Josiya unomisa kuthigamigwa kwe midzimu
(2 Zwiyitikalo 34:3-7, 2 29-33)1 Ipapo mambo kakubunganya bakulu bose be Juda ne be Jerusalema. 2 Ngono mambo katathila ku ng'umba ya Yahwe ana bathu bose be Juda ne bagali bose be Jerusalema ne bapirisiti ne balebesambeli ne bathu bose, batukunu ne bakulu ngono kababalila matama wose e Lukwalo gwe Tjidumano gwakawang'wa mu Ng'umba ya Yahwe. 3 Mambo bakama pa phanda, bakathama tjidumano mbeli kwa Yahwe kuti banowotobela Yahwe bakabhata milayo yabo nge meya dzabo dzose nenge moyo wabo wose, kushingikadza matama e tjidumano akakwagwa mu lukwalo, ngono bathu bose bakazwisunga nge tjidumano. 4 Mambo bakalaya Hilikiya mpirisiti nkulu ne bapirisiti banontobela nge mamo ne balindi be mikoba kuti badusile kuzhe zwija zose zwakathamigwa Bhaale ne zwa Ashera ne zwe mibunga yose ye kudzimu, kazwipisila kuzhe kwe Jerusalema mu minda dze Kidironi, kasengela milota yazo ku Bhetele. 5 Kadusa bapirisiti be midzimu bakabe bashalugwa na bomambo be Juda kupisa motsha mu magalo akatuthumala ku mizi mikulu ye Juda ne yakapoteleka Jerusalema, ibabo bose bakabe bepisila Bhaale motsha, bepisila ne zhuba ne mwedzi ne nyenyedzi nenge mibunga yose ye kudzimu. 6 Kadusila ifano tja Ashera kuzhe kwe Ng'umba ya Yahwe kuzhe kwe Jerusalema katji yisa ku nkuku we Kidironi, katjipisila ku nkuku we Kidironi, ngono katjikwiya kawulusila hwuluba yatjo ku zwikumbu zwe bathu koga. 7 Kaliga ne ng'umba dze balume be fukula dze midzimu dzakabe dzili pa Ng'umba ya Yahwe, kwakabe bakadzi belukila tante dza Ashera. 8 Josiya kazhisa bapirisiti bose kudwa ku mizi yose ye Juda, katemapadza magalo wose akatuthumala akabe episigwa motsha nge bapirisiti, kudwa ku Geba kunoti ku Bheerisheba, ngono kaligila pasi magalo akatuthumala eku nkoba akabe ali ku nkoba wa Joshuwa ntungamili we nzi nkulu, akabe ali tjekulumeshwe pa nkoba we nzi nkulu. 9 Koga bapirisiti be magalo akatuthumala bakasizhe ku tjibeso tjinopisigwa zwibhayilo tja Yahwe mu Jerusalema, ngono bakaja tjiwunga tjisina mbidzo mu makamu abo. 10 Katemapadza Tofeti imu nkuku we Nkololo wa Hinomi, kuti kushete iye unopisa nkololo kene nkololokadzi uwe se tjibhayilo kuna Moleki. 11 Kadusa mbizi dzakabe dzapiwa zhuba ndi bomambo be Juda dzakabe dzili pa nkoba unoyenda ku ng'umba ya Yahwe, dzakabe dzili pa lubazhe gu pa ng'umba ye ntungamili unodang'wa Nathanimeleki. Josiya kapisa koloyi dze ngwa dzakabe dzapiwa zhuba. 12 Kaligila pasi zwibeso zwakabe zwathamiwa na bomambo be Juda zwilipezhugwi kwe denga le ng'umbana itjapezhugwi ya Ahazi ne zwibeso zwakabe zwa thamiwa na Manase mu mabazhe mabili e Ng'umba ya Yahwe, kalashila mavinga azo mu nkuku we Kidironi. 13 Mambo katemapadza magalo akatuthumala akabe ali tjeku bhezhuba kwe Jerusalema ku bunandzwa gwe Duthu le Jinyo, ilo Solomoni mambo we Iziraela akabe alibakila Ashitoreti ndzimukadzi we Basidoni na Kemoshi ndzimu unoshimika we Moabu na Moleki ndzimu unoshimika we Baamoni. 14 Josiya kapkhwanya mabgwe e thiwa, katema mapango e Ashera ngono kazhadza bugalo gwazo nge mafupa e bathu.
