18‘And othey shall take away some of your sons who will 6descend from you, whom you will beget; pand they shall be qeunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ”
19So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, r“The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good!” For he said, “Will there not be peace and truth at least in my days?”
Death of Hezekiah
(2 Chr. 32:32, 33)
20sNow the rest of the acts of Hezekiah—all his might, and how he tmade a upool and a 7tunnel and vbrought water into the city—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
21So wHezekiah 8rested with his fathers. Then Manasseh his son reigned in his place.
2 Kings 21
Manasseh Reigns in Judah
(2 Chr. 33:1–20)
1Manasseh awas twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.
2And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, baccording to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
3For he rebuilt the 1high places cwhich Hezekiah his father had destroyed; he raised up altars for Baal, and made a 2wooden image, das Ahab king of Israel had done; and he eworshiped all 3the host of heaven and served them.
4fHe also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, g“In Jerusalem I will put My name.”
5And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the htwo courts of the house of the LORD.
6iAlso he made his son pass through the fire, practiced jsoothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger.
7He even set a carved image of 4Asherah that he had made, in the 5house of which the LORD had said to David and to Solomon his son, k“In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever;
8l“and I will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers—only if they are careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.”
9But they paid no attention, and Manasseh mseduced them to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel.
10And the LORD spoke nby His servants the prophets, saying,
11o“Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations (phe has acted more wickedly than all the qAmorites who were before him, and rhas also made Judah sin with his idols),
12“therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both shis ears will tingle.
13‘And I will stretch over Jerusalem tthe measuring line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab; uI will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.
14‘So I will forsake the vremnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become victims of plunder to all their enemies,
15‘because they have done evil in My sight, and have provoked Me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.’ ”
16wMoreover Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the LORD.
17Now xthe rest of the acts of yManasseh—all that he did, and the sin that he committed—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
18So zManasseh 6rested with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza. Then his son Amon reigned in his place.
Amon’s Reign and Death
(2 Chr. 33:21–25)
19aAmon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.
20And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, bas his father Manasseh had done.
21So he walked in all the ways that his father had walked; and he served the idols that his father had served, and worshiped them.
22He cforsook the LORD God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the LORD.
23dThen the servants of Amon econspired against him, and killed the king in his own house.
24But the people of the land fexecuted all those who had conspired against King Amon. Then the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place.
25Now 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?
26And he was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza. Then Josiah his son reigned in his place.
2 Kings 22
Josiah Reigns in Judah
(2 Chr. 34:1, 2)
1Josiah awas eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of bBozkath.
2And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the ways of his father David; he cdid not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law
(2 Chr. 34:8–28)
3dNow it came to pass, in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the scribe, the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the house of the LORD, saying:
4“Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money which has been ebrought into the house of the LORD, which fthe doorkeepers have gathered from the people.
5“And let them gdeliver it into the hand of those doing the work, who are the overseers in the house of the LORD; let them give it to those who are in the house of the LORD doing the work, to repair the damages of the house—
6“to carpenters and builders and masons—and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house.
7“However hthere need be no accounting made with them of the money delivered into their hand, because they deal faithfully.”
8Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, i“I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
9So Shaphan the scribe went to the king, bringing the king word, saying, “Your servants have 1gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of those who do the work, who oversee the house of the LORD.”
10Then Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.
11Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, that he tore his clothes.
12Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, jAhikam the son of Shaphan, 2Achbor the son of Michaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying,
13“Go, inquire of the LORD for me, for the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is kthe wrath of the LORD that is aroused against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”
14So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of lTikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. (She dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter.) And they spoke with her.
15Then she said to them, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘Tell the man who sent you to Me,
16“Thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, mI will bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants—all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read—
17n‘because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore My wrath shall be aroused against this place and shall not be quenched.’ ” ’
18“But as for othe king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, in this manner you shall speak
to him, ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel: “Concerning the words which you have heard—
19“because your pheart was tender, and you qhumbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become ra desolation and sa curse, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you,” says the LORD.
20“Surely, therefore, I will 3gather you to your fathers, and you tshall 4be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place.” ’ ” So they brought back word to the king.
2 Kings 23
Josiah Restores True Worship
(2 Chr. 34:29—35:19)
1Now athe king sent them to gather all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to him.
2The king went up to the house of the LORD with all the men of Judah, and with him all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great. And he bread in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant cwhich had been found in the house of the LORD.
3Then the king dstood by a pillar and made a ecovenant before the LORD, to follow the LORD and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand for the covenant.
