the Lord; and he ^[k]smashed them there and threw their dust into the brook Kidron. ¹³ And the king defiled the high places that were opposite Jerusalem, which were on the right of the mount of destruction which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the sons of Ammon. ¹⁴ He also smashed to pieces the memorial stones and cut down the ^[l]Asherim, and filled their places with human bones.

¹⁵ Furthermore, the altar that was at Bethel and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who misled Israel into sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he tore down. Then he burned the high place, ground the remains to dust, and burned the Asherah. ¹⁶ Now when Josiah turned, he saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent men and took the bones from the graves, and burned them on the altar and defiled it in accordance with the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, the one who proclaimed these things. ¹⁷ Then he said, “What is this gravestone there that I see?” And 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 against the altar of Bethel.” ¹⁸ And he said, “Leave him alone; no one is to disturb his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria. ¹⁹ Then Josiah also removed all the houses of the high places which were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had constructed, ^[m]provoking the Lord to anger; and he did to them ^[n]just as he had done in Bethel. ²⁰ And he slaughtered all the priests of the high places who were there on the altars, and burned human bones on them; then he returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ Then the king commanded all the people, saying, “Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” ²² Truly such a Passover had not been celebrated since the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. ²³ But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.

²⁴ Moreover, Josiah removed the mediums, the spiritists, the ^[o]household idols, the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, so that he might ^[p]fulfill the words of the Law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. ²⁵ Before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart, all his soul, and all his might, in conformity to all the Law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.

²⁶ Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath with which His anger burned against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. ²⁷ And the Lord said, “I will also remove Judah from My sight, just as I have removed Israel. And I will reject this city which I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the ^[q]temple of which I said, ‘My name shall be there!’”

²⁸ 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? ²⁹ In his days Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria at the river Euphrates. And King Josiah went to meet him, and when Pharaoh Neco saw him he killed him at Megiddo. ³⁰ His servants carried ^[r]his body in a chariot from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.

³¹ Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ³² He did evil in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with all that his forefathers had done. ³³ And Pharaoh Neco imprisoned him at Riblah in the land of Hamath, so that he would not reign in Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a fine of ^[s]a hundred talents of silver and ^[t]a talent of gold.

³⁴ Then Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of his father Josiah, and he changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz and ^[u]brought him to Egypt, and he died there. ³⁵ So Jehoiakim gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh, but he assessed the land in order to give the money at the ^[v]command of Pharaoh. He collected the silver and gold from the people of the land, each according to his assessment, to give to Pharaoh Neco.

³⁶ Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. ³⁷ He did evil in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with all that his forefathers had done.

Chapter 24

1 In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years; then he turned and revolted against him. ² And the Lord sent against him bands of Chaldeans, bands of Arameans, bands of Moabites, and bands of Ammonites. He sent them against Judah to destroy it, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He had spoken through His servants the prophets. ³ It indeed came upon Judah at the ^[w]command of the Lord, to remove them from His sight due to the sins of Manasseh, in accordance with everything that he had done, ⁴ and also for the innocent blood which he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and the Lord was unwilling to forgive. ⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

⁶ So Jehoiakim ^[x]lay down with his fathers, and his son Jehoiachin became king in his place. ⁷ Now the king of Egypt did not come out of his land again, because the king of Babylon had taken everything that belonged to the king of Egypt from the brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates.

⁸ Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. ⁹ He did evil in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with all that his father had done.

¹⁰ At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon went up to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege. ¹¹ And Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to the city, while his servants were besieging it. ¹² Then Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials. And the king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his reign. ¹³ He also brought out from there all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house, and he smashed all the articles of gold that Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, just as the Lord had said. ¹⁴ Then he led into exile all the people of Jerusalem and all the commanders and all the valiant warriors, ten thousand exiles, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None were left except the poorest people of the land.

¹⁵ So he led Jehoiachin into exile to Babylon; also the king’s mother, the king’s wives, and his officials and the leading men of the land, he led into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ¹⁶ And all the valiant men, seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths, a thousand, all strong and fit for war, these too the king of Babylon brought into exile to Babylon.

¹⁷ Then the king of Babylon made ^[y]his uncle Mattaniah king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.

¹⁸ Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ¹⁹ He did evil in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with everything that Jehoiakim had done. ²⁰ For it was due to the anger of the Lord that this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until He cast them out of His presence. And Zedekiah revolted against the king of Babylon.

25 Now in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, camped against it, and built a siege wall all around ^[z]it. ² So the city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. ³ On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. ⁴ Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls that were beside the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And ^[aa]they went by way of the Arabah. ⁵ But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. ⁶ Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and he ^[ab]passed sentence on him. ⁷ And they slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, then put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him with bronze shackles, and brought him to Babylon.

⁸ Now on the seventh day of the fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguards, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. ⁹ And he burned the house of the Lord, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every great house he burned with fire. ¹⁰ So all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the bodyguards tore down the walls around Jerusalem. ¹¹ Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguards, led into exile the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the ^[ac]people. ¹² But the captain of the bodyguards left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.

¹³ Now the Chaldeans smashed to pieces the bronze pillars which were in the house of the Lord, and the stands and the bronze ^[ad]Sea which were in the house of the Lord, and carried the ^[ae]bronze to Babylon. ¹⁴ And they took away the pots, the shovels, the ^[af]shears, the spoons, and all the bronze utensils ^[ag]which were used in temple service. ¹⁵ The captain of the bodyguards also took away the firepans and the basins, what was fine gold and what was fine silver. ¹⁶ The two pillars, the one Sea, and the stands which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord—^[ah]the bronze of all these articles was too heavy to weigh. ¹⁷ The height of the one pillar was ^[ai]eighteen cubits, and a bronze capital was on it; the height of the capital was ^[aj]three cubits, with latticework and pomegranates on the capital all around, all of bronze. And the second pillar was like these, same features with latticework.

¹⁸ Then the captain of the bodyguards took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest, with the three ^[ak]doorkeepers. ¹⁹ And from the city he took one official who was overseer of the men of war, and five ^[al]of the king’s advisers who were found in the city; and the ^[am]scribe of the captain of the army who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city. ²⁰ Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguards took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. ²¹ Then the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah went into exile from its land.

²² Now as for the people who were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan over them. ²³ When all the captains of the forces, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan the son of Kareah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men. ²⁴ And Gedaliah swore to them and their men and said to them, “Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans; live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well for you.”

²⁵ But it happened in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal ^[an]family, came ^[ao]with ten men and struck Gedaliah down so that he died along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. ²⁶ Then all the people, from the small to the great, and the captains of the forces set out and came to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

²⁷ Now it came about in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he became king, ^[ap]released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison; ²⁸ and he spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon. ²⁹ So ^[aq]Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes, and ^[ar]had his meals in ^[as]the king’s presence regularly all the days of his life; ³⁰ and as his allowance, a regular allowance was given to him by the king, a portion for each day, all the days of his life.