WEBVTT 00:00:00.999 --> 00:00:03.740 Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're 00:00:03.740 --> 00:00:05.700 taking this journey together to read the Bible 00:00:05.700 --> 00:00:09.599 in a year. Today's reading is from 2 Kings chapter 00:00:09.599 --> 00:00:13.179 23. Now the king sent them to gather all the 00:00:13.179 --> 00:00:15.470 elders of Judah and Jerusalem to him. The king 00:00:15.470 --> 00:00:17.589 went up to the house of the Lord with all the 00:00:17.589 --> 00:00:19.550 men of Judah and with him all the inhabitants 00:00:19.550 --> 00:00:22.210 of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets and 00:00:22.210 --> 00:00:25.449 all the people, both small and great. And he 00:00:25.449 --> 00:00:27.730 read in their hearing all the words of the book 00:00:27.730 --> 00:00:29.989 of the covenant, which had been found in the 00:00:29.989 --> 00:00:32.390 house of the Lord. Then the king stood by a pillar 00:00:32.390 --> 00:00:34.909 and made a covenant before the Lord to follow 00:00:34.909 --> 00:00:37.090 the Lord and to keep his commandments and his 00:00:37.090 --> 00:00:39.750 testimonies and his statutes with all his heart 00:00:39.750 --> 00:00:42.929 and all his soul to perform the words of this 00:00:42.929 --> 00:00:45.210 covenant that were written in this book. And 00:00:45.210 --> 00:00:46.829 all the people took a stand for the covenant. 00:00:47.049 --> 00:00:49.130 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest 00:00:49.130 --> 00:00:51.829 and the priests of the second order and the doorkeepers 00:00:51.829 --> 00:00:54.829 to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the 00:00:54.829 --> 00:00:57.609 articles that were made for Baal, for Asherah, 00:00:57.670 --> 00:01:00.189 and for all the hosts of heaven. And he burned 00:01:00.189 --> 00:01:02.409 them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron 00:01:02.409 --> 00:01:05.650 and carried their ashes to Bethel. Then he removed 00:01:05.650 --> 00:01:08.049 the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah 00:01:08.049 --> 00:01:10.810 had ordained to burn incense on the high places 00:01:10.810 --> 00:01:13.609 in the cities of Judah and in the places all 00:01:13.609 --> 00:01:15.739 around Jerusalem. and those who burned incense 00:01:15.739 --> 00:01:19.359 to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, 00:01:19.359 --> 00:01:21.700 and to all the hosts of heaven. And he brought 00:01:21.700 --> 00:01:23.799 out the wooden image from the house of the Lord 00:01:23.799 --> 00:01:26.209 to the brook Kidron outside Jerusalem. burned 00:01:26.209 --> 00:01:28.750 it at the brook Kidron and ground it to ashes, 00:01:28.930 --> 00:01:31.290 and threw its ashes on the graves of the common 00:01:31.290 --> 00:01:33.969 people. Then he tore down the ritual booth of 00:01:33.969 --> 00:01:35.909 the perverted persons that were in the house 00:01:35.909 --> 00:01:38.370 of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for 00:01:38.370 --> 00:01:40.510 the wooden image. And he brought all the priests 00:01:40.510 --> 00:01:42.590 from the cities of Judah and defiled the high 00:01:42.590 --> 00:01:45.010 places where the priests had burned incense from 00:01:45.010 --> 00:01:47.650 Geba to Beersheba. Also he broke down the high 00:01:47.650 --> 00:01:49.829 places at the gates which were at the entrance 00:01:49.829 --> 00:01:52.129 of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, 00:01:52.230 --> 00:01:54.870 which were to the left of the city gate. Nevertheless, 00:01:55.340 --> 00:01:57.500 the priests of the high places did not come up 00:01:57.500 --> 00:01:59.799 to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they 00:01:59.799 --> 00:02:02.280 ate unleavened bread among their brethren. And 00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:05.040 he defiled Tophet, which is in the valley of 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:07.599 the son of Hinnom, that no man might make his 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:09.919 son or his daughter pass through the fire to 00:02:09.919 --> 00:02:12.639 Molech. Then he removed the horses that the kings 00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:15.539 of Judah had dedicated to the son at the entrance 00:02:15.539 --> 00:02:18.259 to the house of the Lord by the chamber of Nathan 00:02:18.259 --> 00:02:21.379 Melech, the officer who was in the court, and 00:02:21.379 --> 00:02:23.500 he burned the chariots of the son with fire. 00:02:23.909 --> 00:02:26.370 The altars that were on the roof, the upper chamber 00:02:26.370 --> 00:02:29.169 of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and 00:02:29.169 --> 00:02:31.210 the altars which Manasseh had made in the two 00:02:31.210 --> 00:02:33.409 courts of the house of the Lord, the king broke 00:02:33.409 --> 00:02:36.110 down and pulverized there, and threw their dust 00:02:36.110 --> 00:02:38.870 into the brook Kidron. Then the king defiled 00:02:38.870 --> 00:02:40.789 the high places that were east of Jerusalem, 00:02:41.069 --> 00:02:43.389 which were on the south of the Mount of Corruption, 00:02:43.490 --> 00:02:46.250 which Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth, 00:02:46.270 --> 00:02:48.969 the abomination of the Sidonians, for Shemosh, 00:02:48.969 --> 00:02:51.409 the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom, 00:02:51.610 --> 00:02:54.250 the abomination of the people of Ammon. And he 00:02:54.250 --> 00:02:56.550 broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down 00:02:56.550 --> 00:02:59.270 the wooden images and filled their places with 00:02:59.270 --> 00:03:02.129 the bones of men. Moreover, the altar that was 00:03:02.129 --> 00:03:04.919 at Bethel and the high place which Jeroboam the 00:03:04.919 --> 00:03:07.879 son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, 00:03:08.039 --> 00:03:11.020 both that altar and the high place he broke down, 00:03:11.180 --> 00:03:13.500 and he burned the high place and crushed it to 00:03:13.500 --> 00:03:16.680 powder, and burned the wooden image. As Josiah 00:03:16.680 --> 00:03:20.039 turned, he saw the tombs that were there on the 00:03:20.039 --> 00:03:22.500 mountain, and he sent and took the bones out 00:03:22.500 --> 00:03:24.879 of the tombs and burned them on the altar, and 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:26.879 defiled it according to the word of the Lord, 00:03:26.979 --> 00:03:29.639 which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed 00:03:29.639 --> 00:03:33.080 these words. Then he said, What gravestone is 00:03:33.080 --> 00:03:35.560 this that I see? So the men of the city told 00:03:35.560 --> 00:03:38.180 him, It is the tomb of the man of God who came 00:03:38.180 --> 00:03:40.439 from Judah and proclaimed these things which 00:03:40.439 --> 00:03:42.860 you have done against the altar of Bethel. And 00:03:42.860 --> 00:03:45.979 he said, Let him alone, let no one move his bones. 00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:48.539 So they let his bones alone with the bones of 00:03:48.539 --> 00:03:51.240 the prophet who came from Samaria. Now Joshua 00:03:51.770 --> 00:03:54.729 also took away all the shrines of the high places 00:03:54.729 --> 00:03:56.969 that were in the cities of samaria which the 00:03:56.969 --> 00:03:59.330 kings of israel had made to provoke the lord 00:03:59.330 --> 00:04:02.090 to anger and he did to them according to all 00:04:02.090 --> 00:04:05.250 the deeds he had done in bethel he executed all 00:04:05.250 --> 00:04:07.270 the priests of the high places who were there 00:04:07.270 --> 00:04:10.090 on the altars and burned men's bones on them 00:04:10.090 --> 00:04:12.919 and he returned to jerusalem Then the king commanded 00:04:12.919 --> 00:04:15.360 all the people, saying, Keep the Passover to 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:17.819 the Lord your God, as it is written in this book 00:04:17.819 --> 00:04:20.519 of the covenant. Such a Passover surely had never 00:04:20.519 --> 00:04:23.100 been held since the days of the judges who judged 00:04:23.100 --> 00:04:26.079 Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel 00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:28.600 and the kings of Judah. But in the eighteenth 00:04:28.600 --> 00:04:31.939 year of King Josiah, this Passover was held before 00:04:31.939 --> 00:04:35.459 the Lord in Jerusalem. Moreover, Josiah put away 00:04:35.459 --> 00:04:38.660 those who consulted mediums and spiritists, the 00:04:38.660 --> 00:04:41.500 household gods and idols, all the abominations 00:04:41.500 --> 00:04:44.500 that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, 00:04:44.699 --> 00:04:47.180 that he might perform the