2 Chronicles 34; 2 Chronicles 35; 2 Chronicles 36; John 19:1-22

1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he ruled thirty-one years in Jerusalem.

2 He did what the Lord said was right. He lived as his ancestor David had lived, and he did not stop doing what was right.

3 In his eighth year as king while he was still young, Josiah began to obey the God of his ancestor David. In his twelfth year as king, Josiah began to remove from Judah and Jerusalem the gods, the places for worshiping gods, the Asherah idols, and the wooden and metal idols.

4 The people tore down the altars for the Baal gods as Josiah directed. Then Josiah cut down the incense altars that were above them. He broke up the Asherah idols and the wooden and metal idols and beat them into powder. Then he sprinkled the powder on the graves of the people who had offered sacrifices to these gods.

5 He burned the bones of their priests on their own altars. So Josiah removed idol worship from Judah and Jerusalem,

6 and from the towns in the areas of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon all the way to Naphtali, and in the ruins near these towns.

7 Josiah broke down the altars and Asherah idols and beat the idols into powder. He cut down all the incense altars in all of Israel. Then he went back to Jerusalem.

8 In Josiah's eighteenth year as king, he made Judah and the Temple pure again. He sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the city leader, and Joah son of Joahaz the recorder to repair the Temple of the Lord, the God of Josiah.

9 These men went to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money the Levite gatekeepers had gathered from the people of Manasseh, Ephraim, and all the Israelites who were left alive, and also from all the people of Judah, Benjamin, and Jerusalem. This is the money they had brought into the Temple of God.

10 Then the Levites gave it to the supervisors of the work on the Temple of the Lord, and they paid the workers who rebuilt and repaired the Temple.

11 They gave money to carpenters and builders to buy cut stone and wood. The wood was used to rebuild the buildings and to make beams for them, because the kings of Judah had let the buildings fall into ruin.

12 The men did their work well. Their supervisors were Jahath and Obadiah, who were Levites from the family of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, who were from the family of Kohath. These Levites were all skilled musicians.

13 They were also in charge of the workers who carried loads and all the other workers. Some Levites worked as secretaries, officers, and gatekeepers.

14 The Levites brought out the money that was in the Temple of the Lord. As they were doing this, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Lord's Teachings that had been given through Moses.

15 Hilkiah said to Shaphan the royal secretary, "I've found the Book of the Teachings in the Temple of the Lord!" Then he gave it to Shaphan.

16 Shaphan took the book to the king and reported to Josiah, "Your officers are doing everything you told them to do.

17 They have paid out the money that was in the Temple of the Lord and have given it to the supervisors and the workers."

18 Then Shaphan the royal secretary told the king, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read from the book to the king.

19 When the king heard the words of the Teachings, he tore his clothes to show how upset he was.

20 He gave orders to Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the royal secretary, and Asaiah, the king's servant. These were the orders:

21 "Go and ask the Lord about the words in the book that was found. Ask for me and for the people who are left alive in Israel and Judah. The Lord is very angry with us, because our ancestors did not obey the Lord's word; they did not do everything this book says to do."

22 So Hilkiah and those the king sent with him went to talk to Huldah the prophetess. She was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, who took care of the king's clothes. Huldah lived in Jerusalem, in the new area of the city.

23 She said to them, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the man who sent you to me,

24 'This is what the Lord says: I will bring trouble to this place and to the people living here. I will bring all the curses that are written in the book that was read to the king of Judah.

25 The people of Judah have left me and have burned incense to other gods. They have made me angry by all the evil things they have made. So I will punish them in my anger, which will not be put out.'

26 Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to ask the Lord, 'This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the words you heard:

27 When you heard my words against this place and its people, you became sorry for what you had done and you humbled yourself before me. You tore your clothes to show how upset you were, and you cried in my presence. This is why I have heard you, says the Lord.

28 So I will let you die and be buried in peace. You won't see all the trouble I will bring to this place and the people living here.'" So they took her message back to the king.

29 Then the king gathered all the older leaders of Judah and Jerusalem together.

30 He went up to the Temple of the Lord, and all the people from Judah and from Jerusalem went with him. The priests, the Levites, and all the people -- from the most important to the least important -- went with him. He read to them all the words in the Book of the Agreement that was found in the Temple of the Lord.

31 The king stood by his pillar and made an agreement in the presence of the Lord to follow the Lord and obey his commands, rules, and laws with his whole being and to obey the words of the agreement written in this book.

32 Then Josiah made all the people in Jerusalem and Benjamin promise to accept the agreement. So the people of Jerusalem obeyed the agreement of God, the God of their ancestors.

