Through the Bible – Day 163

₁Josiah commanded that Passover be celebrated in Jerusalem to honour the LORD. So, on the fourteenth day of the first month, the lambs were killed for the Passover celebration.

₂On that day, Josiah made sure the priests knew what duties they were to do in the temple. ₃He called together the Levites who served the LORD and who taught the people his laws, and he said:

₇Josiah donated thirty thousand sheep and goats, and three thousand bulls from his own flocks and herds for the people to offer as sacrifices. ₈Josiah's officials also voluntarily gave some of their animals to the people, the priests, and the Levites as sacrifices. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, who were the officials in charge of the temple, gave the priests twenty-six hundred sheep and lambs and three hundred bulls to sacrifice during the Passover celebration. ₉Conaniah, his two brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, as well as Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad were leaders of the Levites, and they gave the other Levites five thousand sheep and goats, and five hundred bulls to offer as sacrifices.

₁₀When everything was ready to celebrate Passover, the priests and the Levites stood where Josiah had told them. ₁₁Then the Levites killed and skinned the Passover lambs, and they handed some of the blood to the priests, who splattered it on the altar. ₁₂The Levites set aside the parts of the animal that the worshippers needed for their sacrifices to please the LORD, just as the Law of Moses required. They also did the same thing with the bulls. ₁₃They sacrificed the Passover animals on the altar and boiled the meat for the other offerings in pots, kettles, and pans. Then they quickly handed the meat to the people so they could eat it.

₁₄All day long, the priests were busy offering sacrifices and burning the animals' fat on the altar. And when everyone had finished, the Levites prepared Passover animals for themselves and for the priests.

₁₅During the celebration some of the Levites prepared Passover animals for the musicians and the guards, so that the Levite musicians would not have to leave their places, which had been assigned to them according to the instructions of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king's prophet. Even the guards at the temple gates did not have to leave their posts.

₁₆So on that day, Passover was celebrated to honour the LORD, and sacrifices were offered on the altar to him, just as Josiah had commanded. ₁₇The worshippers then celebrated the Festival of Thin Bread for the next seven days.

₁₈People from Jerusalem and from towns all over Judah and Israel were there. Passover had not been observed like this since the days of Samuel the prophet. In fact, this was the greatest Passover celebration in Israel's history! ₁₉All these things happened in the eighteenth year of Josiah's rule in Judah.

₂₀Some time later, King Neco of Egypt led his army to the city of Carchemish on the River Euphrates. And Josiah led his troops north to meet the Egyptians in battle.

₂₁Neco sent the following message to Josiah:

₂₂But Josiah ignored Neco's warning, even though it came from God! Instead, he disguised himself and marched into battle against Neco in the valley near Megiddo.

₂₃During the battle an Egyptian soldier shot Josiah with an arrow. Josiah told his servants, “Get me out of here! I've been hit.” ₂₄They carried Josiah out of his chariot, then put him in the other chariot he had there and took him back to Jerusalem, where he soon died. He was buried beside his ancestors, and everyone in Judah and Jerusalem mourned his death.

₂₅Jeremiah the prophet wrote a funeral song in honour of Josiah. And since then, anyone in Judah who mourns the death of Josiah sings that song. It is included in the collection of funeral songs.

₂₆Everything else Josiah did while he was king, including how he faithfully obeyed the LORD, ₂₇is written in The History of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

₁After the death of Josiah, the people of Judah crowned his son Jehoahaz their new king. ₂He was twenty-three years old at the time, and he ruled only three months from Jerusalem. ₃King Neco of Egypt captured Jehoahaz and forced Judah to pay three thousand four hundred kilogrammes of silver and thirty-four kilogrammes of gold as taxes. ₄Then Neco appointed Jehoahaz's brother Eliakim king of Judah and changed his name to Jehoiakim. He led Jehoahaz away to Egypt as his prisoner.

₅Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he was appointed king, and he ruled eleven years from Jerusalem. Jehoiakim disobeyed the LORD his God by doing evil.

