2 Kings 21 - 25

Manasseh Reigns over Judah

Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, according to the abominations of the nations whom Yahweh dispossessed before the sons of Israel. 3 Indeed, he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 And he built altars in the house of Yahweh, of which Yahweh had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.” 5 Indeed, he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of Yahweh. 6 He even made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying and interpreted omens, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much that was evil in the sight of Yahweh provoking Him to anger. 7 Then he put the graven image of Asherah, which he had made, in the house of which Yahweh had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever. 8 And I will not make the foot of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will be careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.” 9 But they did not listen, and Manasseh led them astray in order to do more evil than the nations whom Yahweh destroyed before the sons of Israel.

Yahweh Brings Calamity on Israel

10 Then Yahweh spoke by the hand of His slaves the prophets, saying, 11 “Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations—he has done evil more than all the Amorites did who were before him—and has also made Judah sin with his idols, 12 therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity on Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. 13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria and the level of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish—he wipes it and turns it upside down. 14 And I will abandon the remnant of My inheritance and give them into the hand of their enemies, and they will become as plunder and spoil to all their enemies; 15 because they have done what is evil in My sight, and have been provoking Me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.’” 16 Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sin with which he made Judah sin, in doing what is evil in the sight of Yahweh. 17 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did and his sin which he sinned, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 18 And Manasseh slept with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza. And Amon his son became king in his place.

Amon Reigns over Judah

19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 20 And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, as Manasseh his father had done. 21 And he walked in all the way that his father had walked and served the idols that his father had served and worshiped them. 22 So he forsook Yahweh, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of Yahweh. 23 Then the servants of Amon conspired against him and put the king to death in his own house. 24 Then the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place. 25 Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 26 And he was buried in his grave in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son became king in his place.

Josiah Reigns over Judah

Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. 2 And he did what was right in the sight of Yahweh and walked in all the way of his father David and did not turn aside to the right or to the left. 3 Now it happened in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah the son of Meshullam the scribe, to the house of Yahweh saying, 4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest that he may count the money brought into the house of Yahweh which the doorkeepers have gathered from the people. 5 And let them give it into the hand of those who do the work, who have the oversight of the house of Yahweh, and let them give it to those who do the work, who are in the house of Yahweh, to repair the damages of the house, 6 to the craftsmen and the builders and the masons and for buying timber and hewn stone to repair the house. 7 Only no accounting shall be made with them for the money given into their hands, for they deal faithfully.”

Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law

8 Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the book of the law in the house of Yahweh.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan and he read it. 9 Then Shaphan the scribe came to the king and responded to the king with a word and said, “Your servants have poured out the money that was found in the house and have given it into the hand of those who do the work, who have the oversight of the house of Yahweh.” 10 Moreover, Shaphan the scribe told the king saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it in the presence of the king. 11 Now it happened that when the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes. 12 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, 13 “Go, inquire of Yahweh for me and the people and all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found, for great is the wrath of Yahweh which is set aflame against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

Huldah Says Yahweh Is Bringing Evil

14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter); and they spoke to her. 15 And she said to them, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Say to the man who sent you to me, 16 thus says Yahweh, “Behold, I am bringing evil on this place and on its inhabitants, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read. 17 Because they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods that they might provoke Me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore My wrath is set aflame against this place, and it shall not be quenched.”’ 18 But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of Yahweh thus you shall say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, “Regarding the words which you have heard, 19 because your heart was soft and you humbled yourself before Yahweh when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants that they should become an object of horror, and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I truly have heard you,” declares Yahweh. 20 “Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace, so your eyes will not see all the evil which I will bring on this place.”’” So they brought back word to the king.

Josiah Reads the Book of the Covenant

Then the king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 And the king went up to the house of Yahweh and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem 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 was found in the house of Yahweh. 3 Then the king stood by the pillar and cut a covenant before Yahweh, to walk after Yahweh, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to establish the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant. 4 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of Yahweh all the vessels that were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 And he did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed and who burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem, as well as those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the constellations and to all the host of heaven. 6 And he brought out the Asherah from the house of Yahweh outside Jerusalem to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and ground it to dust, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people. 7 He also tore down the houses of the male cult prostitutes which were in the house of Yahweh, where the women were weaving hangings for the Asherah. 8 Then he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; and he tore down the high places of the gates which were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the ruler of the city, which were on one’s left at the city gate. 9 Nevertheless the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of Yahweh in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. 10 He also defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire for Molech. 11 And he did away with the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of Yahweh, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the official, which was in the precincts; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12 Also, the altars which were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of Yahweh, the king tore down; and he crushed them there and threw their dust into the brook Kidron. 13 And the high places which were before Jerusalem, which were on the right of the mount of destruction which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the detestable idol of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the sons of Ammon, the king defiled. 14 And he broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with human bones. 15 Furthermore, the altar that was at Bethel and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he tore down. Then he demolished its stones, ground them to dust, and burned the Asherah. 16 Then Josiah turned, and he saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent and took the bones from the graves and burned them on the altar and defiled it according to the word of Yahweh which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things. 17 Then he said, “What is this monument that I see?” And the men of the city told him, “It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel.” 18 And he said, “Let him alone; let no one move his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria. 19 And also all the houses of the high places which were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made provoking Yahweh to anger, Josiah removed; and he did to them just as he had done in Bethel. 20 And all the priests of the high places who were there he slaughtered on the altars and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Josiah Celebrates the Passover