33 And Josiah threw out the hateful idols from all the land that belonged to the Israelites. He led everyone in Israel to serve the Lord their God. While Josiah lived, the people obeyed the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

1 King Josiah celebrated the Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem. The Passover lamb was killed on the fourteenth day of the first month.

2 Josiah chose the priests to do their duties, and he encouraged them as they served in the Temple of the Lord.

3 The Levites taught the Israelites and were made holy for service to the Lord. Josiah said to them, "Put the Holy Ark in the Temple that David's son Solomon, the king of Israel, built. Do not carry it from place to place on your shoulders anymore. Now serve the Lord your God and his people Israel.

4 Prepare yourselves by your family groups for service, and do the jobs that King David and his son Solomon gave you to do.

5 "Stand in the holy place with a group of the Levites for each family group of the people.

6 Kill the Passover lambs, and make yourselves holy to the Lord. Prepare the lambs for your relatives, the people of Israel, as the Lord through Moses commanded us to do."

7 Josiah gave the Israelites thirty thousand sheep and goats to kill for the Passover sacrifices, and he gave them three thousand cattle. They were all his own animals.

8 Josiah's officers also gave willingly to the people, the priests, and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the officers in charge of the Temple, gave the priests twenty-six hundred lambs and goats and three hundred cattle for Passover sacrifices.

9 Conaniah, his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad gave the Levites five thousand sheep and goats and five hundred cattle for Passover sacrifices. These men were leaders of the Levites.

10 When everything was ready for the Passover service, the priests and Levites went to their places, as the king had commanded.

11 The Passover lambs were killed. Then the Levites skinned the animals and gave the blood to the priests, who sprinkled it on the altar.

12 Then they gave the animals for the burnt offerings to the different family groups so the burnt offerings could be offered to the Lord as was written in the book of Moses. They also did this with the cattle.

13 The Levites roasted the Passover sacrifices over the fire as they were commanded, and they boiled the holy offerings in pots, kettles, and pans. Then they quickly gave the meat to the people.

14 After this was finished, the Levites prepared meat for themselves and for the priests, the descendants of Aaron. The priests worked until night, offering the burnt offerings and burning the fat of the sacrifices.

15 The Levite singers from Asaph's family stood in the places chosen for them by King David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, the king's seer. The gatekeepers at each gate did not have to leave their places, because their fellow Levites had prepared everything for them for the Passover.

16 So everything was done that day for the worship of the Lord, as King Josiah commanded. The Passover was celebrated, and the burnt offerings were offered on the Lord's altar.

17 The Israelites who were there celebrated the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days.

18 The Passover had not been celebrated like this in Israel since the prophet Samuel was alive. None of the kings of Israel had ever celebrated a Passover like it was celebrated by King Josiah, the priests, the Levites, the people of Judah and Israel who were there, and the people of Jerusalem.

19 This Passover was celebrated in the eighteenth year Josiah was king.

20 After Josiah did all this for the Temple, Neco king of Egypt led an army to attack Carchemish, a town on the Euphrates River. And Josiah marched out to fight against Neco.

21 But Neco sent messengers to Josiah, saying, "King Josiah, there should not be war between us. I did not come to fight you, but my enemies. God told me to hurry, and he is on my side. So don't fight God, or he will destroy you."

22 But Josiah did not go away. He wore different clothes so no one would know who he was. Refusing to listen to what Neco said at God's command, Josiah went to fight on the plain of Megiddo.

23 In the battle King Josiah was shot by archers. He told his servants, "Take me away because I am badly wounded."

24 So they took him out of his chariot and put him in another chariot and carried him to Jerusalem. There he died and was buried in the graves where his ancestors were buried. All the people of Judah and Jerusalem were very sad because he was dead.

25 Jeremiah wrote some sad songs about Josiah. Even to this day all the men and women singers remember and honor Josiah with these songs. It became a custom in Israel to sing these songs that are written in the collection of sad songs.

26

27 The other things Josiah did as king, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. It tells how he loved what was written in the Lord's teachings.

1 The people of Judah chose Josiah's son Jehoahaz and made him king in Jerusalem in his father's place.

2 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he was king in Jerusalem for three months.

3 Then King Neco of Egypt removed Jehoahaz from being king in Jerusalem. Neco made the people of Judah pay about seventy-five hundred pounds of silver and about seventy-five pounds of gold.

4 The king of Egypt made Jehoahaz's brother Eliakim the king of Judah and Jerusalem and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took his brother Jehoahaz to Egypt.

5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he was king in Jerusalem for eleven years. He did what the Lord his God said was wrong.

