05 August - 2 Kings 22-23 And 2 Chronicles 34-35

Jude Thu Aug 02, 2018 7:04 am

My soul doth magnify my YAH, and my spirit hath rejoiced in EL my Saviour; For HE that is mighty hath done to me great things; and Holy is HIS Name. Now unto HIM who is ever present in my helpless estate; who is able to keep me from falling and to present me faultless before the presence of His Glory with exceeding joy, unto the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, the only wise EL our Saviour be honour and glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and for ever Halleluyah!

2 KINGS 22

1Yoshiyahu was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Yeḏiḏah the daughter of Aḏayah of Botsqath.

2And he did what was right in the eyes of יהוה, and walked in all the ways of his father Dawiḏ, and did not turn aside, right or left.

3And it came to be, in the eighteenth year of Sovereign Yoshiyahu, that the sovereign sent Shaphan the scribe, son of Atsalyahu, son of Meshullam, to the House of יהוה, saying,

4“Go up to Ḥilqiyahu the high priest, and let him weigh the silver which has been brought into the House of יהוה, which the doorkeepers have gathered from the people.

5“And let them give it into the hand of those doing the work, who are the overseers in the House of יהוה. And let them give it to those who are in the House of יהוה doing the work, to repair the damages of the house,

6to carpenters and to builders and to stonemasons, and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house.

7“However, let not the silver given into their hand be reckoned with them, for they are acting trustworthily.”

8And Ḥilqiyahu the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Torah in the House of יהוה.” And Ḥilqiyah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.

9And Shaphan the scribe came to the sovereign, and brought word to the sovereign again, saying, “Your servants have gathered the silver that was found in the house, and have given it into the hand of those who do the work, who oversee the House of יהוה.”

10And Shaphan the scribe informed the sovereign, saying, “Ḥilqiyah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the sovereign.

11And it came to be, when the sovereign heard the words of the Book of the Torah, that he tore his garments,

12and the sovereign commanded Ḥilqiyah the priest, and Aḥiqam son of Shaphan, and Aḵbor son of Miḵayah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asayah a servant of the sovereign, saying,

13“Go, inquire of יהוה for me, for the people and for all Yehuḏah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of יהוה that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

14Then Ḥilqiyahu the priest, and Aḥiqam, and Aḵbor, and Shaphan, and Asayah went to Ḥuldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum son of Tiqwah, son of Ḥarḥas, keeper of the wardrobe. Now she was dwelling in Yerushalayim in the Second Quarter. And they spoke with her.

15And she said to them, “Thus said יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘Say to the man who sent you to Me,

16“Thus said יהוה, ‘See, I am bringing evil on this place and on its inhabitants, all the words of the book which the sovereign of Yehuḏah has read,

17because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other mighty ones to provoke Me with all the works of their hands. And so My wrath shall be kindled against this place and not be quenched.’ ” ’

18“And to the sovereign of Yehuḏah, who sent you to inquire of יהוה, say this to him, ‘Thus said יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “As for the words which you have heard,

19because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before יהוה when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a ruin and a curse, and did tore your garments and wept before Me, I also have heard,” declares יהוה.

20“Therefore, see, I am gathering you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, so that your eyes do not see all the evil I am bringing on this place.” ’ ” And they brought word to the sovereign.

2 KINGS 23

1And the sovereign sent, and they gathered all the elders of Yehuḏah and Yerushalayim to him.

2And the sovereign went up to the House of יהוה with all the men of Yehuḏah, and all the inhabitants of Yerushalayim with him, and the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the House of יהוה.

3And the sovereign stood by the column and made a covenant before יהוה, to follow יהוה and to guard His commands and His witnesses and His laws, with all his heart and all his being, to establish the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.

4Then the sovereign commanded Ḥilqiyahu the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the Hĕḵal of יהוה all the objects that were made for Ba‛al, and for Ashĕrah, and for all the host of the heavens. And he burned them outside Yerushalayim in the fields of Qiḏron, and took their ashes to Bĕyth Ěl.

5And he put down the black-robed priestsa whom the sovereigns of Yehuḏah had appointed to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Yehuḏah and in the places all around Yerushalayim, and those who burned incense to Ba‛al, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the constellations, and to all the host of the heavens.

6And he brought out the Ashĕrah from the House of יהוה, to the wadi Qiḏron outside Yerushalayim, and burned it at the wadi Qiḏron and ground it to ashes, and threw its ashes on the graves of the sons of the people.

7And he broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes that were in the House of יהוה, where the women wove tapestries for the Ashĕrah.

8And he brought all the priests from the cities of Yehuḏah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geḇa to Be’ĕrsheḇa, and broke down the high places at the gates which were at the entrance of the Gate of Yehoshua the governor of the city, which were to the left of the city gate.

