Josiah Reigns in Judah
1 mJosiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father; and he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the nAsherim, and the carved and the metal images. 4 And they chopped down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and he cut down the oincense altars that stood above them. And he broke in pieces the nAsherim and the carved and the metal images, and he made dust of them and oscattered it over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.
The Book of the Law Found
8 sNow in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had cleansed the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the tgovernor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz, uthe recorder, to repair the house of the Lord his God. 9 They came to vHilkiah the high priest and gave him the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the keepers of the threshold, had collected from qManasseh and Ephraim and from all the remnant of Israel and from all Judah and Benjamin and from the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10 And they gave it to the workmen who were working in the house of the Lord. And the workmen who were working in the house of the Lord gave it for repairing and restoring the house. 11 They gave it to the carpenters and the builders to buy quarried stone, and timber for binders and wbeams for the buildings that the kings of Judah had let go to ruin.
14 While they were bringing out the money that had been brought into the house of the Lord, vHilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord given through1 Moses. 15 Then Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan. 16 Shaphan brought the book to the king, and further reported to the king, “All that was committed to your servants they are doing. 17 They have emptied out the money that was found in the house of the Lord and have given it into the hand of the overseers and the workmen.” 18 Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it before the king.
19 And when the king heard the words of the Law, zhe tore his clothes. 20 And the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, 21 “Go, inquire of the Lord for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been found. For great is athe wrath of the Lord that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do according to all that is written in this book.”
Huldah Prophesies Disaster
22 So Hilkiah and those whom the king had sent2 went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter) and spoke to her to that effect. 23 And she said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, 24 Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book that was read before the king of Judah. 25 Because they have forsaken me and bhave made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands, therefore amy wrath will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched. 26 But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, 27 because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. 28 Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place and its inhabitants.’” And they brought back word to the king.
29 cThen the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 30 And the king went up to the house of the Lord, with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the Levites, all the people both great and small. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord. 31 And the king dstood in his place eand made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after 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 the covenant that were written in this book. 32 Then he made all who were present in Jerusalem and in Benjamin join in it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. 33 And Josiah took away fall the abominations from all the territory that belonged to the people of Israel and made all who were present in Israel serve the Lord their God. All his days they did not turn away from following the Lord, the God of their fathers.
1 aAn oracle concerning bNineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.
God’s Wrath Against Nineveh
2 cThe Lord is a jealous and avenging God;
the Lord is avenging and wrathful;
dthe Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries
and ekeeps wrath for his enemies.
3 fThe Lord is slow to anger and ggreat in power,
and hthe Lord will by no means clear the guilty.
iHis way is in whirlwind and storm,
and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
4 jHe rebukes the sea and makes it dry;
he dries up all the rivers;
the bloom of kLebanon withers.
5 mThe mountains quake before him;
nthe hills melt;
the earth heaves before him,
othe world and all who dwell in it.
6 pWho can stand before his indignation?
Who can endure the heat of his anger?
His wrath qis poured out like fire,
and rthe rocks are broken into pieces by him.
7 sThe Lord is good,
ta stronghold in the day of trouble;
uhe knows those who take refuge in him.
8 But vwith an overflowing flood
he will make a complete end of the adversaries,1
and wwill pursue his enemies into darkness.
9 What xdo you plot against the Lord?
yHe will make a complete end;
trouble will not rise up a second time.
10 For they are zlike entangled thorns,
like drunkards as they drink;
athey are consumed like stubble fully dried.
11 From you came one
bwho plotted evil against the Lord,
a worthless counselor.
12 Thus says the Lord,
“Though they are at full strength and many,
cthey will be cut down and pass away.
dThough I have afflicted you,
I will afflict you no more.
13 And now eI will break his yoke from off you
and will burst your bonds apart.”
14 The Lord has given commandment about you:
f“No more shall your name be perpetuated;
from gthe house of your gods I will cut off
the carved image and the metal image.
15 2 jBehold, upon the mountains, kthe feet of him
who brings good news,
who publishes peace!
lKeep your feasts, O Judah;
mfulfill your vows,
nfor never again shall the worthless pass through you;
he is utterly cut off.
The Destruction of Nineveh
1 oThe scatterer has come up against you.
pMan the ramparts;
watch the road;
dress for battle;3
collect all your strength.
2 For qthe Lord is restoring the majesty of Jacob
as the majesty of Israel,
for plunderers have plundered them
and rruined their branches.
3 The shield of his mighty men is red;
shis soldiers are clothed in scarlet.
The chariots come with flashing metal
on the day he musters them;
the cypress spears are brandished.
4 tThe chariots race madly through the streets;
they rush to and fro through the squares;
they gleam like torches;
they dart like lightning.
