Immerse: Chronicles Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 109
2C
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C hronicles – E Z R A – N E H E M I A H
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Then Amon’s own officials conspired against him and assassinated him
in his palace. But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired
against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah the next king.
Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jeru
salem t hirty-one years. He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight and
followed the example of his ancestor David. He did not turn away from
doing what was right.
During the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, Josiah began
to seek the God of his ancestor David. Then in the twelfth year he began to
purify Judah and Jerusalem, destroying all the pagan shrines, the Asherah
poles, and the carved idols and cast images. He ordered that the altars of
Baal be demolished and that the incense altars which stood above them be
broken down. He also made sure that the Asherah poles, the carved idols,
and the cast images were smashed and scattered over the graves of those
who had sacrificed to them. He burned the bones of the pagan priests on
their own altars, and so he purified Judah and Jerusalem.
He did the same thing in the towns of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon,
even as far as Naphtali, and in the regions all around them. He destroyed
the pagan altars and the Asherah poles, and he crushed the idols into dust.
He cut down all the incense altars throughout the land of Israel. Finally,
he returned to Jerusalem.
In the eighteenth year of his reign, after he had purified the land and the
Temple, Josiah appointed Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the governor of Jerusalem, and Joah son of Joahaz, the royal historian, to repair
the Temple of the Lord his God. They gave Hilkiah the high priest the
money that had been collected by the Levites who served as gatekeepers
at the Temple of God. The gifts were brought by people from Manasseh,
Ephraim, and from all the remnant of Israel, as well as from all Judah, Ben
jamin, and the people of Jerusalem.
He entrusted the money to the men assigned to supervise the restoration of the Lord’s Temple. Then they paid the workers who did the
repairs and renovation of the Temple. They hired carpenters and builders, who purchased finished stone for the walls and timber for the rafters
and beams. They restored what earlier kings of Judah had allowed to fall
into ruin.
The workers served faithfully under the leadership of Jahath and Oba
diah, Levites of the Merarite clan, and Zechariah and Meshullam, Levites
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