9However, the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of יהוה in Yerushalayim, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers.

10And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, so that no man could make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Moleḵ.

11And he did away with the horses that the sovereigns of Yehuḏah had given to the sun, at the entrance to the House of יהוה, by the room of Nathan-Meleḵ the eunuch, that were in the court. And he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

12And the altars that were on the roof of the upper room of Aḥaz, which the sovereigns of Yehuḏah had made, and the altars which Menashsheh had made in the two courtyards of the House of יהוה, the sovereign broke down, and rushed from there, and threw their dust into the wadi Qiḏron.

13And the sovereign defiled the high places that were before Yerushalayim, which were on the right hand of the Mountain of Destruction, which Shelomoh sovereign of Yisra’ĕl built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Tsiḏonians, and for Kemosh the abomination of the Mo’aḇites, and for Milkom the abomination of the children of Ammon.

14And he broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Ashĕrim, and filled their places with the bones of men.

15And also the altar that was at Bĕyth Ěl, and the high place which Yaroḇ‛am son of Neḇat made, by which he made Yisra’ĕl sin, both that altar and the high place he broke down. And he burned the high place and ground it to dust, and burned the Ashĕrah.

16Then Yoshiyahu turned, and saw the tombs that were there on the mountain. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar, and defiled it according to the word of יהוה which the man of Elohim proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.

17And he said, “What tombstone is this that I see?” And the men of the city said to him, “It is the tomb of the man of Elohim who came from Yehuḏah and proclaimed these matters which you have done against the altar of Bĕyth Ěl.”

18And he said, “Let him alone, let no one move his bones.” So they left his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came from Shomeron.

19And Yoshiyahu also took away all the houses of the high places that were in the cities of Shomeron, which the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl had made to provoke. And he did to them according to all the deeds he did in Bĕyth Ěl.

20And he slaughtered all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned men’s bones on them, and went back to Yerushalayim.

21And the sovereign commanded all the people, saying, “Prepare the Passover to יהוה your Elohim, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.”

22For such a Passover had not been prepared since the days of the rulers who ruled Yisra’ĕl, nor in all the days of the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl and the sovereigns of Yehuḏah,

23but in the eighteenth year of Sovereign Yoshiyahu this Passover was prepared before יהוה in Yerushalayim.

24And also, Yoshiyahu put away those who consulted mediums and spiritists, and the household mighty ones and idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Yehuḏah and in Yerushalayim, in order to establish the words of the Torah which were written in the book that Ḥilqiyahu the priest found in the House of יהוה.

25And before him there was no sovereign like him, who turned back to יהוה with all his heart, and with all his being, and with all his might, according to all the Torah of Mosheh; and after him none rose up like him.

26However, יהוה did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath, with which His wrath burned against Yehuḏah, because of all the provocations with which Menashsheh had provoked Him.

27And יהוה said, “Even Yehuḏah I shall remove from My presence, as I have removed Yisra’ĕl, and I shall reject this city Yerushalayim which I have chosen, and the House of which I said, ‘My Name is there.’ ”

28And the rest of the acts of Yoshiyahu, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the sovereigns of Yehuḏah?

29In his days Pharaoh Neḵo sovereign of Mitsrayim went up against the sovereign of Ashshur, to the River Euphrates. And Sovereign Yoshiyahu went out to him, and he killed him at Meg̅iddo when he saw him.

30And his servants conveyed his body in a chariot from Meg̅iddo, and brought him to Yerushalayim, and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Yeho’aḥaz son of Yoshiyahu, and anointed him, and set him up to reign in his father’s place.

31Yeho’aḥaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Ḥamutal the daughter of Yirmeyahu of Liḇnah.

32And he did evil in the eyes of יהוה, according to all that his fathers did.

33And Pharaoh Neḵo imprisoned him at Riblah in the land of Ḥamath, to keep him from reigning in Yerushalayim. And he imposed on the land a fine of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.

34And Pharaoh Neḵo set up Elyaqim son of Yoshiyahu to reign in place of his father Yoshiyahu, and changed his name to Yehoyaqim. And Pharaoh took Yeho’aḥaz and went to Mitsrayim, and he died there.

35And Yehoyaqim gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh. Only, he taxed the land to give silver according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land, from every one according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neḵo.

36Yehoyaqim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Zeḇiḏah the daughter of Peḏayah of Rumah.

37And he did evil in the eyes of יהוה, according to all that his fathers did.

2 CHRONICLES 34

1Yoshiyahu was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Yerushalayim.

2And he did what was right in the eyes of יהוה, and walked in the ways of his father Dawiḏ, and did not turn aside, right or left.

