Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah,

希西家生玛拿西；玛拿西生亚们；亚们生约西亚；

希西家生玛拿西，玛拿西生亚们，亚们生约西亚，

希西家生玛拿西，玛拿西生亚们，亚们生约西亚，

希西迦生玛拿西，玛拿西生亚们，亚们生约西亚，

希西家生玛拿西，玛拿西生亚们，亚们生约西亚，

希西家生玛拿西，玛拿西生阿蒙，阿蒙生约西亚，

希西家生瑪拿西；瑪拿西生亞們；亞們生約西亞；

希西家生瑪拿西，瑪拿西生亞們，亞們生約西亞，

希西家生瑪拿西，瑪拿西生亞們，亞們生約西亞，

希西迦生瑪拿西，瑪拿西生亞們，亞們生約西亞，

希西家生瑪拿西，瑪拿西生亞們，亞們生約西亞，

希西家生瑪拿西；瑪拿西生亞們；亞們生約西亞；

希西家生瑪拿西，瑪拿西生阿蒙，阿蒙生約西亞，

希西家生瑪拿西、瑪拿西生亞們、亞們生約西亞、

希西家生馬拿西、馬拿西生亞門、亞門生約西亞、

希西家生瑪拿西、瑪拿西生亞們、亞們生約西亞、

厄瑟基亞生瑪納瑟、瑪納瑟生亞蒙、亞蒙生若西亞、

Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah,

Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh. Manasseh was the father of Amon. Amon was the father of Josiah.

and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah,

Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh. Manasseh was the father of Amon. Amon was the father of Josiah.

Hezekiah fathered Manasseh, Manasseh fathered Amon, Amon fathered Josiah,

Hezekiah fathered Manasseh, Manasseh fathered Amon, and Amon fathered Josiah.

Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah.

and Hezekiah begat Manasseh; and Manasseh begat Amon; and Amon begat Josiah;

Hezekiah fathered Manasseh, Manasseh fathered Amon, Amon fathered Josiah,

And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias;

Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh. Manasseh became the father of Amon. Amon became the father of Josiah.

With the authority of the LORD he cried out against the altar,“ O altar, altar! This is what the LORD says,‘ Look, a son named Josiah will be born to the Davidic dynasty. He will sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who offer sacrifices on you. Human bones will be burned on you.’”

Just as the LORD had announced, he rejected Judah because of all the sins which Manasseh had committed.Because he killed innocent people and stained Jerusalem with their blood, the LORD was unwilling to forgive them.

The LORD began to speak to him in the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon ruled over Judah.The LORD also spoke to him when Jehoiakim son of Josiah ruled over Judah, and he continued to speak to him until the fifth month of the eleventh year that Zedekiah son of Josiah ruled over Judah. That was when the people of Jerusalem were taken into exile.

Ahaz his son, Hezekiah his son, Manasseh his son,Amon his son, Josiah his son.The sons of Josiah: Johanan was the firstborn; Jehoiakim was born second; Zedekiah third; and Shallum fourth.