15 Tjibeso tjinopisigwa zwibhayilo tjakabe tjili ku Bhetele tje magalo akatuthumala akathamiwa ndi Jeroboamu nkololo wa Nebati iye wakathamisa Iziraela tjibi, tjibeso itjetjo tjinopisigwa zwibhayilo ne magalo akatuthumala kazwikolomodza. Kapisa magalo akatuthumala katjikwiya tjikasala tjili hwuluba, kapisa mapango e Ashera. 16 Ngono Josiya wakati elinga kabona zwikumbu zwakabe zwili mu dombo, katuma bathu kudusa mafupa muzwili kaapisa mu tjibeso tjinopisigwa zwibhayilo kuti tjitemapale, kuyendidzana nge dama la Yahwe lakalebgwa nge nlume we Ndzimu, iye wakalebelambeli zwithu izwezwi. 17 Ipapo mambo kabhuzwa kati, “Ibgwe le ikumbu leni landinobona?” Balume be nzi nkulu bakadabila beti, “Ikumbu tje nlume we Ndzimu wakadwa ku Juda, wakaleba zwithu izwezwi zwa wakashinga ngekwe tjibeso tjinopisigwa zwibhayilo tje Bhetele.” 18 Ngono kabe eti, “Mutjiletje, kushete unowodziyidza mafupa awe.” Ndizo bakaletja mafupa awe ne e balebesambeli bakadwa ku Samariya. 19 Josiya kadusa ng'umba dzose dzinonamatigwa dze magalo akatuthumala dzakabedzili mu mizi mikulu ye Samariya, dzakabe dzabakiwa ndi bomambo be Iziraela kulonga Yahwe bushongola, kazwikolomodza sekwa akathama ku Bhetele. 20 Josiya kabulayila bapirisiti bose be magalo akatuthumala e zwibhayilo pezhugwi kwe zwibeso, kapisila mafupa e bathu muzwili. Kabgwilila ku Jerusalema.
Nzano wekupinda pezhugwi
(2 Zwiyitikalo 35:1-19)21 Mambo kadwa bathu bose kati, “Londolodzelani Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu Nzano we Kupinda pezhugwi sekwa kakwagwa mu Lukwalo igogo gwe Tjidumano.” 22 Ngoti akuna Nzano we Kupinda pezhugwi wakatongo londolodziwa kudwa tjose mu mazhuba e basumikilisi bakabe bakatungamila Iziraela kene mu mazhuba a bomambo be Iziraela kene bomambo be Juda, 23 koga mu gole le bugumi lina ali zhanakadzi le mbuso wa Mambo Josiya, kukathamigwa Yahwe Nzano we Kupinda pezhugwi mu Jerusalema.
Zwithu zwimwe zwakashandugwa na Josiya
24 Josiya kalobesa bakabe belebeleka ne midzimu ne baloyi ne zwifano zwe midzimu ye ng'umba ne midzimu yakabezhiwa ne zwithu zose zwinoshimisa zwakabe zwiwang'wa mu Juda ne Jerusalema, kuli kushingikadza matama e nlayo akakwagwa mu lukwalo gwakawang'wa ndi Hilikiya we mpirisiti mu Ng'umba ya Yahwe. 25 Akuna mambo wakatongo bepo unofanana naye mbeli kukwe, wakashandukila kuna Yahwe nge moyo uwe wose nenge meya dzidze dzose nenge simba lile lose, kuyendidzana ne nlayo wose wa Mushe na shule kukwe akuna wakatongo bepo unofanana naye. 26 Nenguba kwakajalo, Yahwe abazobuza kupisika kwe bushongola gwabo, gwakabe gupisikila Juda ngekwa zose zwakathamiwa na Manase ku balonga bushongola. 27 Ndizo Yahwe bakati, “Ndowodusa Juda mu mesho angu sekwa ndakadusa Iziraela, ndowolasha nzi nkulu we Jerusalema ne ng'umba ya ndakati, ‘Zina langu lowogala ko.’ ”
Bhelelo le mbuso wa Josiya
(2 Zwiyitikalo 35:20—36:1)28 Mimwe mishingo ya Josiya na zose zwaakathama zwakakwagwa mu lukwalo gwe zwiyitikalo gwa bomambo be Juda. 29 Mu mazhuba a Josiya, Faro Neko mambo we Egipiti kayenda ku Gwizi gwe Yufuratesi ku bhatsha mambo we Asiriya. Mambo Josiya kayenda kunonshanganidza mu ngwa, Faro Neko kambona ngono kambulaya ku Megido. 30 Ngono balanda ba Josiya bakasenga itumbu tjitje mu koloyi ye ngwa kudwa ku Megido betjiyisa ku Jerusalema, ngono bakambiganyila mu ikumbu tjitje. Bathu be shango bakatola Jehoahazi nkololo wa Josiya bakanzhodza bakambiga mambo mu bumo gwa tate babe.
