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Yosiya Akonzanso Pangano

23 Pamenepo mfumu inayitanitsa akuluakulu onse a ku Yuda ndi Yerusalemu. Mfumuyo inapita ku Nyumba ya Yehova pamodzi ndi anthu onse a ku Yuda, ndi onse okhala mu Yerusalemu, ansembe ndi aneneri, ndiponso anthu ena onse kuyambira wamngʼono mpaka wamkulu. Mfumuyo inawerenga mawu onse a mʼBuku la Chipangano limene linapezeka mʼNyumba ya Yehova, anthu onse akumva. Mfumu inayimirira pambali pa chipilala ndi kuchita pangano pamaso pa Yehova kuti idzatsatira Yehova ndi kusunga malamulo, mawu ndi malangizo ake ndi mtima wonse ndi moyo wonse, kukwaniritsa mawu a mʼpanganoli, olembedwa mʼbukuli. Pamenepo anthu onse anadzipereka kutsatira panganoli.

Mfumu inalamula wansembe wamkulu Hilikiya, ansembe othandizana naye ndi alonda a pa khomo kuti achotse mʼNyumba ya Yehova ziwiya zonse zopembedzera Baala ndi Asera ndiponso mafano a zinthu zamlengalenga. Yosiya anazitentha kunja kwa Yerusalemu, ku minda ya ku Chigwa cha Kidroni ndipo phulusa lake anapita nalo ku Beteli. Iye anachotsa ansembe a mafano amene anayikidwa ndi mafumu a Yuda kuti azifukiza lubani ku malo opembedzera mafano a ku mizinda ya ku Yuda ndi kumalo ozungulira Yerusalemu, amene ankafukiza lubani kwa Baala, dzuwa, mwezi, nyenyezi ndi zinthu zonse zamlengalenga. Anachotsa fano la Asera mʼNyumba ya Yehova napita nalo kunja kwa Yerusalemu, ku Chigwa cha Kidroni, nalitentha kumeneko. Anapera fanolo ndi kukataya phulusa lake pa manda a anthu wamba. Iye anagwetsanso tinyumba ta ochita zachiwerewere, timene tinali mʼNyumba ya Yehova, kumene akazi ankalukirako mikanjo yovala popembedza Asera.

Yosiya anabweretsanso ansembe onse kuchokera mʼmizinda ya Yuda, nawononga malo opembedzera mafano, kuyambira ku Geba mpaka ku Beeriseba, kumene ansembe ankafukizako lubani. Anagwetsa nyumba za milungu zimene zinali pa chipata cha Yoswa, bwanamkubwa wa mzindawo, kumanzere kwa chipata cha mzinda. Ngakhale kuti ansembe a ku malo opembedzera mafanowo sanawalole kuti atumikire pa guwa lansembe la Yehova mu Yerusalemu, koma ankadya buledi wopanda yisiti pamodzi ndi ansembe anzawo.

10 Mfumu Yosiya anawononganso Tofeti, amene anali ku Chigwa cha Hinomu, kuti wina aliyense asagwiritse ntchito malowo popereka mwana wake wamwamuna kapena wamkazi pa moto kwa Moleki. 11 Anachotsa pa chipata cholowera ku Nyumba ya Yehova akavalo amene mafumu a Yuda anawapereka ngati nsembe kwa dzuwa. Akavalo anali pafupi ndi bwalo la chipinda cha mkulu wina wotchedwa Natani-Meleki. Ndipo Yosiya anatentha magaleta opembedzera dzuwa.

12 Anagwetsa maguwa amene mafumu a Yuda anawamanga pa denga pafupi ndi chipinda chapamwamba cha Ahazi, ndiponso maguwa amene Manase anamanga mʼmabwalo awiri a Nyumba ya Yehova. Yosiya anawachotsa kumeneko nawaphwanya ndi kutaya zidutswa zake mʼChigwa cha Kidroni. 13 Mfumuyo inawononga malo opembedzera mafano amene ali kummawa kwa Yerusalemu cha kumpoto kwa Phiri la Chiwonongeko. Maguwawa Solomoni mfumu ya Israeli inamangira Asitoreti, fano lalikazi lonyansa la Asidoni, Kemosi, fano lonyansa la Amowabu, ndi Moleki, fano lonyansa la anthu a ku Amoni. 14 Yosiya anaphwanya miyala ya chipembedzo ndiponso anadula mitengo ya fano la Asera ndipo anakwirira malowo ndi mafupa a anthu.

