1
The name of Josiah is like blended incense prepared by the skill of the perfumer; his memory is as sweet as honey to every mouth, and like music at a banquet of wine.
2
He did what was right by reforming the people, and removing the wicked abominations.
3
He kept his heart fixed on the Lord; in lawless times he made godliness prevail.
4
Except for David and Hezekiah and Josiah, all of them were great sinners, for they abandoned the law of the Most High; the kings of Judah came to an end.
5
They gave their power to others, and their glory to a foreign nation,
6
who set fire to the chosen city of the sanctuary, and made its streets desolate, as Jeremiah had foretold.
7
For they had mistreated him, who even in the womb had been consecrated a prophet, to pluck up and ruin and destroy, and likewise to build and to plant.
8
It was Ezekiel who saw the vision of glory, which God showed him above the chariot of the cherubim.
9
For God also mentioned Job who held fast to all the ways of justice.