3 In the eighth month of the eighteenth year of King Yoshiyah’s reign, he sent the scribe Shafan (the son of Atsalyah the son of Meshullam) to the temple, saying 4 “Go to the high priest Hilkiyah and get him to count the silver that was brought into Yahweh’s temple, which the door-keepers collected from the people. 5 Then have it given to the supervisors of the temple repairs, and then they can pay the workers who are repairing the damage—6 the craftsmen, builders, and masons, as well as buying wood and quarried stones for the repairs.” 7 They won’t need to submit detailed accounts for it because they’re trustworthy people.[ref]

8 During the repairs, the hight priest Hilkiyah told the scribe Shafan, “I found a scroll in the temple with Yahweh’s instructions written on it.” So Hilkiyah gave the scroll to Shafan to read. 9 Then Shafan the scribe went to the king with this report, “Your servants handed over the money that had been collected in the temple, and they gave it to the supervisors of the workers doing the repairs.” 10 Then he added, “And the priest Hilkiyah gave me a scroll.” Then he read it out loud to King Yoshiyah.

11 When the king heard the contents of the scroll, he tore his clothes 12 and commanded the priest Hilkiyah, Shafan’s son Ahikam, Mikayah’s son Akbor, the scribe Shafan, and the king’s servant Asayah, 13 “Go and inquire from Yahweh on my behalf and on behalf of the people and all Yehudah, concerning the words of this scroll that was found. Because it sounds like Yahweh must be very angry at us because our predecessors didn’t listen to what’s written on this scroll and didn’t do what was expected of us.”

14 So Hilkiyah the priest and Ahikam, Akbor, Shafan, and Asayah went to the prophetess Huldah (the wife of Shallum, the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the one in charge of looking after the priests’ uniforms who lived in the newer part of Yerushalem), and they spoke to her. 15 She told them that Yisrael’s god Yahweh had said, “Tell the man who sent you all to me 16 that Yahweh says this: I’m going to bring disaster to this place and its inhabitants, just like it’s written in the scroll that the king read 17 because they abandoned me. They offered sacrifices to other gods in order to make me angry at everything they do, so now my anger will be directed against this place and it’s not stoppable. 18 But to the king of Yehudah who sent you all to seek Yahweh, tell him that Yisrael’s god Yahweh says: The words that you heard from the scroll, 19 because you’re open to learn and because you humbled yourself in front of Yahweh when you heard my promise that this place and its inhabitants would become a horror and a curse, and because you’ve torn your clothes and wept in front of me, then Yahweh said that he’s taken notice of you. 20 Because of that, he’ll allow you to die and be buried peacefully, and you yourself won’t witness the destruction that will come to this place.”

So they relayed those messages back to King Yoshiyah.

23 Then King Yoshiyah summoned all the elders of Yerushalem and across Yehudah, 2 and he went to the temple, and all the inhabitants of Yerushalem and from all across Yehudah went with him, along with the priests and prophets, and all the people from the most to the least important. Then he read to them every word on the scroll of the agreement that had been found in Yahweh’s residence. 3 Then the king stood by the pillar and he made a commitment in front of Yahweh to follow Yahweh and to obey his commands and testimonies and statutes with all sincerity, and with every desire to respect the words of that agreement that had been written on that scroll. All the people were also included in that commitment.

4 Then the king commanded the high priest Hilkiyah and the other priests, and the temple guards to bring out all the utensils that were made for Baal and Asherah and for all the constellations, and he burnt them outside Yerushalem in the Kidron countryside, and carried their ashes to Beyt-El. 5 He got rid of the pagan priests that the kings of Yehudah had appointed to burn incense in the hilltop shrines around Yerushalem and across the rest of Yehudah, and the ones who burnt incense to Baal, and to the sun and moon and to the planets and constellations. 6 He got the Asherah pole out from Yahweh’s temple and burnt it in the Kidron valley outside Yerushalem, then he pounded the ashes to dust and threw it over people’s graves. 7 He demolished the cubicles of the male temple prostitutes that were inside Yahweh’s temple where the women were weaving Asherah coverings.[fn] 8 He brought all the priests to Yerushalem from the cities of Yehudah, and he desecrated the hilltop shrines where the priests had burnt incense, from Geba to Beer-Sheva. He demolished the hilltop shrines that Yehoshua (a city official) had built near the city gate (on the left of the gate as you entered the city). 9 However those priests from those hilltop shrines weren’t allowed to serve at the altar in Yerushalem, but they were allowed to eat unleavened bread like the other priests.

