Josiah Does Away with Pagan Worship
(2 Chronicles 34.3-72 29-33)1 King Josiah summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 and together they went to the Temple, accompanied by the priests and the prophets and all the rest of the people, rich and poor alike. Before them all the king read aloud the whole book of the covenant which had been found in the Temple. 3 He stood by the royal column and made a covenant with the Lord to obey him, to keep his laws and commands with all his heart and soul, and to put into practice the demands attached to the covenant, as written in the book. And all the people promised to keep the covenant.
4 Then Josiah ordered the High Priest Hilkiah, his assistant priests, and the guards on duty at the entrance to the Temple to bring out of the Temple all the objects used in the worship of Baal, of the goddess Asherah, and of the stars. The king burned all these objects outside the city near Kidron Valley and then had the ashes taken to Bethel. 5 He removed from office the priests that the kings of Judah had ordained to offer sacrifices on the pagan altars in the cities of Judah and in places near Jerusalem—all the priests who offered sacrifices to Baal, to the sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars. 6 He removed from the Temple the symbol of the goddess Asherah, took it out of the city to Kidron Valley, burned it, pounded its ashes to dust, and scattered it over the public burying ground. 7 He destroyed the living quarters in the Temple occupied by the temple prostitutes. (It was there that women wove robes used in the worship of Asherah.) 8 He brought to Jerusalem the priests who were in the cities of Judah, and throughout the whole country he desecrated the altars where they had offered sacrifices. He also tore down the altars dedicated to the goat demons near the gate built by Joshua, the city governor, which was to the left of the main gate as one enters the city. 9 Those priests were not allowed to serve in the Temple, but they could eat the unleavened bread provided for their fellow priests.
10 King Josiah also desecrated Topheth, the pagan place of worship in Hinnom Valley, so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter as a burnt offering to the god Molech. 11 He also removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the worship of the sun, and he burned the chariots used in this worship. (These were kept in the temple courtyard, near the gate and not far from the living quarters of Nathan Melech, a high official.) 12 The altars which the kings of Judah had built on the palace roof above King Ahaz' quarters, King Josiah tore down, along with the altars put up by King Manasseh in the two courtyards of the Temple; he smashed the altars to bits and threw them into Kidron Valley. 13 Josiah desecrated the altars that King Solomon had built east of Jerusalem, south of the Mount of Olives, for the worship of disgusting idols—Astarte the goddess of Sidon, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Molech the god of Ammon. 14 King Josiah broke the stone pillars to pieces, cut down the symbols of the goddess Asherah, and the ground where they had stood he covered with human bones.
15 Josiah also tore down the place of worship in Bethel, which had been built by King Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into sin. Josiah pulled down the altar, broke its stones into pieces, and pounded them to dust; he also burned the image of Asherah. 16 Then Josiah looked around and saw some tombs there on the hill; he had the bones taken out of them and burned on the altar. In this way he desecrated the altar, doing what the prophet had predicted long before during the festival as King Jeroboam was standing by the altar. King Josiah looked around and saw the tomb of the prophet who had made this prediction. 17 “Whose tomb is that?” he asked.
The people of Bethel answered, “It is the tomb of the prophet who came from Judah and predicted these things that you have done to this altar.”
18 “Leave it as it is,” Josiah ordered. “His bones are not to be moved.”
So his bones were not moved, neither were those of the prophet who had come from Samaria.
19 In every city of Israel King Josiah tore down all the pagan places of worship which had been built by the kings of Israel, who thereby aroused the Lord's anger. He did to all those altars what he had done in Bethel. 20 He killed all the pagan priests on the altars where they served, and he burned human bones on every altar. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
Josiah Celebrates the Passover
(2 Chronicles 35.1-19)21 King Josiah ordered the people to celebrate the Passover in honor of the Lord their God, as written in the book of the covenant. 22 No Passover like this one had ever been celebrated by any of the kings of Israel or of Judah, since the time when judges ruled the nation. 23 Now at last, in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah, the Passover was celebrated in Jerusalem.