Hezekiah passed away and his son Manasseh replaced him as king.Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother was Hephzibah.He did evil in the sight of the LORD and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations whom the LORD drove out from before the Israelites.He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he set up altars for Baal and made an Asherah pole just like King Ahab of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the stars in the sky and worshiped them.He built altars in the LORD’s temple, about which the LORD had said,“ Jerusalem will be my home.”In the two courtyards of the LORD’s temple he built altars for all the stars in the sky.He passed his son through the fire and practiced divination and omen reading. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits, and appointed magicians to supervise it. He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger.He put an idol of Asherah he had made in the temple, about which the LORD had said to David and to his son Solomon,“ This temple in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will be my permanent home.I will not make Israel again leave the land I gave to their ancestors, provided that they carefully obey all I commanded them, the whole law my servant Moses ordered them to obey.”But they did not obey, and Manasseh misled them so that they sinned more than the nations whom the LORD had destroyed from before the Israelites.So the LORD announced through his servants the prophets:“ King Manasseh of Judah has committed horrible sins. He has sinned more than the Amorites before him and has encouraged Judah to sin by worshiping his disgusting idols.So this is what the LORD God of Israel says,‘ I am about to bring disaster on Jerusalem and Judah. The news will reverberate in the ears of those who hear about it.I will destroy Jerusalem the same way I did Samaria and the dynasty of Ahab. I will wipe Jerusalem clean, just as one wipes a plate on both sides.I will abandon this last remaining tribe among my people and hand them over to their enemies; they will be plundered and robbed by all their enemies,because they have done evil in my sight and have angered me from the time their ancestors left Egypt right up to this very day!’”Furthermore Manasseh killed so many innocent people, he stained Jerusalem with their blood from end to end, in addition to encouraging Judah to sin by doing evil in the sight of the LORD.The rest of the events of Manasseh’s reign and all his accomplishments, as well as the sinful acts he committed, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.Manasseh passed away and was buried in his palace garden, the garden of Uzzah, and his son Amon replaced him as king.Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem. His mother was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz, from Jotbah.He did evil in the sight of the LORD, just like his father Manasseh had done.He followed in the footsteps of his father and worshiped and bowed down to the disgusting idols which his father had worshiped.He abandoned the LORD God of his ancestors and did not follow the LORD’s instructions.Amon’s servants conspired against him and killed the king in his palace.The people of the land executed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah king in his place.The rest of Amon’s accomplishments are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzzah, and his son Josiah replaced him as king.Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jedidah, daughter of Adaiah, from Bozkath.He did what the LORD approved and followed in his ancestor David’s footsteps; he did not deviate to the right or the left.In the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s reign, the king sent the scribe Shaphan son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, to the LORD’s temple with these orders:“ Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him melt down the silver that has been brought by the people to the LORD’s temple and has been collected by the guards at the door.Have them hand it over to the construction foremen assigned to the LORD’s temple. They in turn should pay the temple workers to repair it,including craftsmen, builders, and masons, and should buy wood and chiseled stone for the repair work.Do not audit the foremen who disburse the silver, for they are honest.”Hilkiah the high priest informed Shaphan the scribe,“ I found the law scroll in the LORD’s temple.” Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan and he read it.Shaphan the scribe went to the king and reported,“ Your servants melted down the silver in the temple and handed it over to the construction foremen assigned to the LORD’s temple.”Then Shaphan the scribe told the king,“ Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll.” Shaphan read it out loud before the king.When the king heard the words of the law scroll, he tore his clothes.The king ordered Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant,“ Go, seek an oracle from the LORD for me and the people– for all Judah. Find out about the words of this scroll that has been discovered. For the LORD’s fury has been ignited against us, because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this scroll by doing all that it instructs us to do.”So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shullam son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the supervisor of the wardrobe.( She lived in Jerusalem in the Mishneh district.) They stated their business,and she said to them:“ This is what the LORD God of Israel says:‘ Say this to the man who sent you to me:“ This is what the LORD says:‘ I am about to bring disaster on this place and its residents, the details of which are recorded in the scroll which the king of Judah has read.This will happen because they have abandoned me and offered sacrifices to other gods, angering me with all the idols they have made. My anger will ignite against this place and will not be extinguished!’”Say this to the king of Judah, who sent you to seek an oracle from the LORD:“ This is what the LORD God of Israel says concerning the words you have heard:‘ You displayed a sensitive spirit and humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard how I intended to make this place and its residents into an appalling example of an accursed people. You tore your clothes and wept before me, and I have heard you,’ says the LORD.