10 Yoshiyah also desecrated the Tofet, which was in the Ben-Hinnom valley, so that the people couldn’t sacrifice their children to Molek. 11 The horses that the kings of Yehudah had offered to the sun, he prevented from approaching the hall of the official Natan-Melek that was in the courtyards of Yahweh’s temple, and he set fire to the chariots of the sun. 12 Then the king tore down the altars that were on the roof in Ahaz’s upper chamber that the kings of Yehudah made, and the altars that Menashsheh made in the two courts of Yahweh’s temple and he threw the rubble into the Kidron valley. 13 The king desecrated the hilltop shrines that faced Yerushalem—they were south of the Mt. of Destruction’ (the Mt. of Olives). King Shelomoh had built shrines for Ashtarot (the disgusting god of the Sidonians) and for Kemosh (the disgusting god of Moab) and for Molek (the disgusting god of the Ammonites). 14 He also smashed the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah poles, then he desecrated those places by filling them with human bones.

15 He also demolished the altar that was in Beyt-El—the hilltop shrine that Nebat’s son Yarave’am had made when he’d caused Yisrael to sin. He demolished both that altar and the hilltop shrine, then he burnt the shrine. He crushed everything to dust, and he burnt the Asherah pole. 16 As Yoshiyah turned around, he noticed some graves that were there on the hillside, so he had some bones removed from the graves, and he burnt them on the altar to desecrate it. This fulfilled what Yahweh had said through the man of God who’d proclaimed these things.[ref] 17 Yoshiyah turned again and asked, “Whose tomb is that?”

“It’s the prophet’s tomb,” the people of Beyt-El replied, “The one who came from Yehudah and predicted that what you just did to that altar would happen.” 18 “Don’t disturb it then,” the king ordered. “Don’t let anyone remove his bones.”

So they left his bones alone, along with the bones of the other prophet who came from Shomron. 19 So King Yoshiyah removed all the hilltop shrines that the Israeli kings had made in the cities of Shomron, provoking Yahweh’s anger. The king destroyed them just like he’d done to the ones in Beyt-El. 20 He executed all the priests from those hilltop shrines on the altars there, and then he burnt human bones on them to desecrate them. Then he returned to Yerushalem.

21 Then the king commanded all the people, “Celebrate ‘pass-over’ for your god Yahweh according to what’s written on this scroll with the agreement.” 22 Since the days of the leaders who judged Yisrael, or in all the days of the kings of Yisrael and Yehudah, a ‘pass-over’ had never been celebrated like that one 23 in the eighteenth year of King Yoshiyah’s reign. That ‘pass-over’ celebration in Yerushalem was to honour Yahweh.

24 King Yoshiyah also removed the ritual pits and the soothsayers, and the images and idols, and all the abhorrences that were seen in Yerushalem and in the Yehudah region, in his diligence to obey everything that was written on the scroll that the priest Hilkiyah found in the temple. 25 No other king had been like Yoshiyah who’d led the people back to obeying Yahweh—following Mosheh’s written instructions with all his heart and all his spirit and all his energy. What’s more, there’s never been a king like him since then either.

26 However, Yahweh’s anger against Yehudah hadn’t cooled down after everything that King Menashsheh had done[ref] to make him angry, 27 and Yahweh said, “I will also remove Yehudah out of my sight, just like I removed Yisrael. I’ll also reject this city of Yerushalem that I chose, as well as the house where I’d said that my name would be established.”

35 Then King Yoshiyah prepared a ‘pass-over’ celebration in Yerushalem, and they slaughtered the lambs at the end of March . 2 He assigned the priests to the various tasks that needed to be done, and encouraged them to do their work well. 3 He told the Levites (they had been separated from the other tribes in order to serve Yahweh) who were teaching all Yisrael, “Place the sacred box in the house that David’s son, Yisrael’s King Shelomoh (Solomon) had built—it won’t be a burden any more for your shoulders. Now serve your god Yahweh and his Israeli people 4 and prepare yourselves in your clan divisions as per the instructions written by Yisrael’s King David and his son Shelomoh.[ref] 5 Then stand in the temple area, grouped by your clans and ready to help the other tribes. 6 Consecrate yourselves and slaughter the ‘pass-over’ lambs for the people as per the instructions given through Mosheh (Moses) by Yahweh.