6 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Judah, captured Jehoiakim, put bronze chains on him, and took him to Babylon.

7 Nebuchadnezzar removed some of the things from the Temple of the Lord, took them to Babylon, and put them in his own palace.

8 The other things Jehoiakim did as king, the hateful things he did, and everything he was guilty of doing, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiakim's son Jehoiachin became king in his place.

9 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king of Judah, and he was king in Jerusalem for three months and ten days. He did what the Lord said was wrong.

10 In the spring King Nebuchadnezzar sent for Jehoiachin and brought him and some valuable treasures from the Temple of the Lord to Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar made Jehoiachin's uncle Zedekiah the king of Judah and Jerusalem.

11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king of Judah, and he was king in Jerusalem for eleven years.

12 Zedekiah did what the Lord his God said was wrong. The prophet Jeremiah spoke messages from the Lord, but Zedekiah did not obey.

13 Zedekiah turned against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had forced him to swear in God's name to be loyal to him. But Zedekiah became stubborn and refused to obey the Lord, the God of Israel.

14 Also, all the leaders of the priests and the people of Judah became more wicked, following the evil example of the other nations. The Lord had made the Temple in Jerusalem holy, but the leaders made it unholy.

15 The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent prophets again and again to warn his people, because he had pity on them and on his Temple.

16 But they made fun of God's prophets and hated God's messages. They refused to listen to the prophets until, finally, the Lord became so angry with his people that he could not be stopped.

17 So God brought the king of Babylon to attack them. The king killed the young men even when they were in the Temple. He had no mercy on the young men or women, the old men or those who were sick. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar.

18 Nebuchadnezzar carried away to Babylon all the things from the Temple of God, both large and small, and all the treasures from the Temple of the Lord and from the king and his officers.

19 Nebuchadnezzar and his army set fire to God's Temple and broke down Jerusalem's wall and burned all the palaces. They took or destroyed every valuable thing in Jerusalem.

20 Nebuchadnezzar took captive to Babylon the people who were left alive, and he forced them to be slaves for him and his descendants. They remained there as slaves until the Persian kingdom defeated Babylon.

21 And so what the Lord had told Israel through the prophet Jeremiah happened: The country was an empty wasteland for seventy years to make up for the years of Sabbath restn that the people had not kept.

22 In the first year Cyrus was king of Persia, the Lord had Cyrus send an announcement to his whole kingdom. This happened so the Lord's message spoken by Jeremiah would come true. He wrote:

23 This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has appointed me to build a Temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Now may the Lord your God be with all of you who are his people. You are free to go to Jerusalem.

1 Then Pilate ordered that Jesus be taken away and whipped.

2 The soldiers made a crown from some thorny branches and put it on Jesus' head and put a purple robe around him.

3 Then they came to him many times and said, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and hit him in the face.

4 Again Pilate came out and said to them, "Look, I am bringing Jesus out to you. I want you to know that I find nothing against him."

5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, "Here is the man!"

6 When the leading priests and the guards saw Jesus, they shouted, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" But Pilate answered, "Crucify him yourselves, because I find nothing against him."

7 The Jews answered, "We have a law that says he should die, because he said he is the Son of God."

8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid.

9 He went back inside the palace and asked Jesus, "Where do you come from?" But Jesus did not answer him.

10 Pilate said, "You refuse to speak to me? Don't you know I have power to set you free and power to have you crucified?"

11 Jesus answered, "The only power you have over me is the power given to you by God. The man who turned me in to you is guilty of a greater sin."

12 After this, Pilate tried to let Jesus go. But the Jews cried out, "Anyone who makes himself king is against Caesar. If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar."

13 When Pilate heard what they were saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge's seat at the place called The Stone Pavement. (In the Jewish languagen the name is Gabbatha.)

14 It was about noon on Preparation Day of Passover week. Pilate said to the Jews, "Here is your king!"

15 They shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!" Pilate asked them, "Do you want me to crucify your king?" The leading priests answered, "The only king we have is Caesar."

16 So Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified. The soldiers took charge of Jesus.

17 Carrying his own cross, Jesus went out to a place called The Place of the Skull, which in the Jewish languagen is called Golgotha.

18 There they crucified Jesus. They also crucified two other men, one on each side, with Jesus in the middle.

19 Pilate wrote a sign and put it on the cross. It read: jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews.

20 The sign was written in the Jewish language, in Latin, and in Greek. Many of the Jews read the sign, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city.

21 The leading Jewish priests said to Pilate, "Don't write, 'The King of the Jews.' But write, 'This man said, "I am the King of the Jews."' "

22 Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."