‘ Therefore I will allow you to die and be buried in peace. You will not have to witness all the disaster I will bring on this place.’”’” Then they reported back to the king.The king summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem.The king went up to the LORD’s temple, accompanied by all the people of Judah, all the residents of Jerusalem, the priests, and the prophets. All the people were there, from the youngest to the oldest. He read aloud all the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been discovered in the LORD’s temple.The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant before the LORD, agreeing to follow the LORD and to obey his commandments, laws, and rules with all his heart and being, by carrying out the terms of this covenant recorded on this scroll. All the people agreed to keep the covenant.The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the high-ranking priests, and the guards to bring out of the LORD’s temple all the items that were used in the worship of Baal, Asherah, and all the stars of the sky. The king burned them outside of Jerusalem in the terraces of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel.He eliminated the pagan priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to offer sacrifices on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the area right around Jerusalem.( They offered sacrifices to Baal, the sun god, the moon god, the constellations, and all the stars in the sky.)He removed the Asherah pole from the LORD’s temple and took it outside Jerusalem to the Kidron Valley, where he burned it. He smashed it to dust and then threw the dust in the public graveyard.He tore down the quarters of the male cultic prostitutes in the LORD’s temple, where women were weaving shrines for Asherah.He brought all the priests from the cities of Judah and ruined the high places where the priests had offered sacrifices, from Geba to Beer Sheba. He tore down the high place of the goat idols situated at the entrance of the gate of Joshua, the city official, on the left side of the city gate.( Now the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they did eat unleavened cakes among their fellow priests.)The king ruined Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that no one could pass his son or his daughter through the fire to Molech.He removed from the entrance to the LORD’s temple the statues of horses that the kings of Judah had placed there in honor of the sun god.( They were kept near the room of Nathan Melech the eunuch, which was situated among the courtyards.) He burned up the chariots devoted to the sun god.The king tore down the altars the kings of Judah had set up on the roof of Ahaz’s upper room, as well as the altars Manasseh had set up in the two courtyards of the LORD’s temple. He crushed them up and threw the dust in the Kidron Valley.The king ruined the high places east of Jerusalem, south of the Mount of Destruction, that King Solomon of Israel had built for the detestable Sidonian goddess Astarte, the detestable Moabite god Chemosh, and the horrible Ammonite god Milcom.He smashed the sacred pillars to bits, cut down the Asherah pole, and filled those shrines with human bones.He also tore down the altar in Bethel at the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who encouraged Israel to sin. He burned all the combustible items at that high place and crushed them to dust; including the Asherah pole.When Josiah turned around, he saw the tombs there on the hill. So he ordered the bones from the tombs to be brought; he burned them on the altar and defiled it. This fulfilled the LORD’s announcement made by the prophet while Jeroboam stood by the altar during a festival. King Josiah turned and saw the grave of the prophet who had foretold this.He asked,“ What is this grave marker I see?” The men from the city replied,“ It’s the grave of the prophet who came from Judah and foretold these very things you have done to the altar of Bethel.”The king said,“ Leave it alone! No one must touch his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed, as well as the bones of the Israelite prophet buried beside him.Josiah also removed all the shrines on the high places in the cities of Samaria. The kings of Israel had made them and angered the LORD. He did to them what he had done to the high place in Bethel.He sacrificed all the priests of the high places on the altars located there, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.The king ordered all the people,“ Observe the Passover of the LORD your God, as prescribed in this scroll of the covenant.”He issued this edict because a Passover like this had not been observed since the days of the judges; it was neglected for the entire period of the kings of Israel and Judah.But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s reign, such a Passover of the LORD was observed in Jerusalem.Josiah also got rid of the ritual pits used to conjure up spirits, the magicians, personal idols, disgusting images, and all the detestable idols that had appeared in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. In this way he carried out the terms of the law recorded on the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the LORD’s temple.No king before or after repented before the LORD as he did, with his whole heart, soul, and being in accordance with the whole law of Moses.Yet the LORD’s great anger against Judah did not subside; he was still infuriated by all the things Manasseh had done.The LORD announced,“ I will also spurn Judah, just as I spurned Israel. I will reject this city that I chose– both Jerusalem and the temple, about which I said,“ I will live there.”The rest of the events of Josiah’s reign and all his accomplishments are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.During Josiah’s reign Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt marched toward the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to fight him, but Necho killed him at Megiddo when he saw him.His servants transported his dead body from Megiddo in a chariot and brought it to Jerusalem, where they buried him in his tomb. The people of the land took Josiah’s son Jehoahaz, poured olive oil on his head, and made him king in his father’s place.