3And in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the Elohim of his father Dawiḏ. And in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Yehuḏah and Yerushalayim from the high places, and the Ashĕrim, and the carved images, and the moulded images.

4And they broke down the altars of the Ba‛als in his presence, and the sun-pillars which were above them he cut down. And the Ashĕrim, and the carved images, and the moulded images he smashed, and ground them up and strewed it on the graves of those who had offered to them.

5And he burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and cleansed Yehuḏah and Yerushalayim,

6and in the cities of Menashsheh, and Ephrayim, and Shim‛on, as far as Naphtali, in their ruins all around.

7And he broke down the altars and the Ashĕrim, and ground the carved images into dust, and cut down all the sun-pillars throughout all the land of Yisra’ĕl, and returned to Yerushalayim.

8And in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had cleansed the land and the House, he sent Shaphan son of Atsalyahu, and Ma‛asĕyahu the head of the city, and Yo’aḥ son of Yo’aḥaz the recorder, to repair the House of יהוה his Elohim.

9And they went to Ḥilqiyahu the high priest, and they gave the silver that was brought into the House of Elohim, which the Lĕwites who kept the doors had gathered from the hand of Menashsheh and Ephrayim, and from all the remnant of Yisra’ĕl, and from all Yehuḏah and Binyamin, and which they had brought back to Yerushalayim,

10and they gave it in the hand of the workmen, those appointed over the House of יהוה. And they gave it to the workmen who worked in the House of יהוה, to repair and strengthen the house.

11And they gave it to the craftsmen and to the builders, to buy hewn stone and timber for couplings and for beams for the houses which the sovereigns of Yehuḏah had destroyed.

12And the men did the work trustworthily. And over them were appointed Yaḥath and Oḇaḏyahu the Lĕwites, of the sons of Merari, and Zeḵaryah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Qehathites, to oversee; and of the Lĕwites, all of whom were skilled in instruments of song,

13and over the burden bearers, and overseers of all who did work in any kind of service. And of the Lĕwites were scribes, and officers, and gatekeepers.

14And when they brought out the silver that was brought into the House of יהוה, Ḥilqiyahu the priest found the Book of the Torah of יהוה given by Mosheh.

15Then Ḥilqiyahu responded and said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Torah in the House of יהוה.” And Ḥilqiyahu gave the book to Shaphan.

16And Shaphan brought the book to the sovereign, and brought the sovereign word, saying, “All that has been given into the hand of your servants, they are doing.

17“And they have poured out the silver that was found in the House of יהוה, and have given it into the hand of those appointed and the workmen.”

18And Shaphan the scribe informed the sovereign, saying, “Ḥilqiyahu the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the sovereign.

19And it came to be, when the sovereign heard the words of the Torah, that he tore his garments.

20And the sovereign commanded Ḥilqiyahu, Aḥiqam son of Shaphan, and Aḇdon son of Miḵah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asayah a servant of the sovereign, saying,

21“Go, inquire of יהוה for me, and for him who is left in Yisra’ĕl and in Yehuḏah, concerning the words of the book that is found. For great is the wrath of יהוה that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not guarded the Word of יהוה, to do according to all that is written in this book.”

22Then Ḥilqiyahu and those of the sovereign went to Ḥuldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum son of Toqhath, son of Ḥasrah, keeper of the wardrobe, who was dwelling in Yerushalayim in the Second Quarter. And they spoke to her about this.

23And she said to them, “Thus said יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘Say to the man who sent you to Me,

24“Thus said יהוה, ‘See, I am bringing evil on this place and on its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the sovereign of Yehuḏah,

25because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other mighty ones, to provoke Me with all the works of their hands. Therefore My wrath is poured out on this place, and is not quenched.’ ” ’

26“And to the sovereign of Yehuḏah, who sent you to inquire of יהוה, say this to him, ‘Thus said יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, whose words you have heard,

27“Because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before Elohim when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and you humbled yourself before Me, and you tore your garments and wept before Me, I also have heard,” declares יהוה.

28“See, I am gathering you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, so that your eyes would not see all the evil that I am bringing on this place and its inhabitants.” ’ ” So they brought back word to the sovereign.

29And the sovereign sent and gathered all the elders of Yehuḏah and Yerushalayim.

30And the sovereign went up to the House of יהוה with all the men of Yehuḏah and the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, and the priests and the Lĕwites, and all the people, both great and small. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the House of יהוה.

31And the sovereign stood in his place and made a covenant before יהוה, to follow יהוה and to guard His commands and His witnesses and His laws, with all his heart and all his being, to do the words of the covenant that were written in this book.

32And he made stand all who were present in Yerushalayim and Binyamin. And the inhabitants of Yerushalayim did according to the covenant of Elohim, the Elohim of their fathers.