₆During Jehoiakim's rule, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia invaded Judah. He arrested Jehoiakim and put him in chains, and he sent him to the capital city of Babylon. ₇Nebuchadnezzar also carried off many of the valuable things in the LORD's temple, and he put them in his palace in Babylon.

₈Everything else Jehoiakim did while he was king, including all the disgusting and evil things, is written in The History of the Kings of Israel and Judah. His son Jehoiachin then became king.

₉Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled only three months and ten days from Jerusalem. Jehoiachin also disobeyed the LORD by doing evil. ₁₀In the spring of the year, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia had Jehoiachin arrested and taken to Babylon, along with more of the valuable items in the temple. Then Nebuchadnezzar appointed Zedekiah king of Judah.

₁₁Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he was appointed king of Judah, and he ruled from Jerusalem for eleven years. ₁₂He disobeyed the LORD his God and refused to change his ways, even after a warning from Jeremiah, the LORD's prophet.

₁₃King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia had forced Zedekiah to promise in God's name that he would be loyal. Zedekiah was stubborn and refused to turn back to the LORD God of Israel, so he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar. ₁₄The people of Judah and even the priests who were their leaders became more unfaithful. They followed the disgusting example of the nations around them and made the LORD's holy temple unfit for worship. ₁₅But the LORD God felt sorry for his people, and instead of destroying the temple, he sent prophets who warned the people over and over again about their sins. ₁₆But the people only laughed and insulted these prophets. They ignored what the LORD God was trying to tell them, until he finally became so angry that nothing could stop him from punishing Judah and Jerusalem.

₁₇The LORD sent King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia to attack Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar killed the young men who were in the temple, and he showed no mercy to anyone, whether man or woman, young or old. God let him kill everyone in the city. ₁₈Nebuchadnezzar carried off everything that was left in the temple; he robbed the treasury and the personal storerooms of the king and his officials. He took everything back to Babylon.

₁₉Nebuchadnezzar's troops burnt down the temple and destroyed every important building in the city. Then they broke down the city wall. ₂₀The survivors were taken to Babylonia as prisoners, where they were slaves of the king and his sons, until Persia became a powerful nation.

₂₁Judah was an empty desert, and it stayed that way for seventy years, to make up for all the years it was not allowed to rest. These things happened just as Jeremiah the LORD's prophet had said.

₂₂In the first year that Cyrus was king of Persia, the LORD told Cyrus to send a message to all parts of his kingdom. This happened just as Jeremiah the LORD's prophet had promised. ₂₃The message said:

₁₉The disciples were afraid of the Jewish leaders, and on the evening of that same Sunday they locked themselves in a room. Suddenly, Jesus appeared in the middle of the group. He greeted them ₂₀and showed them his hands and his side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they became very happy.

₂₁After Jesus had greeted them again, he said, “I am sending you, just as the Father has sent me.” ₂₂Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ₂₃If you forgive anyone's sins, they will be forgiven. But if you don't forgive their sins, they will not be forgiven.”

₂₄Although Thomas the Twin was one of the twelve disciples, he wasn't with the others when Jesus appeared to them. ₂₅So they told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But Thomas said, “First, I must see the nail scars in his hands and touch them with my finger. I must put my hand where the spear went into his side. I won't believe unless I do this!”

₂₆A week later the disciples were together again. This time, Thomas was with them. Jesus came in while the doors were still locked and stood in the middle of the group. He greeted his disciples ₂₇and said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands! Put your hand into my side. Stop doubting and have faith!”

₂₈Thomas replied, “You are my Lord and my God!”

₂₉Jesus said, “Thomas, do you have faith because you have seen me? The people who have faith in me without seeing me are the ones who are really blessed!”

₃₀Jesus performed many other miracles for his disciples, and not all of them are written in this book. ₃₁But these are written so that you will put your faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God. If you have faith in him, you will have true life.