Hezekiah passed away and was buried on the ascent of the tombs of the descendants of David. All the people of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem buried him with great honor. His son Manasseh replaced him as king.Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem.He did evil in the sight of the LORD and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations whom the LORD drove out ahead of the Israelites.He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he set up altars for the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the stars in the sky and worshiped them.He built altars in the LORD’s temple, about which the LORD had said,“ Jerusalem will be my permanent home.”In the two courtyards of the LORD’s temple he built altars for all the stars in the sky.He passed his sons through the fire in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom and practiced divination, omen reading, and sorcery. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits and appointed magicians to supervise it. He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the LORD and angered him.He put an idolatrous image he had made in God’s temple, about which God had said to David and to his son Solomon,“ This temple in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will be my permanent home.I will not make Israel again leave the land I gave to their ancestors, provided that they carefully obey all I commanded them, the whole law, the rules and regulations given to Moses.”But Manasseh misled the people of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem so that they sinned more than the nations whom the LORD had destroyed ahead of the Israelites.The LORD confronted Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.So the LORD brought against them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria. They seized Manasseh, put hooks in his nose, bound him with bronze chains, and carried him away to Babylon.In his pain Manasseh asked the LORD his God for mercy and truly humbled himself before the God of his ancestors.When he prayed to the LORD, the LORD responded to him and answered favorably his cry for mercy. The LORD brought him back to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh realized that the LORD is the true God.After this Manasseh built up the outer wall of the City of David on the west side of the Gihon in the valley to the entrance of the Fish Gate and all around the terrace; he made it much higher. He placed army officers in all the fortified cities in Judah.He removed the foreign gods and images from the LORD’s temple and all the altars he had built on the hill of the LORD’s temple and in Jerusalem; he threw them outside the city.He erected the altar of the LORD and offered on it peace offerings and thank offerings. He told the people of Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel.The people continued to offer sacrifices at the high places, but only to the LORD their God.The rest of the events of Manasseh’s reign, including his prayer to his God and the words the prophets spoke to him in the name of the LORD God of Israel, are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Israel.The Annals of the Prophets include his prayer, give an account of how the LORD responded to it, record all his sins and unfaithful acts, and identify the sites where he built high places and erected Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself.Manasseh passed away and was buried in his palace. His son Amon replaced him as king.Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem.He did evil in the sight of the LORD, just like his father Manasseh had done. He offered sacrifices to all the idols his father Manasseh had made, and worshiped them.He did not humble himself before the LORD as his father Manasseh had done. Amon was guilty of great sin.His servants conspired against him and killed him in his palace.The people of the land executed all who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah king in his place.Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem.He did what the LORD approved and followed in his ancestor David’s footsteps; he did not deviate to the right or the left.In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his ancestor David. In his twelfth year he began ridding Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, Asherah poles, idols, and images.He ordered the altars of the Baals to be torn down, and broke the incense altars that were above them. He smashed the Asherah poles, idols and images, crushed them up and sprinkled the dust over the tombs of those who had sacrificed to them.He burned the bones of the pagan priests on their altars; he purified Judah and Jerusalem.In the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, as far as Naphtali, and in the ruins around them,he tore down the altars and Asherah poles, demolished the idols, and smashed all the incense altars throughout the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.In the eighteenth year of his reign, he continued his policy of purifying the land and the temple. He sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the city official, and Joah son of Joahaz the secretary to repair the temple of the LORD his God.They went to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the silver that had been brought to God’s temple. The Levites who guarded the door had collected it from the people of Manasseh and Ephraim and from all who were left in Israel, as well as from all the people of Judah and Benjamin and the residents of Jerusalem.They handed it over to the construction foremen assigned to the LORD’s temple. They in turn paid the temple workers to restore and repair it.They gave money to the craftsmen and builders to buy chiseled stone and wood for the braces and rafters of the buildings that the kings of Judah had allowed to fall into disrepair.The men worked faithfully. Their supervisors were Jahath and Obadiah( Levites descended from Merari), as well as Zechariah and Meshullam( descendants of Kohath). The Levites, all of whom were skilled musicians,supervised the laborers and all the foremen on their various jobs. Some of the Levites were scribes, officials, and guards.When they took out the silver that had been brought to the LORD’s temple, Hilkiah the priest found the law scroll the LORD had given to Moses.Hilkiah informed Shaphan the scribe,“ I found the law scroll in the LORD’s temple.” Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan.Shaphan brought the scroll to the king and reported,“ Your servants are doing everything assigned to them.They melted down the silver in the LORD’s temple and handed it over to the supervisors of the construction foremen.”Then Shaphan the scribe told the king,“ Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll.” Shaphan read it out loud before the king.When the king heard the words of the law scroll, he tore his clothes.The king ordered Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant,“ Go, seek an oracle from the LORD for me and those who remain in Israel and Judah. Find out about the words of this scroll that has been discovered. For the LORD’s fury has been ignited against us, because our ancestors have not obeyed the word of the LORD by doing all that this scroll instructs!”So Hilkiah and the others sent by the king went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, the supervisor of the wardrobe.