Josiah's Reforms

¹wThen the king sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him. ²And the king went up to the house of the Lord, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And xhe read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant ythat had been found in the house of the Lord. ³And the king stood zby the pillar and amade a covenant before the Lord, bto walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant.

⁴And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests cof the second order and the keepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels made for dBaal, for eAsherah, and for all the host of heaven. fHe burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. ⁵And he deposed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and the moon and the constellations gand all the host of the heavens. ⁶And he brought out hthe Asherah from the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, iand burned it at the brook Kidron jand beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves kof the common people. ⁷And he broke down the houses of lthe male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the Lord, mwhere the women wove hangings for hthe Asherah. ⁸And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings, from nGeba to Beersheba. And he broke 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 gate of the city. ⁹oHowever, the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. ¹⁰And he defiled pTopheth, which is qin the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, rthat no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to sMolech.1 ¹¹And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts.2 And he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. ¹²And the altars ton the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars uthat Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, he pulled down and broke in pieces3 and cast the dust of them vinto the brook Kidron. ¹³And the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of wthe mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for xAshtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for yChemosh the abomination of Moab, and for zMilcom the abomination of the Ammonites. ¹⁴And he broke in pieces the apillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with the bones of men.

¹⁵Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected bby Jeroboam the son of Nebat, cwho made Israel to sin, dthat altar with the high place he pulled down and burned,4 reducing it to dust. He also burned the Asherah. ¹⁶And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it, eaccording to the word of the Lord that the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things. ¹⁷Then he said, “What is that monument that I see?” And the men of the city told him, f“It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted5 these things that you have done against the altar at Bethel.” ¹⁸And he said, “Let him be; let no man move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones gof the prophet who came out of Samaria. ¹⁹And Josiah removed all the shrines also of the high places that were hin the cities of Samaria, which kings of Israel had made, provoking the Lord to anger. He did to them according to all that he had done at Bethel. ²⁰And ihe sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, jand burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Josiah Restores the Passover

²¹And the king commanded all the people, k“Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, las it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” ²²mFor no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. ²³But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem.

²⁴Moreover, Josiah put away nthe mediums and the necromancers and othe household gods and pthe idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish qthe words of the law that were written in the book rthat Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. ²⁵sBefore him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.

²⁶Still the Lord did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, tbecause of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. ²⁷And the Lord said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight, uas I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, vand the house of which I said, My name shall be there.”

Josiah's Death in Battle

²⁸Now 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? ²⁹wIn his days xPharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. King Josiah went to meet him, and Pharaoh Neco killed him at yMegiddo, as soon as he saw him. ³⁰zAnd his servants carried him dead in a chariot from yMegiddo and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. aAnd the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's place.

Jehoahaz's Reign and Captivity

³¹bJehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was cHamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ³²And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, daccording to all that his fathers had done. ³³And xPharaoh Neco put him in bonds at eRiblah in the land of fHamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents6 of silver and a talent of gold. ³⁴And xPharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and gchanged his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, hand he came to Egypt and died there. ³⁵And Jehoiakim igave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco.

Jehoiakim Reigns in Judah

³⁶jJehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. ³⁷And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, daccording to all that his fathers had done.

¹For every high priest chosen from among men jis appointed to act on behalf of men kin relation to God, lto offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. ²mHe can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself nis beset with weakness. ³Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins ojust as he does for those of the people. ⁴And pno one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, qjust as Aaron was.

⁵So also Christ rdid not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him,

s“You are my Son,

today I have begotten you”;

⁶as he says also in another place,

t“You are a priest forever,

after the order of Melchizedek.”

⁷In the days of his flesh, uJesus1 offered up prayers and supplications, vwith loud cries and tears, to him wwho was able to save him from death, and xhe was heard because of his reverence. ⁸Although yhe was a son, zhe learned obedience through what he suffered. ⁹And abeing made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, ¹⁰being designated by God a high priest bafter the order of Melchizedek.

Warning Against Apostasy

¹¹About this we have much to say, and it is chard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. ¹²For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again dthe basic principles of the oracles of God. You need emilk, not solid food, ¹³for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is fa child. ¹⁴But solid food is for gthe mature, for those who have their powers hof discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

The Day of the Lord

¹jBlow a trumpet in kZion;

sound an alarm on kmy holy mountain!

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,

for lthe day of the Lord is coming; it is near,

²ma day of darkness and gloom,

ma day of clouds and thick darkness!

Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains

na great and powerful people;

otheir like has never been before,

nor will be again after them

through the years of all generations.

³pFire devours before them,

and behind them a flame burns.

The land is like qthe garden of Eden before them,

but rbehind them a desolate wilderness,

and nothing escapes them.