5 He remembers uhis officers;
vthey stumble as they go,
they hasten to the wall;
the siege tower4 is set up.
6 wThe river gates are opened;
the palace xmelts away;
7 its mistress5 is ystripped;6 she is carried off,
her slave girls zlamenting,
moaning like doves
and beating their breasts.
8 bNineveh is like a pool
whose waters run away.7
“Halt! Halt!” they cry,
but cnone turns back.
9 Plunder the silver,
plunder the gold!
There is no end of the treasure
or of the wealth of all precious things.
10 dDesolate! Desolation and ruin!
eHearts melt and fknees tremble;
ganguish is in all loins;
hall faces grow pale!
11 Where is the lions’ den,
the feeding place of ithe young lions,
where the lion and lioness went,
where his cubs were, with jnone to disturb?
12 kThe lion tore enough for his cubs
and lstrangled prey for his lionesses;
he filled his caves with prey
and his dens with torn flesh.
13 mBehold, I am against you, declares the Lord of hosts, and nI will burn your8 chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and othe voice of your messengers shall no longer be heard.
Woe to Nineveh
1 Woe to pthe bloody city,
all full of lies and plunder—
qno end to the prey!
2 The crack of the whip, and rrumble of the wheel,
sgalloping horse and tbounding chariot!
3 Horsemen charging,
flashing sword and uglittering spear,
vhosts of slain,
heaps of corpses,
dead bodies without end—
they stumble over the bodies!
4 And all for the countless whorings of the wprostitute,
xgraceful and of deadly charms,
who betrays nations with her whorings,
and peoples with her charms.
5 mBehold, I am against you,
declares the Lord of hosts,
and ywill lift up your skirts over your face;
and I will make nations look at zyour nakedness
and kingdoms at your shame.
6 I will throw filth at you
and atreat you with contempt
and make you ba spectacle.
7 And all who look at you cwill shrink from you and say,
“Wasted is dNineveh; ewho will grieve for her?”
fWhere shall I seek comforters for you?
8 gAre you better than hThebes9
that sat iby the Nile,
with water around her,
her rampart a sea,
and water her wall?
9 jCush was her strength;
Egypt too, and that without limit;
10 mYet she became an exile;
she went into captivity;
nher infants were dashed in pieces
at the head of every street;
for her honored men olots were cast,
pand all her great men were bound in chains.
11 qYou also will be drunken;
you will go into hiding;
ryou will seek a refuge from the enemy.
12 All your fortresses are slike fig trees
with first-ripe figs—
if shaken they fall
into the mouth of the eater.
13 Behold, your troops
tare women in your midst.
The gates of your land
are wide open to your enemies;
fire has devoured your bars.
14 uDraw water for the siege;
rstrengthen your forts;
go into the clay;
tread the mortar;
take hold of the brick mold!
15 There will the fire devour you;
the sword will cut you off.
It will vdevour you wlike the locust.
Multiply yourselves wlike the locust;
multiply wlike the grasshopper!
16 You increased xyour merchants
more than the stars of the heavens.
wThe locust spreads its wings and flies away.
17 Your zprinces11 are wlike grasshoppers,
ayour scribes12 like clouds of locusts
settling on the fences
in a day of cold—
when the sun rises, they fly away;
no one knows where they are.
18 Your shepherds bare asleep,
O king of Assyria;
cyour nobles slumber.
Your people dare scattered on the mountains
with none to gather them.
19 There is no easing your hurt;
eyour wound is grievous.
All who hear the news about you
fclap their hands over you.
For gupon whom has not come
your unceasing evil?
8 See to it that no one takes you captive by nphilosophy and oempty deceit, according to phuman tradition, according to the qelemental spirits1 of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For rin him the whole fullness of deity dwells sbodily, 10 and tyou have been filled in him, who is uthe head of all rule and authority. 11 In him also vyou were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by wputting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 xhaving been buried with him in baptism, in which yyou were also raised with him through faith in zthe powerful working of God, zwho raised him from the dead. 13 aAnd you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God bmade alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by ccanceling dthe record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 wHe disarmed the rulers and authorities2 and eput them to open shame, by ftriumphing over them in him.3
Let No One Disqualify You
16 Therefore let no one gpass judgment on you hin questions of food and drink, or with regard to ia festival or ja new moon or a Sabbath. 17 kThese are a shadow of the things to come, but lthe substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one mdisqualify you, ninsisting on asceticism and worship of angels, ogoing on in detail about visions,4 ppuffed up without reason by qhis sensuous mind, 19 and rnot sholding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.
20 If with Christ tyou died to the uelemental spirits of the world, vwhy, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 w“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (xreferring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to yhuman precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in zpromoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are aof no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