Jehoahazi mambo we Juda
(2 Zwiyitikalo 36:2-4)31 Jehoahazi wakabe ana makole ali makumi mabili ana matatu (23) etangisa kubusa ngono wakabusa mimwedzi mitatu mu Jerusalema. Zina la mmeyabe liyi Hamutali nkololokadzi wa Jeremiya we Libina. 32 Kathama mbipo mu mesho a Yahwe sekwa kathama botate babe. 33 Faro Neko kanlonga mu busungwa ku Ribila mu shango ye Hamati kuti asibuse mu Jerusalema, kabigila shango tjielo tjekulipa talenta dzili zana (100) dze siliva ne talenta ye golide. 34 Ngono Faro Neko kabiga Eliyakimu nkololo wa Josiya kube mambo mu bumo gwa tate babe Josiya, kashandula zina lile kandana Jehoyakimu. Koga katola Jehoahazi kansengela ku Egipiti kwaakafila ko.
Mambo Jehoyakimu we Juda
(2 Zwiyitikalo 36:5-8)35 Jehoyakimu kapa Faro Neko siliva ne golide, wakabe edusisa bathu be shango likhetho, ebadusisa siliva ne golide kuyendidzana na sekwa banobe balingisisiwa, kuti zwipiwe Faro Neko. 36 Jehoyakimu wakatangisa kubusa ana makole ali makumi mabili ana mashanu (25), kabusa makole ali gumi lina gole mu Jerusalema. Zina la mmeyabe liyi Zebida nkololokadzi wa Pedaiya bedwa ku Ruma. 37 Ngono kathama mbipo mu mesho a Yahwe, sekwa kathama botate babe.
Josiah Reads The Book of God's Law
(2 Chronicles 34.29-33)1 King Josiah called together the older leaders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 Then he went to the Lord's temple, together with the people of Judah and Jerusalem, the priests, and the prophets. Finally, when everybody was there, he read aloud The Book of God's Law that had been found in the temple.
3 After Josiah had finished reading, he stood by one of the columns. He asked the people to promise in the Lord's name to faithfully obey the Lord and to follow his commands. The people agreed to do everything written in the book.
Josiah Follows the Teachings of God's Law
(2 Chronicles 34.3-7)4 Josiah told Hilkiah the priest, the assistant priests, and the guards at the temple door to go into the temple and bring out the things used to worship Baal, Asherah, and the stars. Josiah had these things burned in Kidron Valley just outside Jerusalem, and he had the ashes carried away to the town of Bethel.
5 Josiah also got rid of the pagan priests at the local shrines in Judah and around Jerusalem. These were the men that the kings of Judah had appointed to offer sacrifices to Baal and to the sun, moon, and stars. 6 Josiah had the sacred pole for Asherah brought out of the temple and taken to Kidron Valley, where it was burned. He then had its ashes ground into dust and scattered over the public cemetery there. 7 He had the buildings torn down where the male prostitutes lived next to the temple, and where the women wove sacred robes for the idol of Asherah.
8 In almost every town in Judah, priests had been offering sacrifices to the Lord at local shrines. Josiah brought these priests to Jerusalem and had their shrines made unfit for worship—every shrine from Geba just north of Jerusalem to Beersheba in the south. He even tore down the shrine at Beersheba that was just to the left of Joshua Gate, which was named after the highest official of the city. 9 Those local priests could not serve at the Lord's altar in Jerusalem, but they were allowed to eat sacred bread, just like the priests from Jerusalem.