⁴sTheir appearance is like the appearance of horses,

and like war horses they run.

⁵tAs with the rumbling of chariots,

they leap on the tops of the mountains,

like the crackling of ua flame of fire

devouring the stubble,

nlike a powerful army

drawn up for battle.

⁶Before them peoples are in anguish;

vall faces grow pale.

⁷Like warriors they charge;

like soldiers they scale the wall.

They march each on his way;

they do not swerve from their paths.

⁸They do not jostle one another;

weach marches in his path;

they burst through the weapons

and are not halted.

⁹xThey leap upon the city,

they run upon the walls,

ythey climb up into the houses,

ythey enter through the windows zlike a thief.

¹⁰aThe earth quakes before them;

the heavens tremble.

bThe sun and the moon are darkened,

and the stars withdraw their shining.

¹¹cThe Lord utters his voice

before dhis army,

for his camp is exceedingly great;

ehe who executes his word is powerful.

fFor the day of the Lord is ggreat and very awesome;

hwho can endure it?

Return to the Lord

¹²“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,

i“return to me with all your heart,

jwith fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;

¹³and krend your hearts and not lyour garments.”

Return to the Lord your God,

mfor he is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;

nand he relents over disaster.

¹⁴oWho knows whether he will not turn and relent,

and pleave a blessing behind him,

qa grain offering and a drink offering

for the Lord your God?

¹⁵rBlow the trumpet in Zion;

sconsecrate a fast;

call a solemn assembly;

¹⁶gather the people.

tConsecrate the congregation;

assemble the elders;

ugather the children,

even nursing infants.

vLet the bridegroom leave his room,

and the bride her chamber.

¹⁷wBetween the xvestibule and the yaltar

zlet the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep

and say, “Spare your people, O Lord,

and make not your heritage a reproach,

a byword among the nations.1

aWhy should they say among the peoples,

‘Where is their God?’”

The Lord Had Pity

¹⁸bThen the Lord became jealous for his land

cand had pity on his people.

¹⁹The Lord answered and said to his people,

“Behold, dI am sending to you

grain, wine, and oil,

dand you will be satisfied;

and I will no more make you

a reproach among the nations.

²⁰“I will remove the northerner far from you,

and drive him into a parched and desolate land,

his vanguard2 into ethe eastern sea,

and his rear guard3 into fthe western sea;

gthe stench and foul smell of him will rise,

for he has done great things.

²¹“Fear not, O land;

be glad and rejoice,

for hthe Lord has done great things!

²²Fear not, iyou beasts of the field,

for jthe pastures of the wilderness are green;

kthe tree bears its fruit;

the fig tree and kvine give their full yield.

²³l“Be glad, O children of Zion,

and lrejoice in the Lord your God,

for he has given mthe early rain for your vindication;

he has poured down for you abundant rain,

mthe early and nthe latter rain, as before.

²⁴“The threshing floors shall be full of grain;

the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

²⁵I will restore4 to you the years

that othe swarming locust has eaten,

othe hopper, othe destroyer, and othe cutter,

pmy great army, which I sent among you.

²⁶q“You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,

and praise the name of the Lord your God,

who has dealt wondrously with you.

And my people rshall never again be put to shame.

²⁷sYou shall know that I am tin the midst of Israel,

and that uI am the Lord your God vand there is none else.

And my people rshall never again be put to shame.

The Lord Will Pour Out His Spirit

²⁸5 w“And it shall come to pass afterward,

that xI will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;

yyour sons and zyour daughters shall prophesy,

your old men shall dream dreams,

and your young men shall see visions.

²⁹aEven on the male and female servants

in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

³⁰“And I will show bwonders in the heavens and bon the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. ³¹cThe sun shall be turned to darkness, dand the moon to blood, ebefore the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. ³²And it shall come to pass that feveryone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. gFor in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among hthe survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.

You Are My Refuge

A Maskil1 of David, when he was in kthe cave. A Prayer.

¹With my voice I lcry out to the Lord;

with my voice I mplead for mercy to the Lord.

²I npour out my complaint before him;

I tell my trouble before him.

³When my spirit ofaints within me,

you know my way!

In the path where I walk

they have phidden a trap for me.

⁴qLook to the rright and see:

sthere is none who takes notice of me;

tno refuge remains to me;

no one cares for my soul.

⁵I cry to you, O Lord;

I say, “You are my urefuge,

my vportion in wthe land of the living.”

⁶xAttend to my cry,

for yI am brought very low!

Deliver me from my persecutors,

zfor they are too strong for me!

⁷aBring me out of prison,

that I may give thanks to your name!

The righteous will surround me,

for you will bdeal bountifully with me.