Yosia Gyidisom Mu Nsakrae
1Afei, ɔhene no frɛɛ Yuda ne Yerusalem mpanyimfo nyinaa. 2Na ɔhene no ne Yuda ne Yerusalem manfo ne asɔfo ne adiyifo a efi akumaa so kosi ɔkɛse so, foro kɔɔ Awurade Asɔredan no mu. Ɛhɔ na ɔhene no kenkan Apam Nhoma a wɔahu wɔ Awurade Asɔredan mu hɔ no nyinaa kyerɛɛ wɔn. 3Ɔhene no tenaa beae bi a ɛkyerɛ ne tumi wɔ afadum no ho, hyɛɛ apam no mu den bio wɔ Awurade anim. Ɔhyɛɛ bɔ se, ofi ne koma ne ne kra nyinaa mu bedi Awurade mmara nsɛm, ahyɛde ne mmara nyinaa so. Ɔfaa saa ɔkwan yi so sii apam no mu nhyehyɛe ahorow a na wɔakyerɛw wɔ nhoma no mu no nyinaa so dua, maa nnipa no nyinaa hyɛɛ bɔ sɛ wobedi so.
4Afei, ɔhene hyɛɛ ɔsɔfopanyin Hilkia ne asɔfo akunini ne asɔredan sohwɛfo no nyinaa sɛ, wonyiyi asɔredan no mu nneɛma a na wɔde som Baal ne Asera ne wim atumfo no nyinaa mfi hɔ. Ɔhene no ma wɔhyew ne nyinaa wɔ Kidron bon a ɛwɔ Yerusalem mfikyiri no mu, soaa ne nsõ de kɔɔ Bet-El. 5Ɔpam abosom akɔmfo a Yuda ahemfo a wodii kan no yii wɔn no nyinaa, efisɛ na wɔhyew nnuhuam wɔ Yuda abosomfi nyinaa mu a mpo, na ɛreyɛ akodu Yerusalem kurom. Wɔhyew nnuhuam maa Baal ne owia, ɔsram ne nsoromma ne wim atumfo. 6Ɔhene no tuu Asera dua23.6 Hesekia sɛee Asera dua, nanso Manase san sii dua no. no fii Awurade asɔredan mu, de kɔɔ Yerusalem mfikyiri wɔ Kidron bon mu hɔ kɔhyew no. Afei, ɔyam dua no muhumuhu, kɔtow ne mfutuma no guu amusiei. 7Odwiriw nsɔree so nguamanfo adan a na ɛwɔ Awurade Asɔredan no mu no, faako a na mmea no nwen nkatahotam, de kata Asera dua no ho no nyinaa gui.
8Yosia san de Awurade asɔfo no a na wɔtete Yuda nkurow afoforo so no nyinaa baa Yerusalem. Efi Geba kosi Beer-Seba, ɔsɛee ɛhɔ abosonnan no nyinaa. Saa beae no na na wɔhyew nnuhuam no. Obubuu abosonnan a ɛwɔ Yosua a na ɔyɛ Yerusalem amrado no pon ano no. Sɛ obi rewura kuropɔn no mu a obehu saa pon no wɔ kuropɔn pon no benkum so. 9Asɔfo a na wɔsom wɔ abosonnan no mu no, na wɔmma wɔn kwan mma wɔnsom wɔ Awurade afɔremuka a ɛwɔ Yerusalem no so, nanso na wɔma wɔne asɔfo a aka no di brodo a mmɔkaw nni mu no.
10Afei, ɔhene no sɛee Tofet afɔremuka a na ɛwɔ Ben-Hinom bon no mu no nti, na obiara ntumi mfa ne babarima anaa ne babea mmɔ afɔre wɔ ogya mu wɔ so sɛ afɔrebɔde a wɔde ma Molek bio. 11Otutuu apɔnkɔ sɛso a wɔagu a esisi Awurade Asɔredan kwan no ano a Yuda ahemfo too din maa owia no nyinaa fii hɔ. Na ne nyinaa wowɔ adiwo a ɛbɛn piamni bi a wɔfrɛ no Natan-Malek dan ho. Yosia hyew nteaseɛnam a na wɔato din ama owia no.
12Yosia bubuu afɔremuka a Yuda ahemfo sisii wɔ ahemfi no atifi wɔ Ahas dan apampam no nyinaa. Ɔhene no bubuu afɔremuka a Manase sisii wɔ Awurade Asɔredan no adiwo abien hɔ no nyinaa gui. Odwiriw no pasapasa, too ne afabo no petee Kidron bon no mu. 13Ɔhene no san guu abosonnan a ɛwɔ Yerusalem apuei fam no ne nea ɛwɔ Ɔsɛe Bepɔw no anafo fam no. Saa beae no na Israelhene Salomo sisii abosonnan maa Astoret, a ɛyɛ Sidonfo bosom bɔne, ne Kemos, Moabfo bosom bɔne, ne Molek, Amonfo bosom bɔne. 14Yosia dwiriw afadum kronkron no nyinaa gui, bubuu Asera nnua no. Ɔde nnipa nnompe guguu ne nyinaa so.