33And Yoshiyahu removed all the abominations from all the lands that belonged to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and made all who were present in Yisra’ĕl diligently serve יהוה their Elohim. All his days they did not turn away from following יהוה Elohim of their fathers.

2 CHRONICLES 35

1And Yoshiyahu performed a Passover to יהוה in Yerushalayim, and they slaughtered the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

2And he set the priests in their duties and strengthened them for the service of the House of יהוה,

3and said to the Lĕwites who were teaching all Yisra’ĕl, who were set-apart to יהוה, “Put the set-apart ark in the house which Shelomoh son of Dawiḏ, sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, built. It is no longer to be a burden on your shoulders. Now serve יהוה your Elohim and His people Yisra’ĕl,

4and prepare by the fathers’ houses, according to your divisions, by the writing of Dawiḏ sovereign of Yisra’ĕl and by the writing of Shelomoh his son.

5“And stand in the set-apart place by the divisions of the fathers’ houses of your brothers the lay people, and the portion of the father’s house of the Lĕwites.

6“And slaughter the Passover, and set yourselves apart, and prepare for your brothers, to do according to the word of יהוה by the hand of Mosheh.”

7And Yoshiyahu gave the lay people lambs and young goats from the flock, all for Passover offerings for everyone present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand cattle – these were from the sovereign’s possessions.

8And his leaders contributed a voluntary offering to the people, to the priests, and to the Lĕwites. Ḥilqiyah, and Zeḵaryahu, and Yeḥi’ĕl, leaders of the House of Elohim, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings two thousand six hundred, and three hundred cattle;

9and Konanyahu, his brothers Shemayahu and Nethanĕ’l, and Ḥashaḇyahu and Ye‛i’ĕl and Yozaḇaḏ, chiefs of the Lĕwites, gave to the Lĕwites for Passover offerings five thousand, and five hundred cattle.

10And the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their places, and the Lĕwites in their divisions, according to the command of the sovereign,

11and they slaughtered the Passover. And the priests sprinkled out of their hands, while the Lĕwites were skinning.

12And they removed the burnt offerings, to give them to the divisions of the fathers’ houses of the lay people, to bring to יהוה, as it is written in the Book of Mosheh, and the same with the cattle.

13So they roasted the Passover offerings with fire according to the right-ruling, and they boiled the set-apart offerings in pots, and in cauldrons, and in bowls, and brought them speedily to all the lay people.

14And afterward they prepared for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aharon, were offering burnt offerings and fat until night. So the Lĕwites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aharon.

15And the singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their places, according to the command of Dawiḏ, and Asaph, and Hĕman, and Yeḏuthun the seer of the sovereign. And the gatekeepers at each gate did not have to leave their position, because their brothers the Lĕwites prepared for them.

16And all the service of יהוה was prepared that day, to perform the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of יהוה, according to the command of Sovereign Yoshiyahu.

17And the children of Yisra’ĕl who were present performed the Passover at that time, and the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days.

18There had not been a Passover performed in Yisra’ĕl like it since the days of Shemu’ĕl the prophet. And none of the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl had performed such a Passover as Yoshiyahu performed, with the priests and the Lĕwites, and all Yehuḏah and Yisra’ĕl who were present, and the inhabitants of Yerushalayim.

19In the eighteenth year of the reign of Yoshiyahu this Passover was performed.

20After all this, when Yoshiyahu had prepared the House, Neḵo sovereign of Mitsrayim came up to fight against Karkemish by the Euphrates. And Yoshiyahu went out against him.

21And he sent messengers to him, saying, “What have I to do with you, sovereign of Yehuḏah? I am not coming against you this day, but against the house with which I am fighting, for Elohim commanded me to make haste. Leave Elohim alone, who is with me, lest He destroy you.”

22However, Yoshiyahu would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself to fight against him, and did not listen to the words of Neḵo from the mouth of Elohim, and came to fight in the Valley of Meg̅iddo.

23And the archers shot at Sovereign Yoshiyahu. And the sovereign said to his servants, “Take me away, for I am severely wounded.”

24And his servants took him out of that chariot and put him in the second chariot that he had, and they brought him to Yerushalayim. And he died, and was buried in one of the tombs of his fathers. And all Yehuḏah and Yerushalayim were mourning for Yoshiyahu.

25And Yirmeyahu lamented for Yoshiyahu. And to this day all the singing men and the singing women speak of Yoshiyahu in their lamentations, and made it a law in Yisra’ĕl. And see, they are written in the Laments.

26And the rest of the acts of Yoshiyahu and his kindness, according to what was written in the Torah of יהוה,

27and his acts from the first to the last, see, they are written in the book of the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl and Yehuḏah.