Other Changes Made by Josiah
24 In order to enforce the laws written in the book that the High Priest Hilkiah had found in the Temple, King Josiah removed from Jerusalem and the rest of Judah all the mediums and fortunetellers, and all the household gods, idols, and all other pagan objects of worship. 25 There had never been a king like him before, who served the Lord with all his heart, mind, and strength, obeying all the Law of Moses; nor has there been a king like him since.
26 But the Lord's fierce anger had been aroused against Judah by what King Manasseh had done, and even now it did not die down. 27 The Lord said, “I will do to Judah what I have done to Israel: I will banish the people of Judah from my sight, and I will reject Jerusalem, the city I chose, and the Temple, the place I said was where I should be worshiped.”
The End of Josiah's Reign
(2 Chronicles 35.20—36.1)28 Everything else that King Josiah did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah. 29 While Josiah was king, King Neco of Egypt led an army to the Euphrates River to help the emperor of Assyria. King Josiah tried to stop the Egyptian army at Megiddo and was killed in battle. 30 His officials placed his body in a chariot and took it back to Jerusalem, where he was buried in the royal tombs.
The people of Judah chose Josiah's son Joahaz and anointed him king.
King Joahaz of Judah
(2 Chronicles 36.2-4)31 Joahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for three months. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from the city of Libnah. 32 Following the example of his ancestors, he sinned against the Lord. 33 His reign ended when King Neco of Egypt took him prisoner in Riblah, in the land of Hamath, and made Judah pay 7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold as tribute. 34 King Neco made Josiah's son Eliakim king of Judah as successor to Josiah, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. Joahaz was taken to Egypt by King Neco, and there he died.
King Jehoiakim of Judah
(2 Chronicles 36.5-8)35 King Jehoiakim collected a tax from the people in proportion to their wealth, in order to raise the amount needed to pay the tribute demanded by the king of Egypt.
36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother was Zebidah, the daughter of Pedaiah from the town of Rumah. 37 Following the example of his ancestors, Jehoiakim sinned against the Lord.
Omhango tai leshelwa ovanhu ovo va ongala
1 Opo nee ohamba ya ifana ndele va ongaleka ovakulunhu aveshe vaJuda novaJerusalem kuyo. 2 Nohamba ya ya mongulu yOmwene novalumenhu aveshe vaJuda noonakukalamo aveshe vomuJerusalem va ya pamwe nayo, nosho yo ovapristeli novaxunganeki novanhu aveshe, ounona novakulunhu. Ndele yo oya lesha eendjovo adishe domembo lehangano, lo la monika mongulu yOmwene, yo oye li leshela momatwi avo. 3 Nohamba ya kala ofika pongudi ndele tai ningi ehangano nOmwene koshipala shOmwene, nokutya vo ve nokudiinina nomutima aushe nomwenyo aushe oipango yaye neendobwedi daye neenghedimhango daye, opo va diinine eendjovo odo da shangelwa membo olo. Novanhu aveshe ve uya mehangano olo.
Josia ta hanauna po oihongwafano yomotembeli
4 Opo nee ohamba tai lombwele omupristeli omukulunhu Hilkia novapristeli ve mu shikula novanangeli vopoivelo, va kufe mo motembeli oinima aishe ya ningilwa Baal naAsera neengudu adishe dokeulu. Ndele ve i xwika po pondje yaJerusalem kepumbu laKidron ndele omute wayo ve u twala kuBetel. 5 Ndele yo oya lekela yo ovapristeli voikalunga ava va tulwa moshilonga keehamba daJuda, ava va twimina koikulundu nomoushiinda waJerusalem, nosho yo venya va twiminina Baal netango nohani neengudu deenyofi nongudu aishe yokeulu. 6 Ndele ya kufa mo mongulu yOmwene Asera ndele ye shi twala pondje yaJerusalem, ndele ye shi xwika po pokamulonga kaKidron ndele ye shi twa ondwi, nondwi ye i ekelashi komaendo ovafyoona. 7 Ndele yo oya hanauna po eengulu domashenge odo da li mongulu yOmwene, mudo ovakainhu va tungila Asera omalapi oulenga.