15 Ngakhalenso guwa lansembe la ku Beteli, malo opembedzera mafano amene anapanga Yeroboamu mwana wa Nebati, amene anachimwitsa Israeli, Yosiya anawononga guwalo ndi malo opembedzera mafanowo. Iye anatentha malo opembedzera mafanowo ndi kuwapera ndipo anatenthanso fano la Asera. 16 Kenaka Yosiya anayangʼanayangʼana ndipo ataona manda amene anali pomwepo, mʼmbali mwa phiri, analamula kuti afukule mandawo ndi kutulutsa mafupa kuti awatenthe paguwapo kuti alidetse, potsatira mawu a Yehova amene munthu wa Mulungu analoseratu za zimenezi.

17 Mfumu inafunsa kuti, “Kodi chizindikiro cha manda chimene ndikuwaonawo ndi chayani?”

Anthu a mu mzindamo anayankha kuti, “Ndi chizindikiro cha manda a munthu wa Mulungu wochokera ku Yuda amene ananeneratu zimene inu mwalichita guwa lansembe la Beteli.”

18 Mfumuyo inati, “Alekeni manda amenewo, munthu asachotse mafupa ake.” Choncho anawasiya mafupa akewo pamodzi ndi mafupa a mneneri wa ku Samariya uja.

19 Monga momwe Yosiya anachitira ku Beteli, anachotsa ndi kuwononga nyumba za milungu zonse ndi malo opembedzera mafano amene mafumu anamanga mʼmizinda ya ku Samariya omwe anakwiyitsa Yehova. 20 Yosiya anapha ansembe onse amene ankatumikira ku malo opembedzera mafano, anawaphera pa maguwa awo ndi kutentha mafupa awo. Kenaka iye anapita ku Yerusalemu.

21 Mfumu inalamula anthu onse kuti, “Chitani Chikondwerero cha Paska kulemekeza Yehova Mulungu wanu, motsatira zomwe zalembedwa mʼBuku la Chipangano.” 22 Paska yotere inali isanachitikepo kuyambira nthawi ya oweruza amene anatsogolera Israeli, kapenanso nthawi yonse ya mafumu a Yuda sipanachitikenso Paska ngati imeneyo. 23 Koma mʼchaka cha 18 cha Mfumu Yosiya, Paska imeneyi anachitira Yehova mu Yerusalemu.

24 Kuwonjezera apa, Yosiya anachotsa anthu a mawula, woyankhula ndi mizimu ya anthu akufa, milungu ya mʼnyumba, mafano ndiponso zinthu zonse zonyansa zopezeka mu Yuda ndi Yerusalemu. Iye anachita izi pokwaniritsa lamulo lolembedwa mʼbuku limene Hilikiya analipeza mʼNyumba ya Yehova. 25 Yosiyayo asanalowe ufumu, ngakhale atamwalira, panalibenso mfumu ina yofanana naye imene inatembenukira kwa Yehova monga anachitira, ndi mtima wake wonse, ndi moyo wake wonse, ndi mphamvu zake zonse, motsatira Malamulo onse a Mose.

26 Komabe Yehova sanachotse mkwiyo wake woopsa, umene anali nawo pa Yuda chifukwa cha zonse zimene anachita Manase poputa mkwiyo wa Mulungu. 27 Choncho Yehova anati, “Ndidzawachotsanso anthu a ku Yuda pamaso panga monga ndinachotsera anthu a ku Israeli ndipo ndidzawukana mzinda wa Yerusalemu, mzinda umene ndinawusankha, pamodzi ndi Nyumba ino imene ndinati, ‘Dzina langa lidzakhala mʼmenemo.’ ”

28 Ntchito zina za Yosiya ndi zonse zimene anachita, kodi sizinalembedwe mʼbuku la mbiri ya mafumu a Yuda?

29 Yosiya akanali mfumu, Farao wotchedwa Neko, mfumu ya Igupto, anapita ku Mtsinje wa Yufurate kukathandiza mfumu ya ku Asiriya. Mfumu Yosiya anapita kukachita naye nkhondo, koma Neko anakumana naye ndi kumupha ku Megido. 30 Atumiki a Yosiyayo ananyamula mtembo wake mu galeta kuchokera ku Megido mpaka ku Yerusalemu ndipo anamuyika mʼmanda akeake. Ndipo anthu a mʼdzikomo anatenga Yehowahazi mwana wa Yosiya namudzoza, ndipo iye analowa ufumu mʼmalo mwa abambo ake.