15Ɔhene no san bubuu afɔremuka a ɛwɔ Bet-El abosonnan a Nebat babarima Yeroboam yɛe bere a odii Israel anim, de wɔn kɔɔ bɔne mu no. Yosia yam abo no, ma ɛdan mfutuma, hyew Asera dua no. 16Bere a Yosia retoto nʼani no, ohuu nna pii wɔ koko no nkyɛn mu. Ɔhyɛɛ sɛ wontu nnompe no, na ɔhyew ne nyinaa wɔ afɔremuka a ɛwɔ Bet-El no so, de guu afɔremuka no ho fi. Eyi sii sɛnea Awurade nam Onyankopɔn nipa so hyɛe, bere a Yeroboam kogyinaa afɔremuka no ho wɔ afahyɛ da no. Afei Yosia dan ne ho hwɛɛ Onyankopɔn nipa a ɔhyɛɛ eyinom nyinaa ho nkɔm no da.
17Yosia bisae se, “Nkaedum bɛn na mihu no?”
Na nnipa a wɔwɔ kurow no mu no ka kyerɛɛ no se, “Ɛyɛ Onyankopɔn nipa no a ofi Yuda a ɔhyɛɛ nkɔm faa dwuma a woadi mprempren wɔ afɔremuka a ɛwɔ Bet-El ho no ɔboda.”
18Yosia buae se, “Momma ɛnwɔ hɔ. Obiara mmfa ne nsa nka ne nnompe no.” Ɛno nti, wɔanhyew ɔne odiyifo akwakoraa a ofi Samaria no nnompe.
19Na Yosia bubuu abosonnan no a ɛwɔ Samaria no, sɛnea ɔyɛɛ wɔ Bet-El no. Israel ahemfo ahorow bi na wosisi de hyɛɛ Awurade abufuw. 20Okunkum nsɔree so akɔmfo no wɔ wɔn ankasa afɔremuka so, na ɔhyew nnipa nnompe wɔ afɔremuka ahorow no so, de guu ho fi. Akyiri no, ɔsan kɔɔ Yerusalem.
Yosia Di Twam Afahyɛ
21Ɔhene Yosia hyɛɛ nnipa no nyinaa se, “Ɛsɛ sɛ mudi Twam Afahyɛ ma Awurade, mo Nyankopɔn, sɛnea wɔakyerɛw wɔ Apam Nhoma no mu no.” 22Efi bere a atemmufo dii Israel so mfe bebree a atwa mu wɔ Israel ne Yuda ahemfo so no, wonnii Twam Afahyɛ no bi saa da. 23Bere a ɔhene Yosia dii mfe dunwɔtwe wɔ akongua so no na wodii saa Twam Afahyɛ yi wɔ Yerusalem maa Awurade.
24Yosia tɔree samanfrɛfo ne adunsifo ne afi mu anyame ne ahonisom biara ase wɔ Yerusalem ne Yuda asase so baabiara. Ɔyɛɛ saa de dii mmara a wɔakyerɛw wɔ nhoma mmobɔwee a ɔsɔfo Hilkia kohuu wɔ Awurade Asɔredan mu no so. 25Ɔhene biara mmae a ɔte sɛ Yosia a ɔde ne koma, ne kra ne nʼahoɔden ama Awurade na ɔnam so adi Mose mmara nyinaa so. Na ɔhene biara nso mmae a ɔte sɛ ɔno.
26Nanso eyi nyinaa akyi no, Awurade abufuw no dɛw tiaa Yuda, esiane bɔne akɛse a Ɔhene Manase yɛe no. Ɛno nti, wanyi nʼabufuwhyew no amfi wɔn so. 27Awurade kae se, “Mɛsɛe Yuda, sɛnea mesɛee Israel no. Mɛpam nnipa no afi mʼanim, na mapo me kuropɔn Yerusalem ne Asɔredan a anka ɛsɛ sɛ wɔhyɛ me din anuonyam wɔ mu no.”
28Yosia ahenni ho asɛm nkae ne dwuma a odii nyinaa no, wɔankyerɛw angu Yuda Ahemfo Abakɔsɛm Nhoma no mu ana?
29Bere a Yosia di hene no, Misraimhene Farao Neko kɔɔ Asubɔnten Eufrate ho kɔboaa Asiriahene. Ɔhene Yosia de nʼakofo tuu sa, kɔko tiaa no, nanso bere a wohyiaa wɔ Megido no, ɔhene Neko kum no. 30Yosia asraafo mu mpanyimfo no de nʼamu no too teaseɛnam mu fii Megido, baa Yerusalem besiee no wɔ nʼankasa ɔboda mu. Na nnipa no sraa ne babarima Yehoahas ngo, sii no hene.