8 Ndele oya ifana ovapristeli aveshe vomoilando yaJuda, ndele ya nyatekifa oikulundu yeealtari, oko ovapristeli va twimina, okudja kuGeba fiyo okuBerseba. Ndele yo oya hanauna po oikulundu yeealtari da li poivelo, naasho yo sha kala poshivelo shaJosua, omukulunhu woshilando, kolumosho omunhu ngeenge ta i mo moshivelo shoshilando. 9 Ovapristeli voikulundu yeealtari inava itavelwa okulonda koaltari yOmwene muJerusalem. Vo ova itavelwa okulya omungome uhe nonhafi pamwe navakwao. 10 Yo oya nyatekifa yo Tofet, sho sha li mefilu lovana vaHinnom, paha kale nande umwe ta endifile Molek ovana vaye ovamati ile oukadona momundilo. 11 Ndele yo ya kufa po eenghambe, eehamba daJuda de di yandjela okufimaneka etango, poshivelo shongulu yOmwene, pokandjuwo kelenga Natan-Melek lo la kala moushiinda woshilando, nomatemba etango yo ye a xwika po nomundilo. 12 Navali ohamba ya ngumauna po eealtari da li konduda yokangulu kopombada kaAhas, odo da ningwa keehamba daJuda, neealtari odo Manasse a tungila moihale ivali yomongulu yOmwene, ndele ya twa, nondwi yomuyo ye i ekelashi mokamulonga Kidron. 13 Nohamba ya nyatekifa oikulundu yokoushilo wokuJerusalem, koumbuwanhu wOmhunda yEnyonauko, oyo ya tungwa kuSalomo, ohamba yaIsrael, okufimanekifa Astarte, oixuna yOvasidoni, naKemosh, oixuna yOvamoab, naMilkom, oixuna yovana vaAmmoni. 14 Ndele yo oya teyaula eengudi domamanya ndele tai ke omiti domalupwelele daAsera neenhele dao yo ye di yadifa nomakipa ovanhu.
15 Nosho yo ya ngumauna po oaltari ya li muBetel, oshikulundu sha tungwa kuJerobeam yaNebat, ou a hongaulila Israel mokunyona, oaltari osho yo oshikulundu e shi hanauna po, ndele e shi ndongola nolupwelele laAsera e li xwika po. 16 Josia eshi a pilamena ko, okwa mona eembila da li komhunda. Okwa tuma ko, va ka kufe omakipa omeembila, nokwe a xwika po koaltari nokwe shi nyatekifa pandjovo yOmwene, omulumenhu waKalunga kwe di udaneka, ou a xunganeka oinima ei. 17 Opo nee ye ta ti: “Oshidimbulukifomanya eshi shokombila, ndi shi wete, oshilipipo?” Novalumenhu vomoshilando ve mu nyamukula: “Oyo ombila yomulumenhu waKalunga, a dile kuJuda nokwa xunganeka oinima ei, ove we i ningila oaltari yomuBetel.” 18 Opo nee ye ta ti: “Na kale nombili, nande umwe a kufe omakipa aye.” Ndele va efa omakipa aye a kale pamwe nomakipa omuxunganeki wokuSamaria, a kale nombili. 19 Neetembeli yo adishe domoikulundu yo ya li moilando yaSamaria, odo da tungwa keehamba daIsrael, opo va handukife Omwene, Josia e di ngumauna po nokwa ninga nado ngaashi a ninga muBetel. 20 Novapristeli aveshe voikulundu va li ko okwe va toma keealtari nokwa xwika po kuyo omakipa ovanhu ndele ta shuna kuJerusalem.