7 King Yoshiyah provided thirty thousand lambs and young goats for the ‘pass-over’ sacrifices from his own flocks and three thousand bulls from his own herds. 8 His officials also contributed to the people, priests and Levites. The chief temple officials Hilkiyah, Zekaryah, and Yehiel donated 2,600 lambs and three hundred cattle to the priests. 9 The Levite leaders Konanyah and his younger brothers Shemayah, Netanel, along with Hashavyah, Yeiel, and Yozavad together contributed five thousand lambs and three hundred bulls.

10 So everything was prepared as the king had commanded, and the priests stood at their places, and the Levites were there in their various divisions 11 and they slaughtered the ‘pass-over’ lambs, then the priests sprinkled the blood while the Levites skinned the animals. 12 They set aside the animals to be burnt on the altar, in order to give them to the various family groups to offer to Yahweh, following the instructions Mosheh had written down. They did the same thing with the cattle. 13 They roasted the ‘pass-over’ meal over the fire as per the instructions, and they boiled the meat of the sacred offerings in pots and kettles and pans, and served the meat immediately to all the people who were there.[ref] 14 Afterwards, the Levites prepared the meal for themselves and for the priests (Aharon’s descendants), because the priests had been busy sacrificing the burnt offerings and the fat portions right through to the evening. 15 The singers (Asaf’s descendants) were at their posts as had been commanded by King David, Asaf, Heyman, and the king’s prophet Yedutun. The men guarding the gates didn’t have to leave their posts because their fellow Levites prepared food for them.[ref]

16 So on that day, everything that needed to done for worshipping Yahweh was done. They celebrated the ‘pass-over’ festival, and they sacrificed burnt offerings as King Yoshiyah had commanded. 17 The Israelis who were there celebrated the ‘pass-over’ that day, then they celebrated the ‘Festival of Flat Bread’ for seven days.[ref] 18 There hadn’t been a ‘pass-over’ celebration done like that is Yisrael since the time of the prophet Shemuel (Samuel), and all of Yisrael’s kings had never done it like Yoshiyah did, along with the priests and Levites and the inhabitants of Yerushalem and across all Yehudah and Yisrael. 19 They celebrated that festival in the eighteenth year of Yoshiyah’s reign.

36 Yehoyakim was twenty-five when he became king, and he reigned from Yerushalem for eleven years. (His mother was Pedayah’s daughter Zebudah from Rumah.) 37 He did what Yahweh had said was evil like many of his ancestors had done.

24 During his reign, the Babylonian King Nevukadnetstsar attacked, and Yehoyakim ruled under him for three years before rebelling against him. 2 Then Yahweh sent troops of Chaldeans, troops from Aram, troops from Moab, and Ammonite troops against Yehudah at different times to destroy them, just as Yahweh had said through his servants the prophets. 3 Those things troubled Yehudah at Yahweh’s command to remove them out of his sight because of all of King Menashsheh’s sins 4 and because he’d killed innocent people—Yahweh wouldn’t forgive him because he’d filled Yerushalem with innocent blood.

5 Everything else that Yehoyakim said and did is written in the book of the events of the kings of Yehudah. 6 Then Yehoyakim died and his son Yehoyakin replaced him as king.

7 The Egyptian king didn’t continue his attacks on other countries, because the Babylonian king captured land all the way from the Egyptian river as far as the Euphrates River—everything that had been controlled by Egypt.

5 Yehoyakim was twenty-five when he became king and he reigned from Yerushalem for eleven years. He did many things that Yahweh had said were evil.[ref] 6 Babylonia’s King Nebuchadnezzar (Heb. Nevukadnetstsar) attacked and captured Yehoyakim and took him to Babylon in bronze chains,[ref] 7 along with some items from Yahweh’s temple that were taken to Babylon and placed in the king’s temple there.

8 The record of all the other things done by Yehoyakim while he was king and the disgusting activities he did was written on the scroll ‘The kings of Yisrael and Yehudah’, and his son Yehoyakin replaced him as king.