21 Then the king commanded all the people saying, “Celebrate the Passover to Yahweh your God as it is written in this book of the covenant.” 22 For such a Passover had not been celebrated from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and of the kings of Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to Yahweh in Jerusalem. 24 Moreover, the mediums and the spiritists and the teraphim and the idols and all the detestable things that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, Josiah purged in order that he might establish the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of Yahweh. 25 And before him there was no king like him who turned to Yahweh 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. 26 However, Yahweh did not turn from His great burning anger, His anger which burned against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him to anger. 27 And Yahweh said, “I will remove Judah also from My presence, as I have removed Israel. And I will reject Jerusalem, this city which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, ‘My name shall be there.’”

Jehoahaz Reigns Over Judah

28 Now 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? 29 In his days Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. And King Josiah went to meet him, and when Pharaoh Neco saw him he put him to death at Megiddo. 30 And his servants drove his body in a chariot from Megiddo and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.

Jehoahaz’s Reign and Imprisonment

31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco imprisoned him at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a fine of one hundred talents of silver and one talent of gold.

Jehoiakim Made King by Pharaoh

34 Then Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz and brought him to Egypt, and he died there. 35 So Jehoiakim gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land in order to give the money at the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land, each according to his valuation, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. 37 And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that his fathers had done.

Jehoiakim Rebels Against Nebuchadnezzar

In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years; then he turned and rebelled against him. 2 And Yahweh sent against him marauding bands of Chaldeans, marauding bands of Arameans, marauding bands of Moabites, and marauding bands of Ammonites. So He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of Yahweh which He had spoken by the hand of His slaves the prophets. 3 Surely at the command of Yahweh it came upon Judah, to remove them from His presence because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, 4 and also for the innocent blood which he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and Yahweh was not willing to pardon. 5 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

Jehoiachin Reigns over Judah

6 So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son became king in his place. 7 And the king of Egypt did not go out of his land again, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates. 8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. 9 And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that his father had done.

Judah Exiled to Babylon

10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon went up to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege. 11 And Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to the city, while his servants were besieging it. 12 Then Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother and his servants and his commanders and his officials. So the king of Babylon took him captive in the eighth year of his reign. 13 And he brought out from there all the treasures of the house of Yahweh, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of Yahweh, just as Yahweh had spoken. 14 Then he took away into exile all Jerusalem and all the commanders and all the mighty men of valor, 10,000 captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None was left except the poorest people of the land. 15 So he took Jehoiachin away into exile to Babylon; also the king’s mother and the king’s wives and his officials and the leading men of the land, he led away into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16 Now all the valiant men, seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths, one thousand, all mighty men who could wage war, and these the king of Babylon brought into exile to Babylon.

Zedekiah Reigns over Judah

17 Then the king of Babylon made his uncle Mattaniah king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah. 18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 19 And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 20 For through the anger of Yahweh this came about in Jerusalem and Judah until He cast them out from His presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar Besieges Jerusalem

Now in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his military force, against Jerusalem, and he camped against it and built a siege wall all around it. 2 So the city came under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 3 On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so strong in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. 4 Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls beside the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah. 5 But the military force of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho and all his military force was scattered from him. 6 Then they seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they spoke their judgment on him. 7 And they slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; then he blinded the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon.

Jerusalem Burned

8 Now on the seventh day of the fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9 And he burned the house of Yahweh, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every great house he burned with fire. 10 So all the military force of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard tore down the walls around Jerusalem. 11 Then the rest of the people who were left in the city and the defectors who had defected to the king of Babylon and the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took away into exile. 12 But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen. 13 Now the bronze pillars which were in the house of Yahweh, and the stands and the bronze sea which were in the house of Yahweh, the Chaldeans shattered and carried the bronze to Babylon. 14 They also took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the spoons, and all the bronze vessels which were used to minister. 15 The captain of the guard also took away the firepans and the bowls, what was fine gold and what was fine silver. 16 The two pillars, the one sea, and the stands which Solomon had made for the house of Yahweh—the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight. 17 The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and a bronze capital was on it; the height of the capital was three cubits, with a network and pomegranates on the capital all around, all of bronze. And the second pillar was like these with network. 18 Then the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest, with the three doorkeepers of the temple. 19 And from the city he took one official who was overseer of the men of war, and five of the king’s advisers who were found in the city; and the scribe of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city. 20 And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and led them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21 Then the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah went into exile from its land.

Gedaliah Appointed Judah’s Governor

22 Now as for the people who were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan over them. 23 Then all the commanders of the military forces, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor. So they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men. 24 Then Gedaliah swore to them and their men and said to them, “Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans; live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you.” 25 But it happened in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal seed, came with ten men and struck Gedaliah down so that he died, along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. 26 Then all the people, both small and great, and the commanders of the military forces arose and went to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans. 27 Now it happened in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he became king, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison; 28 and he spoke to him good words, and he set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 So Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes and had his meals in the king’s presence continually all the days of his life; 30 and for his allowance, a continual allowance was given him by the king, a portion for each day, all the days of his life.