21 Opo nee ohamba ya lombwela oshiwana ashishe, tai ti: “Daneni Opaasa yOmwene Kalunga keni, ngaashi pa shangelwa membo lehangano.” 22 Osheshi Opaasa oyo inai danwa nghee omafiku ovatokolipangeli vaIsrael va pangela nomomafiku aeshe aa eehamba daIsrael nodaJuda. 23 Ndelenee momudo omutimulongo nomutihetatu wohamba Josia, Opaasa ei yOmwene ya danenwa muJerusalem. 24 Josia okwa komba po ovaifani veemhepo dovafi novamonikokule noihongwakalunga yomeumbo noikalunga noififahoni aishe oyo ya li moshilongo shaJuda nomuJerusalem, opo a pameke eendjovo domhango, odo da shangelwa membo, omupristeli Hilkia e li mona mongulu yOmwene. 25 Ndele kakwa li nande ohamba imwe komesho yaye ngaashi ye, ou e lidilulula e liyandja kOmwene nomutima waye aushe nomwenyo waye aushe neenghono daye adishe pamhango aishe yaMoses, ndele konima yaye inapa holoka nande imwe ngaashi ye. 26 Ndelenee Omwene ina handukuluka nande koupyuhandu waye munene nao ehandu laye la xwamena Juda omolwomahandukifo aeshe Manasse e mu handukifa. 27 NOmwene okwa tile: “Ame ohandi ka ekelashi Juda ngaashi nda ekelashi Israel koshipala shange. Naame ohandi ka ekelashi oshilando eshi Jerusalem nde shi hoolola, nongulu oyo nde i popya: Edina lange tali ka kala muyo.”
28 Noinima imwe tai hepaulula Josia naaishe e i ninga, inai shangelwa mbela membo lomafimbo eehamba daJuda? 29 Pomafiku aye Farao Neko, ohamba yaEgipiti, ya homona ohamba yaAsiria komulonga waEufrat. Ohamba Josia oye ke mu shakeneka ko, Ndelenee Farao okwe mu dipaa muMegido divadiva, eshi ye mu mona. 30 Novapiya vaye ve mu twala a fya metemba, va dja kuMegido, ve mu eta kuJerusalem, ndele ve mu paka mombila yaye. Novanhu vomoshilongo va kufa Joahas yaJosia, nove mu vaeka ndele ve mu ninga ohamba ponhele yaxe.
Ohamba Joahas
31 Omido daJoahas da li omilongo mbali nanhatu, ye eshi a ninga ohamba. Nokwa pangela eehani nhatu muJerusalem. Nedina laina la li Hamutal, omona omukainhu waJeremia womuLibna. 32 Ndele ye okwa ninga osho inashi yuka momesho Omwene ngaashi ooxe va ninga. 33 Ndelenee Farao Neko okwe mu kwata onghwate muRibla, medu laHamat, opo ye aha pangele muJerusalem, nokwa futifa oshilongo ofuto yeekilograma omayovi atatu nomafele ane doshisiliveli neekilograma omilongo nhatu nanhee doshingoldo.
Ohamba Jehoiakim
34 Ndele Farao Neko okwa ninga Eliakim yaJosia ohamba ponhele yaxe Josia, nokwa lundulula edina laye Jehoiakim, ndelenee okwa twala Joahas pamwe naye kuEgipiti, ndele oko a fila. 35 Noisiliveli noingoldo yo, Jehoiakim okwa tumina Farao. Ndelenee okwa yeleka omapya, opo a dule okufuta oimaliwa palombwelo laFarao. Pafendelo lakeshe, okwa tambula oshisiliveli noshingoldo shoonakukalamo moshilongo nokwe shi tumina Farao Neko.
36 Omido daJehoiakim da li omilongo mbali nanhano, ye eshi a ninga ohamba. Nokwa pangela omido omulongo nomudo umwe muJerusalem. Nedina laina la li Sebida, omona waPedaja womuRuma. 37 Ndele ye okwa ninga osho inashi yuka momesho Omwene, ngaashi ooxe va ninga.