10 Josiah sent some men to Hinnom Valley just outside Jerusalem with orders to make the altar there unfit for worship. That way, people could no longer use it for sacrificing their children to the god Molech. 11 He also got rid of the horses that the kings of Judah used in their ceremonies to worship the sun, and he destroyed the chariots along with them. The horses had been kept near the entrance to the Lord's temple, in a courtyard close to where an official named Nathan-Melech lived.
12 Some of the kings of Judah, especially Manasseh, had built altars in the two courts of the temple and in the room that Ahaz had built on the palace roof. Josiah had these altars torn down and smashed to pieces, and he had the pieces thrown into Kidron Valley, just outside Jerusalem. 13 After that, he closed down the shrines that Solomon had built east of Jerusalem and south of Spoil Hill to honor Astarte the disgusting goddess of Sidon, Chemosh the disgusting god of Moab, and Milcom the disgusting god of Ammon. 14 He tore down the stone images of foreign gods and cut down the sacred pole used in the worship of Asherah. Then he had the whole area covered with human bones.
15 But Josiah was not finished yet. At Bethel he destroyed the shrine and the altar that Jeroboam son of Nebat had built and that had caused the Israelites to sin. Josiah had the shrine and the Asherah pole burned and ground into dust. 16 As he looked around, he saw graves on the hillside. He had the bones in them dug up and burned on the altar, so that it could no longer be used. This happened just as God's prophet had said when Jeroboam was standing at the altar, celebrating a festival.
Then Josiah saw the grave of the prophet who had said this would happen 17 and he asked, “Whose grave is that?”
Some people who lived nearby answered, “It belongs to the prophet from Judah who told what would happen to this altar.”
18 Josiah replied, “Then leave it alone. Don't dig up his bones.” So they did not disturb his bones or the bones of the old prophet from Israel who had also been buried there.
19 Some of the Israelite kings had made the Lord angry by building pagan shrines all over Israel. So Josiah sent troops to destroy these shrines just as he had done to the one in Bethel. 20 He killed the priests who served at them and burned their bones on the altars.
After all that, Josiah went back to Jerusalem.
Josiah and the People of Judah Celebrate Passover
(2 Chronicles 35.1-19)21 Josiah told the people of Judah, “Celebrate Passover in honor of the Lord your God, just as it says in The Book of God's Law.”
22 This festival had not been celebrated in this way since the time that tribal leaders ruled Israel or the kings ruled Israel and Judah. 23 But in Josiah's eighteenth year as king of Judah, everyone came to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover.
The Lord Is Still Angry with the People of Judah
24 Josiah got rid of every disgusting person and thing in Judah and Jerusalem—including magicians, fortunetellers, and idols. He did his best to obey every law written in the book that the priest Hilkiah found in the Lord's temple. 25 No other king before or after Josiah tried as hard as he did to obey the Law of Moses.
26 But the Lord was still furious with the people of Judah because Manasseh had done so many things to make him angry. 27 The 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 honor me.”
Josiah Dies in Battle
(2 Chronicles 35.20—36.1)28 Everything else Josiah did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah. 29 During Josiah's rule, King Neco of Egypt led his army north to the Euphrates River 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. 30 A 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.
King Jehoahaz of Judah
(2 Chronicles 36.2-4)31 Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled from Jerusalem only 3 months. His mother Hamutal was the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. 32 Jehoahaz disobeyed the Lord, just as some of his ancestors had done.
33 King Neco of Egypt had Jehoahaz arrested and put in prison at Riblah near Hamath. Then he forced the people of Judah to pay him 3.4 tons of silver and 34 kilograms of gold as taxes. 34 Neco 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.
35 Jehoiakim forced the people of Judah to pay higher taxes, so he could give Neco the silver and gold he demanded.
King Jehoiakim of Judah
(2 Chronicles 36.5-8)36 Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he was appointed king, and he ruled 11 years from Jerusalem. His mother Zebidah was the daughter of Pedaiah from Rumah. 37 Jehoiakim disobeyed the Lord by following the example of his ancestors.