Yehoahas Di Yudahene
31Bere a Yehoahas dii hene no, na wadi mfe aduonu abiɛsa, na odii ade wɔ Yerusalem asram abiɛsa. Na ne na yɛ Yeremia a ofi Libna no babea a na ne din de Hamutal. 32Ɔyɛɛ bɔne wɔ Awurade ani so, sɛnea nʼagyanom yɛe no pɛpɛɛpɛ. 33Farao Neko de Yehoahas too afiase wɔ Ribla wɔ Hamat asase so, sɛnea ɛbɛyɛ a, ɔrentumi nni hene wɔ Yerusalem. Afei, ɔhyɛɛ sɛ Yuda ntua tow dwetɛ tɔn abiɛsa ne fa ne sikakɔkɔɔ kilogram aduasa anan sɛ sonkahiri. 34Farao Neko de Eliakim a ɔyɛ Yosia babarima dii ade ma osii nʼagya anan mu. Ɔsesaa Eliakim din frɛɛ no Yehoiakim. Wɔde Yehoahas kɔɔ Misraim sɛ odeduani, na owui wɔ hɔ.
Yehoiakim Di Yudahene
35Sɛnea ɛbɛyɛ a Yehoiakim benya dwetɛ ne sikakɔkɔɔ tow a Farao Neko regye no nti, otwitwaa tow maa Yudafo tuae. Obiara tuaa sɛnea nʼahonya te.
36Bere a Yehoiakim dii ade no, na wadi mfirihyia aduonu anum, na odii ade wɔ Yerusalem mfe dubaako. Na ne na din de Sebuda a ɔyɛ Pedaia a ofi Ruma babea. 37Ɔyɛɛ bɔne wɔ Awurade ani so, sɛnea nʼagyanom yɛe no.
Josiah Renews the Covenant
1Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2He went up to the temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord. 3The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord—to follow the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.
4The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel. 5He did away with the idolatrous priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem—those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts. 6He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the Lord to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder and scattered the dust over the graves of the common people. 7He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the temple of the Lord, the quarters where women did weaving for Asherah.
8Josiah brought all the priests from the towns of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense. He broke down the gateway at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua, the city governor, which was on the left of the city gate. 9Although the priests of the high places did not serve at the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.
10He desecrated Topheth, which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, so no one could use it to sacrifice their son or daughter in the fire to Molek. 11He removed from the entrance to the temple of the Lord the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court23:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. near the room of an official named Nathan-Melek. Josiah then burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.
12He pulled down the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts of the temple of the Lord. He removed them from there, smashed them to pieces and threw the rubble into the Kidron Valley. 13The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the people of Ammon. 14Josiah smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones.
15Even the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin—even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also. 16Then Josiah looked around, and when he saw the tombs that were there on the hillside, he had the bones removed from them and burned on the altar to defile it, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by the man of God who foretold these things.
17The king asked, “What is that tombstone I see?”
The people of the city said, “It marks the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and pronounced against the altar of Bethel the very things you have done to it.”
18“Leave it alone,” he said. “Don’t let anyone disturb his bones.” So they spared his bones and those of the prophet who had come from Samaria.
19Just as he had done at Bethel, Josiah removed all the shrines at the high places that the kings of Israel had built in the towns of Samaria and that had aroused the Lord’s anger. 20Josiah slaughtered all the priests of those high places on the altars and burned human bones on them. Then he went back to Jerusalem.
21The king gave this order to all the people: “Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22Neither in the days of the judges who led Israel nor in the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah had any such Passover been observed. 23But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.
24Furthermore, Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists, the household gods, the idols and all the other detestable things seen in Judah and Jerusalem. This he did to fulfill the requirements of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the temple of the Lord. 25Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.
26Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn away from the heat of his fierce anger, which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh had done to arouse his anger. 27So the Lord said, “I will remove Judah also from my presence as I removed Israel, and I will reject Jerusalem, the city I chose, and this temple, about which I said, ‘My Name shall be there.’23:27 1 Kings 8:29”
28As for the other events of Josiah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?
29While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went up to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to meet him in battle, but Necho faced him and killed him at Megiddo. 30Josiah’s servants brought his body in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.
Jehoahaz King of Judah
31Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. 32He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his predecessors had done. 33Pharaoh Necho put him in chains at Riblah in the land of Hamath so that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and he imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents23:33 That is, about 3 3/4 tons or about 3.4 metric tons of silver and a talent23:33 That is, about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms of gold. 34Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt, and there he died. 35Jehoiakim paid Pharaoh Necho the silver and gold he demanded. In order to do so, he taxed the land and exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land according to their assessments.
Jehoiakim King of Judah
36Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah; she was from Rumah. 37And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his predecessors had done.