4And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the fpriests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring gout of the temple of the LORD all the articles that were made for Baal, for 1Asherah, and for all 2the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel.
5Then he removed the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem, and those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the 3constellations, and to hall the host of heaven.
6And he brought out the iwooden4 image from the house of the LORD, to the Brook Kidron outside Jerusalem, burned it at the Brook Kidron and ground it to jashes, and threw its ashes on kthe graves of the common people.
7Then he tore down the ritual 5booths lof the 6perverted persons that were in the house of the LORD, mwhere the nwomen wove hangings for the wooden image.
8And he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from oGeba to Beersheba; also he broke down the high places at the gates which were at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were to the left of the city gate.
9pNevertheless the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, qbut they ate unleavened bread among their brethren.
10And he defiled rTopheth, which is in sthe Valley of the 7Son of Hinnom, tthat no man might make his son or his daughter upass through the fire to Molech.
11Then he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had 8dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-Melech, the officer who was in the court; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.
12The altars that were von the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which wManasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, the king broke down and pulverized there, and threw their dust into the Brook Kidron.
13Then the king defiled the 9high places that were east of Jerusalem, which were on the 10south of 11the Mount of Corruption, which xSolomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the people of Ammon.
14And he ybroke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images, and filled their places with the bones of men.
15Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the 12high place zwhich Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he broke down; and he burned the high place and crushed it to powder, and burned the wooden image.
16As Josiah turned, he saw the tombs that were there on the mountain. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar, and defiled it according to the aword of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.
17Then he said, “What gravestone is this that I see?” So the men of the city told him, “It is bthe tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel.”
18And he said, “Let him alone; let no one move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones of cthe prophet who came from Samaria.
19Now Josiah also took away all the 13shrines of the 14high places that were din the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke 15the LORD to anger; and he did to them according to all the deeds he had done in Bethel.
20eHe fexecuted all the priests of the 16high places who were there, on the altars, and gburned men’s bones on them; and he returned to Jerusalem.
21Then the king commanded all the people, saying, h“Keep the Passover to the LORD your God, ias it is written in this Book of the Covenant.”
22jSuch a Passover surely had never been held since the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah.
23But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was held before the LORD in Jerusalem.
24Moreover Josiah put away those who consulted mediums and spiritists, the household gods and idols, all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might perform the words of kthe law which were written in the book lthat Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.
25mNow before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him.
Impending Judgment on Judah
26Nevertheless the LORD did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath, with which His anger was aroused against Judah, nbecause of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him.
27And the LORD said, “I will also remove Judah from My sight, as oI have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, p‘My name shall be there.’ ”
Josiah Dies in Battle
(2 Chr. 35:20—36:1)
28Now 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?
29qIn his days Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went 17to the aid of the king of Assyria, to the River Euphrates; and King Josiah went against him. And Pharaoh Necho killed him at rMegiddo when he sconfronted him.
30tThen his servants moved his body in a chariot from Megiddo, brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. And uthe people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, anointed him, and made him king in his father’s place.
The Reign and Captivity of Jehoahaz
(2 Chr. 36:1–4)
31vJehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was wHamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
32And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.
33Now Pharaoh Necho put him in prison xat Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a tribute of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
34Then yPharaoh Necho made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah, and zchanged his name to aJehoiakim. And Pharaoh took Jehoahaz band went to Egypt, and 18he died there.
Jehoiakim Reigns in Judah
(2 Chr. 36:5–8)
35So Jehoiakim gave cthe silver and gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give money according to the command of Pharaoh; he ex
acted the silver and gold from the people of the land, from every one according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Necho.
36dJehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebudah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.
37And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.
2 Kings 24
Judah Overrun by Enemies
1In ahis days Nebuchadnezzar king of bBabylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him.
2cAnd the LORD sent against him raiding 1bands of Chaldeans, bands of Syrians, bands of Moabites, and bands of the people of Ammon; He sent them against Judah to destroy it, daccording to the word of the LORD which He had spoken by His servants the prophets.
3Surely at the commandment of the LORD this came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight ebecause of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done,
4fand also because of the innocent blood that he had shed; for he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the LORD would not pardon.
5Now 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?
6gSo Jehoiakim rested with his fathers. Then Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.
7And hthe king of Egypt did not come out of his land anymore, for ithe king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the Brook of Egypt to the River Euphrates.
The Reign and Captivity of Jehoiachin
(2 Chr. 36:9, 10)
8jJehoiachin2 was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
9And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done.
10kAt that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city 3was besieged.
11And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, as his servants were besieging it.
The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV Page 187