18 Tsedkiyyah (Zedekiah) was twenty-one when he became king and he reigned from Yerushalem for eleven years. (His mother was Yirmeyah’s daughter Hamutal from Livnah.) 19 He did what Yahweh had said was evil, just like Yehoyakin had done. 20 Because Yahweh was still very angry, he had the people of Yerushalem and all Yehudah driven away out of his sight.

Then Tsedkiyyah rebelled against the Babylonian king.

25 In the ninth year of Tsedkiyyah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, the Babylonian King Nevukadnetstsar brought all his army to Yerushalem. They made their camp outside the city, and then built attack structures all around it 2 and besieged the city for two years. 3 The people didn’t have enough to eat and the famine became severe. 4 Then the Babylonians began breaking into the city, but the local fighters sneaked out at night through a gate between two walls near the king’s garden and escaped down to the desert plain. 5 However, the Babylonian soldiers chased after the king and they overtook him on the Yericho plains, and his army scattered. 6 King Tsedkiyyah was captured and taken to the Babylonian king at Rivlah, where he was sentenced—7 He was forced to watch as his sons were slaughtered, then his eyes were gouged out and he was taken to Babylon restrained with two bronze chains.

8 On the seventh day of the fifth month of Babylonian King Nevukadnetstsar’s nineteenth year as king, his servant Nevuzaradan, who was his chief bodyguard, went to Yerushalem. 9 He set fire to Yahweh’s temple and the palace, and all of Yerushalem’s houses, so no important building remained. 10 Then the army under the command of Nevuzaradan tore down the walls surrounding Yerushalem. 11 He exiled all the rest of the people from the city, all the surrendered soldiers, and the rest of the population, 12 but he let some of the poorest people remain on the land to look after the vineyards and as farmers.

13 The Babylonians smashed the bronze pillars and the bases and the bronze ‘sea’ from the temple, and took all the bronze to Babylon. 14 They also took the pots and shovels, the snuffers and spoons, and all the bronze utensils used in the temple activities. 15 They took the fire-pans and the gold and silver bowls. 16 The bronze from the two pillars, the ‘sea’, and the bases that had been made for the temple by Shelomoh (Solomon) was too heavy to be weighed. 17 Each pillar was over eight metres high, plus a bronze capital on top that was over a metre high. They were decorated with latticework with bronze pomegranates all around.

18 Nevuzaradan exiled to Babylon the high priest Serayah, the second priest Tsefanyah, and the three temple entrance guards. 19 From the city, he took one official who was a military inspector, five of the king’s advisors, and the army commander’s secretary in charge of recruitment, plus sixty other important men. 20 Nevuzaradan took them all to the Babylonian king at Rivlah 21 in the Hamat region, but the king had them all executed there.

So the large majority of the people of Yehudah were exiled out of their country.

11 Tsidkiyah was twenty-one when he became king, and he reigned from Yerushalem for eleven years.[ref] 12 He did many things that Yahweh had said were evil, in fact, he didn’t even humble himself when the prophet Yirmeyah (Jeremiah) brought him a message from Yahweh. 13 He had become very stubborn and wouldn’t return to Yisrael’s god Yahweh, and he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar who’d made him promise in front of God to be loyal.[ref] 14 In addition, all the leaders of the priests and the people of Yehudah became more and more unfaithful and doing disgusting things often done in other nations, then they defiled Yahweh’s residence which he had consecrated in Yerushalem.

15 So Yahweh, the god of their ancestors, sent many messages via his prophets because he felt compassion on his people, and on his residence, 16 but they mocked God’s messengers and rejected the messages—ridiculing his prophets until Yahweh became so angry that he couldn’t be stopped. 17 So Yahweh sent the Chaldean king against them, and they ran their young men through with the sword, even in the temple, and they didn’t spare any of the young men or women, or even those who were older or elderly—God allowed Nebuchadnezzar to thoroughly defeat them.[ref] 18 Then he took everything valuable, big or small, from God’s temple as well as from the king and his officials. 19 They set God’s temple on fire, and tore down some of the wall surrounding Yerushalem, burnt all its palaces, and destroyed everything valuable.[ref] 20 Anyone else who was still alive was taken to Babylon where they became servants to the king and his children, until the time when the Persians came to power. 21 That fulfilled God’s message that Yirmeyah had previously proclaimed, that the land would become desolate to make up for the Rest Days that had been ignored—that took seventy years. [ref]