Yehowahazi Mfumu ya Yuda

31 Yehowahazi anakhala mfumu ali ndi 23 ndipo analamulira mu Yerusalemu miyezi itatu. Amayi ake anali Hamutali, mwana wa Yeremiya wa ku Libina. 32 Iye anachita zoyipa pamaso pa Yehova monga momwe anachitira makolo ake. 33 Farao Neko anamuyika mʼndende ku Ribula mʼdziko la Hamati kuti asalamulirenso mu Yerusalemu. Farao analamula Yuda kuti azikhoma msonkho wa siliva wolemera makilogalamu 3,400, ndiponso golide wolemera makilogalamu 34. 34 Farao Neko anayika Eliyakimu mwana wa Yosiya kuti akhale mfumu mʼmalo mwa abambo ake Yosiya, ndipo anasintha dzina lake kukhala Yehoyakimu. Koma iye anatenga Yehowahazi kupita naye ku Igupto ndipo anakafera kumeneko. 35 Yehoyakimu anapereka kwa Farao Neko siliva ndi golide amene anamufuna uja. Koma kuti iye apereke zimenezi, amankhometsa msonkho mʼdziko mwakemo ndipo amalandira siliva ndi golide kuchokera kwa anthu a mʼdzikomo molingana ndi chuma cha munthu aliyense.

Yehoyakimu Mfumu ya Yuda

36 Yehoyakimu anali wa zaka 25 pamene anakhala mfumu ndipo analamulira mu Yerusalemu zaka 11. Amayi ake anali Zebuda, mwana wa Pedaya wa ku Ruma. 37 Iye anachita zoyipa pamaso pa Yehova monga momwe anachitira makolo ake.

Josiah Renews the Covenant(A)(B)(C)(D)

23 Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. He 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(E) in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant,(F) which had been found in the temple of the Lord. The king stood by the pillar(G) and renewed the covenant(H) in the presence of the Lord—to follow(I) 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.

The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers(J) to remove(K) 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. He 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(L) to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts.(M) He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the Lord to the Kidron Valley(N) outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder(O) and scattered the dust over the graves(P) of the common people.(Q) He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes(R) that were in the temple of the Lord, the quarters where women did weaving for Asherah.

Josiah brought all the priests from the towns of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba(S) 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. Although the priests of the high places did not serve(T) at the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.

10 He desecrated Topheth,(U) which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom,(V) so no one could use it to sacrifice their son(W) or daughter in the fire to Molek. 11 He removed from the entrance to the temple of the Lord the horses that the kings of Judah(X) had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court[a] near the room of an official named Nathan-Melek. Josiah then burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.(Y)

12 He pulled down(Z) the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof(AA) near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts(AB) of the temple of the Lord. He removed them from there, smashed them to pieces and threw the rubble into the Kidron Valley.(AC) 13 The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon(AD) 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(AE) god of the people of Ammon.(AF) 14 Josiah smashed(AG) the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones.(AH)

15 Even the altar(AI) at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam(AJ) 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. 16 Then Josiah(AK) 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(AL) with the word of the Lord proclaimed by the man of God who foretold these things.

17 The 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(AM).” So they spared his bones and those of the prophet(AN) who had come from Samaria.

19 Just 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. 20 Josiah slaughtered(AO) all the priests of those high places on the altars and burned human bones(AP) on them. Then he went back to Jerusalem.

21 The king gave this order to all the people: “Celebrate the Passover(AQ) to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.”(AR) 22 Neither 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. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.(AS)

24 Furthermore, Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists,(AT) the household gods,(AU) the idols and all the other detestable(AV) 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. 25 Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned(AW) 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.(AX)

26 Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn away from the heat of his fierce anger,(AY) which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh(AZ) had done to arouse his anger. 27 So the Lord said, “I will remove(BA) Judah also from my presence(BB) as I removed Israel, and I will reject(BC) Jerusalem, the city I chose, and this temple, about which I said, ‘My Name shall be there.’[b]

28 As 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?

29 While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Necho(BD) 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.(BE) 30 Josiah’s servants brought his body in a chariot(BF) 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(BG)

31 Jehoahaz(BH) was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Hamutal(BI) daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. 32 He did evil(BJ) in the eyes of the Lord, just as his predecessors had done. 33 Pharaoh Necho put him in chains at Riblah(BK) in the land of Hamath(BL) so that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and he imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents[c] of silver and a talent[d] of gold. 34 Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim(BM) 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.(BN) 35 Jehoiakim 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.(BO)

Jehoiakim King of Judah(BP)

36 Jehoiakim(BQ) 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. 37 And he did evil(BR) in the eyes of the Lord, just as his predecessors had done.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 23:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  2. 2 Kings 23:27 1 Kings 8:29
  3. 2 Kings 23:33 That is, about 3 3/4 tons or about 3.4 metric tons
  4. 2 Kings 23:33 That is, about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms