Through the Bible – Day 139

₂₁Josiah told the people of Judah, “Celebrate Passover in honour of the LORD your God, just as it says in The Book of God's Law.”

₂₂This festival had not been celebrated in this way since kings ruled Israel and Judah. ₂₃But in Josiah's eighteenth year as king of Judah, everyone came to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover.

₂₄Josiah got rid of every disgusting person and thing in Judah and Jerusalem—including magicians, fortune-tellers, and idols. He did his best to obey every law written in the book that the priest Hilkiah found in the LORD's temple. ₂₅No other king before or after Josiah tried as hard as he did to obey the Law of Moses.

₂₆But the LORD was still furious with the people of Judah because Manasseh had done so many things to make him angry. ₂₇The LORD said, “I will desert the people of Judah, just as I deserted the people of Israel. I will reject Jerusalem, even though I chose it to be mine. And I will abandon this temple built to honour me.”

₂₈Everything else Josiah did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah. ₂₉During Josiah's rule, King Neco of Egypt led his army north to the River Euphrates to help the king of Assyria. Josiah led his troops north to fight Neco, but when they met in battle at Megiddo, Josiah was killed. ₃₀A few of Josiah's servants put his body in a chariot and took it back to Jerusalem, where they buried it in his own tomb. Then the people of Judah found his son Jehoahaz and poured olive oil on his head to show that he was their new king.

₃₁Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled from Jerusalem only three months. His mother Hamutal was the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. ₃₂Jehoahaz disobeyed the LORD, just as some of his ancestors had done.

₃₃King Neco of Egypt had Jehoahaz arrested and put in prison at Riblah near Hamath. Then he forced the people of Judah to pay him three thousand four hundred kilogrammes of silver and thirty-four kilogrammes of gold as taxes. ₃₄Neco appointed Josiah's son Eliakim king of Judah, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. He took Jehoahaz as a prisoner to Egypt, where he died.

₃₅Jehoiakim forced the people of Judah to pay higher taxes, so he could give Neco the silver and gold he demanded.

₃₆Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he was appointed king, and he ruled eleven years from Jerusalem. His mother Zebidah was the daughter of Pedaiah from Rumah. ₃₇Jehoiakim disobeyed the LORD by following the example of his ancestors.

₁During Jehoiakim's rule, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia invaded and took control of Judah. Jehoiakim obeyed Nebuchadnezzar for three years, but then he rebelled.

₂At that time, the LORD started sending troops to rob and destroy towns in Judah. Some of these troops were from Babylonia, and others were from Syria, Moab, and Ammon. The LORD had sent his servants the prophets to warn Judah about this, ₃and now he was making it happen. The country of Judah was going to be wiped out, because Manasseh had sinned ₄and caused many innocent people to die. The LORD would not forgive this.

₅Everything else Jehoiakim did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah. ₆Jehoiakim died, and his son Jehoiachin became king.

₇King Nebuchadnezzar defeated King Neco of Egypt and took control of his land from the Egyptian Gorge all the way north to the River Euphrates. So Neco never invaded Judah again.

₈Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled only three months from Jerusalem. His mother Nehushta was the daughter of Elnathan from Jerusalem. ₉Jehoiachin disobeyed the LORD, just as his father Jehoiakim had done.

₁₀King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia sent troops to attack Jerusalem soon after Jehoiachin became king. ₁₁During the attack, Nebuchadnezzar himself arrived at the city. ₁₂Jehoiachin immediately surrendered, together with his mother and his servants, as well as his army officers and officials. Then Nebuchadnezzar had Jehoiachin arrested. These things took place in the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar's rule in Babylonia.

₁₃The LORD had warned that some day the treasures would be taken from the royal palace and from the temple, including the gold objects that Solomon had made for the temple. And that's exactly what Nebuchadnezzar ordered his soldiers to do. ₁₄He also led away as prisoners the Jerusalem officials, the military leaders, and the skilled workers—ten thousand in all. Only the very poorest people were left in Judah.

₁₅Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin to Babylon, along with his mother, his wives, his officials, and the most important leaders of Judah. ₁₆He also led away seven thousand soldiers, one thousand skilled workers, and anyone who would be useful in battle.

₁₇Then Nebuchadnezzar appointed Jehoiachin's uncle Mattaniah king of Judah and changed his name to Zedekiah.

₁₈Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he was appointed king of Judah, and he ruled from Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother Hamutal was the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. ₁₉Zedekiah disobeyed the LORD, just as Jehoiakim had done. ₂₀It was Zedekiah who finally rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar.

The people of Judah and Jerusalem had made the LORD so angry that he finally turned his back on them. That's why these horrible things were happening.

₁In Zedekiah's ninth year as king, on the tenth day of the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia led his entire army to attack Jerusalem. The troops set up camp outside the city and built ramps up to the city walls.

_2-3After a year and a half, all the food in Jerusalem was gone. Then on the ninth day of the fourth month, ₄the Babylonian troops broke through the city wall. That same night, Zedekiah and his soldiers tried to escape through the gate near the royal garden, even though they knew the enemy had the city surrounded. They headed towards the desert, ₅but the Babylonian troops caught up with them near Jericho. They arrested Zedekiah, but his soldiers scattered in every direction.

₆Zedekiah was taken to Riblah, where Nebuchadnezzar put him on trial and found him guilty. ₇Zedekiah's sons were killed right in front of him. His eyes were then put out, and he was put in chains and dragged off to Babylon.

₈About a month later, in Nebuchadnezzar's nineteenth year as king, Nebuzaradan, who was his official in charge of the guards, arrived in Jerusalem. ₉Nebuzaradan burnt down the LORD's temple, the king's palace, and every important building in the city, as well as all the houses. ₁₀Then he ordered the Babylonian soldiers to break down the walls around Jerusalem. ₁₁He led away as prisoners the people left in the city, including those who had become loyal to Nebuchadnezzar. ₁₂Only some of the poorest people were left behind to work the vineyards and the fields.

₁₃The Babylonian soldiers took the two bronze columns that stood in front of the temple, the ten moveable bronze stands, and the large bronze bowl called the Sea. They broke them into pieces so they could take the bronze to Babylonia. ₁₄They carried off the bronze things used for worship at the temple, including the pans for hot ashes, and the shovels, snuffers, and also the dishes for incense, ₁₅as well as the fire pans and the sprinkling bowls. Nebuzaradan ordered his soldiers to take everything made of gold or silver.

₁₆The pile of bronze from the columns, the stands, and the large bowl that Solomon had made for the temple was too large to be weighed. ₁₇Each column had been eight metres tall with a bronze cap over one metre high. These caps were decorated with bronze designs—some of them like chains and others like pomegranates.

₁₈Next, Nebuzaradan arrested Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah his assistant, and three temple officials. ₁₉Then he arrested one of the army commanders, the king's five personal advisers, and the officer in charge of gathering the troops for battle. He also found sixty more soldiers who were still in Jerusalem. ₂₀Nebuzaradan led them all to Riblah ₂₁near Hamath, where Nebuchadnezzar had them killed.

The people of Judah no longer lived in their own country.

₂₂King Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam to rule the few people still living in Judah. ₂₃When the army officers and troops heard that Gedaliah was their ruler, the officers met with him at Mizpah. These men were Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth from Netophah, and Jaazaniah from Maacah.

₂₄Gedaliah said to them, “Everything will be fine, I promise. We don't need to be afraid of the Babylonian rulers, if we live here peacefully and do what Nebuchadnezzar says.”

₂₅Ishmael was from the royal family. And about two months after Gedaliah began his rule, Ishmael and ten other men went to Mizpah. They killed Gedaliah and his officials, including those from Judah and those from Babylonia. ₂₆After that, the army officers and all the people in Mizpah, whether important or not, were afraid of what the Babylonians might do. So they left Judah and went to Egypt.

₂₇Jehoiachin was a prisoner in Babylon for thirty-seven years. Then Evil-Merodach became king of Babylonia, and in the first year of his rule, on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month, he let Jehoiachin out of prison. ₂₈Evil-Merodach was kind to Jehoiachin and honoured him more than any of the other kings held prisoner there. ₂₉Jehoiachin was even allowed to wear his own clothes, and he ate at the king's table every day. ₃₀As long as Jehoiachin lived, he was paid a daily allowance to buy whatever he needed.

₁Jesus crossed Lake Galilee, which was also known as Lake Tiberias. ₂A large crowd had seen him perform miracles to heal the sick, and those people went with him. _3-4It was almost time for the Jewish festival of Passover, and Jesus went up on a mountain with his disciples and sat down.

₅When Jesus saw the large crowd coming towards him, he asked Philip, “Where will we get enough food to feed all these people?” ₆He said this to test Philip, since he already knew what he was going to do.

₇Philip answered, “Don't you know that it would take almost a year's wages just to buy only a little bread for each of these people?”

₈Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the disciples. He spoke up and said, ₉“There is a boy here who has five small loaves of barley bread and two fish. But what good is that with all these people?”

₁₀The ground was covered with grass, and Jesus told his disciples to make everyone sit down. About five thousand men were in the crowd. ₁₁Jesus took the bread in his hands and gave thanks to God. Then he passed the bread to the people, and he did the same with the fish, until everyone had plenty to eat.

₁₂The people ate all they wanted, and Jesus told his disciples to gather up the leftovers, so that nothing would be wasted. ₁₃The disciples gathered them up and filled twelve large baskets with what was left over from the five barley loaves.

₁₄After the people had seen Jesus perform this miracle, they began saying, “This must be the Prophet who is to come into the world!” ₁₅Jesus realized that they would try to force him to be their king. So he went up on a mountain, where he could be alone.

₁₆That evening, Jesus' disciples went down to the lake. ₁₇They got into a boat and set off for Capernaum. Later that evening Jesus had still not come to them, ₁₈and a strong wind was making the water rough.

₁₉When the disciples had rowed for five or six kilometres, they saw Jesus walking on the water. He kept coming closer to the boat, and they were terrified. ₂₀But he said, “I am Jesus! Don't be afraid!” ₂₁The disciples wanted to take him into the boat, but suddenly the boat reached the shore where they were headed.