words of the law which 00:04:47.180 --> 00:04:49.360 were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:52.420 found in the house of the Lord. Now before him 00:04:52.420 --> 00:04:55.069 there was no king like him. who turned to the 00:04:55.069 --> 00:04:57.649 Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and 00:04:57.649 --> 00:05:00.170 with all his might, according to all the law 00:05:00.170 --> 00:05:04.269 of Moses, nor after him did any arise like him. 00:05:04.569 --> 00:05:06.790 Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn from the 00:05:06.790 --> 00:05:09.470 fierceness of his great wrath, with which his 00:05:09.470 --> 00:05:12.269 anger was aroused against Judah, because of all 00:05:12.269 --> 00:05:14.949 the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked 00:05:14.949 --> 00:05:17.750 him. And the Lord said, I will also remove Judah 00:05:17.750 --> 00:05:20.810 from my sight, as I have removed Israel, and 00:05:20.810 --> 00:05:23.449 will cast off this city, Jerusalem, which I have 00:05:23.449 --> 00:05:26.180 chosen, and the house of which I said, My name 00:05:26.180 --> 00:05:28.740 shall be there. Now the rest of the acts of Josiah 00:05:28.740 --> 00:05:31.240 and all that he did, are they not written in 00:05:31.240 --> 00:05:33.379 the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 00:05:33.699 --> 00:05:37.439 In his days, Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, went 00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:39.699 to the aid of the king of Assyria to the river 00:05:39.699 --> 00:05:42.420 Euphrates, and king Josiah went against him, 00:05:42.459 --> 00:05:44.899 and Pharaoh Necho killed him at Megiddo when 00:05:44.899 --> 00:05:47.319 he confronted him. Then his servants moved his 00:05:47.319 --> 00:05:49.939 body in a chariot from Megiddo, brought him to 00:05:49.939 --> 00:05:52.970 Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. And 00:05:52.970 --> 00:05:55.529 the people of the land took Jehoahaz, the son 00:05:55.529 --> 00:05:58.290 of Josiah, anointed him, and made him king in 00:05:58.290 --> 00:06:01.230 his father's place. Jehoahaz was twenty -three 00:06:01.230 --> 00:06:03.649 years old when he became king, and he reigned 00:06:03.649 --> 00:06:05.769 three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name 00:06:05.769 --> 00:06:08.769 was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libna. 00:06:08.970 --> 00:06:11.730 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according 00:06:11.730 --> 00:06:14.230 to all that his fathers had done. Now Pharaoh 00:06:14.230 --> 00:06:17.470 Nehu put him in prison at Tribla, in the land 00:06:17.470 --> 00:06:19.670 of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem. 00:06:20.110 --> 00:06:22.629 and he imposed on the land a tribute of 100 talents 00:06:22.629 --> 00:06:25.790 of silver and a talent of gold. Then Pharaoh 00:06:25.790 --> 00:06:29.129 Necho made Eliakim, the son of Josiah, king in 00:06:29.129 --> 00:06:31.870 place of his father Josiah, and changed his name 00:06:31.870 --> 00:06:35.649 to Jehoiakim. And Pharaoh took Jehoahaz and went 00:06:35.649 --> 00:06:38.870 to Egypt, and he died there. So Jehoiakim gave 00:06:38.870 --> 00:06:41.410 the silver and gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed 00:06:41.410 --> 00:06:43.170 the land to give money according to the command 00:06:43.170 --> 00:06:45.610 of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and gold from 00:06:45.610 --> 00:06:47.810 the people of the land, from everyone according 00:06:47.810 --> 00:06:50.170 to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Necho. 00:06:50.750 --> 00:06:53.509 Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king, 00:06:53.670 --> 00:06:56.509 and he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother's 00:06:56.509 --> 00:06:59.569 name was Zebuda, the daughter of Pediah of Rumah, 00:06:59.589 --> 00:07:02.170 and he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according 00:07:02.170 --> 00:07:10.189 to all that his fathers had done. I hope you 00:07:10.189 --> 00:07:12.579 enjoyed today's reading as much as I did. And 00:07:12.579 --> 00:07:14.420 I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow to 00:07:14.420 --> 00:07:16.680 continue on our journey. God bless you and have 00:07:16.680 --> 00:07:17.220 a great day.