( She lived in Jerusalem in the Mishneh district.) They stated their business,and she said to them:“ This is what the LORD God of Israel says:‘ Say this to the man who sent you to me:“ This is what the LORD says:‘ I am about to bring disaster on this place and its residents, the details of which are recorded in the scroll which they read before the king of Judah.This will happen because they have abandoned me and offered sacrifices to other gods, angering me with all the idols they have made. My anger will ignite against this place and will not be extinguished!’”Say this to the king of Judah, who sent you to seek an oracle from the LORD:“ This is what the LORD God of Israel says concerning the words you have heard:‘ You displayed a sensitive spirit and humbled yourself before God when you heard his words concerning this place and its residents. You humbled yourself before me, tore your clothes and wept before me, and I have heard you,’ says the LORD.‘ Therefore I will allow you to die and be buried in peace. You will not have to witness all the disaster I will bring on this place and its residents.’”’” Then they reported back to the king.The king summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem.The king went up to the LORD’s temple, accompanied by all the people of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, the priests, and the Levites. All the people were there, from the oldest to the youngest. He read aloud all the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been discovered in the LORD’s temple.The king stood by his pillar and renewed the covenant before the LORD, agreeing to follow the LORD and to obey his commandments, laws, and rules with all his heart and being, by carrying out the terms of this covenant recorded on this scroll.He made all who were in Jerusalem and Benjamin agree to it. The residents of Jerusalem acted in accordance with the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors.Josiah removed all the detestable idols from all the areas belonging to the Israelites and encouraged all who were in Israel to worship the LORD their God. Throughout the rest of his reign they did not turn aside from following the LORD God of their ancestors.Josiah observed a Passover festival for the LORD in Jerusalem. They slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of the first month.He appointed the priests to fulfill their duties and encouraged them to carry out their service in the LORD’s temple.He told the Levites, who instructed all Israel about things consecrated to the LORD,“ Place the holy ark in the temple which King Solomon son of David of Israel built. Don’t carry it on your shoulders. Now serve the LORD your God and his people Israel!Prepare yourselves by your families according to your divisions, as instructed by King David of Israel and his son Solomon.Stand in the sanctuary and, together with the Levites, represent the family divisions of your countrymen.Slaughter the Passover lambs, consecrate yourselves, and make preparations for your countrymen to do what the LORD commanded through Moses.”From his own royal flocks and herds, Josiah supplied the people with 30,000 lambs and goats for the Passover sacrifice, as well as 3,000 cattle.His officials also willingly contributed to the people, priests, and Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the leaders of God’s temple, supplied 2,600 Passover sacrifices and 300 cattle.Konaniah and his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, along with Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad, the officials of the Levites, supplied the Levites with 5,000 Passover sacrifices and 500 cattle.Preparations were made, and the priests stood at their posts and the Levites in their divisions as prescribed by the king.They slaughtered the Passover lambs and the priests splashed the blood, while the Levites skinned the animals.They reserved the burnt offerings and the cattle for the family divisions of the people to present to the LORD, as prescribed in the scroll of Moses.They cooked the Passover sacrifices over the open fire as prescribed and cooked the consecrated offerings in pots, kettles, and pans. They quickly served them to all the people.Afterward they made preparations for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were offering burnt sacrifices and fat portions until evening. The Levites made preparations for themselves and for the priests, the descendants of Aaron.The musicians, the descendants of Asaph, manned their posts, as prescribed by David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s prophet. The guards at the various gates did not need to leave their posts, for their fellow Levites made preparations for them.So all the preparations for the LORD’s service were made that day, as the Passover was observed and the burnt sacrifices were offered on the altar of the LORD, as prescribed by King Josiah.So the Israelites who were present observed the Passover at that time, as well as the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days.A Passover like this had not been observed in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel had observed a Passover like the one celebrated by Josiah, the priests, the Levites, all the people of Judah and Israel who were there, and the residents of Jerusalem.This Passover was observed in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign.After Josiah had done all this for the temple, King Necho of Egypt marched up to do battle at Carchemish on the Euphrates River. Josiah marched out to oppose him.Necho sent messengers to him, saying,“ Why are you opposing me, O king of Judah? I am not attacking you today, but the kingdom with which I am at war. God told me to hurry. Stop opposing God, who is with me, or else he will destroy you.”But Josiah did not turn back from him; he disguised himself for battle. He did not take seriously the words of Necho which he had received from God; he went to fight him in the Plain of Megiddo.Archers shot King Josiah; the king ordered his servants,“ Take me out of this chariot, for I am seriously wounded.”So his servants took him out of the chariot, put him in another chariot that he owned, and brought him to Jerusalem, where he died. He was buried in the tombs of his ancestors; all the people of Judah and Jerusalem mourned Josiah.Jeremiah composed laments for Josiah which all the male and female singers use to mourn Josiah to this very day. It has become customary in Israel to sing these; they are recorded in the Book of Laments.The rest of the events of Josiah’s reign, including the faithful acts he did in obedience to what is written in the law of the LORDand his accomplishments, from start to finish, are recorded in the Scroll of the Kings of Israel and Judah.