Final kings of Judah bible study

 

            This bible study is a follow up to the study on King Hezekiah and goes to the Babylonian captivity. It is to show how one particularly vile and evil person (Manasseh, in this case), can ruin all the good of his predecessor did ,in this case Hezekiah who was one of the best if not the best king, and do even more damage. It also shows that God can and will declare a society totally reprobate and give it over to evil, if the evil done is grave enough to warrant that, as in this case sadly it was. There is one good king, Josiah, but he came too little, too late, and is only able to defer the judgment until after he was dead, even though he did repent and try to undo the damage that Manasseh had done. This story is a continuation of the story from Hezekiah and here is a link to Hezekiah’s bible study

https://www.facebook.com/notes/jay-dougherty/king-hezekiah-comparative-bible-study/252966021512873

            In 2 Kings chapter 21 the evil reign of Manasseh is described and that he was really evil, then his son is also evil, so the people conspired to kill him and did. Manasseh was more evil even than the surrounding pagan nations.

(2 Kings 21:1)  Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hephzibah.

 

(2 Kings 21:2)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.

 

(2 Kings 21:3)  For he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.

 

(2 Kings 21:4)  And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, "In Jerusalem will I put my name."

 

(2 Kings 21:5)  And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.

 

(2 Kings 21:6)  And he burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger.

 

(2 Kings 21:7)  And the carved image of Asherah that he had made he set in the house of which the LORD said to David and to Solomon his son, "In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever.

 

(2 Kings 21:8)  And I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander anymore out of the land that I gave to their fathers, if only they will be careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the Law that my servant Moses commanded them."

 

(2 Kings 21:9)  But they did not listen, and Manasseh led them astray to do more evil than the nations had done whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel.

 

(2 Kings 21:10)  And the LORD said by his servants the prophets,

 

(2 Kings 21:11)  "Because Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations and has done things more evil than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols,

 

(2 Kings 21:12)  therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such disaster that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle.

 

(2 Kings 21:13)  And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, and the plumb line of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.

 

(2 Kings 21:14)  And I will forsake the remnant of my heritage and give them into the hand of their enemies, and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies,

 

(2 Kings 21:15)  because they have done what is evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day."

 

(2 Kings 21:16)  Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides the sin that he made Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.

 

(2 Kings 21:17)  Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did, and the sin that he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

 

(2 Kings 21:18)  And Manasseh slept with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza, and Amon his son reigned in his place.

 

(2 Kings 21:19)  Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.

 

(2 Kings 21:20)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as Manasseh his father had done.

 

(2 Kings 21:21)  He walked in all the way in which his father walked and served the idols that his father served and worshiped them.

 

(2 Kings 21:22)  He abandoned the LORD, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the LORD.

 

(2Ki 21:23)  And the servants of Amon conspired against him and put the king to death in his house.

 

(2 Kings 21:24)  But the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.

 

(2 Kings 21:25)  Now the rest of the acts of Amon that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

 

(2 Kings 21:26)  And he was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son reigned in his place.

 

2 Kings 22 and 23 describe the reign of good king Josiah who brought one last revival before the final fall. The book of law was found and then read to Josiah, the reading of the book helped with the repentance process, too, from the evil that Manasseh had done. Josiah is then killed in battle and the kings to come after him were evil

(2 Kings 22:1)  Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath.

 

(2 Kings 22:2)  And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

 

(2 Kings 22:3)  In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, the secretary, to the house of the LORD, saying,

 

(2 Kings 22:4)  "Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money that has been brought into the house of the LORD, which the keepers of the threshold have collected from the people.

 

(2 Kings 22:5)  And let it be given into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the LORD, and let them give it to the workmen who are at the house of the LORD, repairing the house

 

(2 Kings 22:6)  (that is, to the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons), and let them use it for buying timber and quarried stone to repair the house.

 

(2 Kings 22:7)  But no accounting shall be asked from them for the money that is delivered into their hand, for they deal honestly."

 

(2 Kings 22:8)  And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, "I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD." And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.

 

(2 Kings 22:9)  And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, "Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the LORD."

 

(2 Kings 22:10)  Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read it before the king.

 

(2 Kings 22:11)  When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes.

 

(2 Kings 22:12)  And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying,

 

(2 Kings 22:13)  "Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us."

 

(2 Kings 22:14)  So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter), and they talked with her.

 

(2 Kings 22:15)  And she said to them, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: 'Tell the man who sent you to me,

 

(2 Kings 22:16)  Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read.

 

(2 Kings 22:17)  Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched.

 

(2 Kings 22:18)  But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard,

 

(2 Kings 22:19)  because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the LORD, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the LORD.

 

(2 Kings 22:20)  Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.'" And they brought back word to the king.

 

(2 Kings 23:1)  Then the king sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him.

 

(2 Kings 23:2)  And the king went up to the house of the LORD, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the LORD.

 

(2 Kings 23:3)  And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant.

 

(2 Kings 23:4)  And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and the keepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel.

 

(2 Kings 23:5)  And he deposed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and the moon and the constellations and all the host of the heavens.

 

(2 Kings 23:6)  And he brought out the Asherah from the house of the LORD, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron and beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves of the common people.

 

(2 Kings 23:7)  And he broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah.

 

(2 Kings 23:8)  And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings, from Geba to Beersheba. And he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one's left at the gate of the city.

 

(2 Kings 23:9)  However, the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers.

 

(2 Kings 23:10)  And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to Molech.

 

(2 Kings 23:11)  And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts. And he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

 

(2 Kings 23:12)  And the altars on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, he pulled down and broke in pieces and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.

 

(2 Kings 23:13)  And the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

 

(2 Kings 23:14)  And he broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with the bones of men.

 

(2 Kings 23:15)  Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected by Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, that altar with the high place he pulled down and burned, reducing it to dust. He also burned the Asherah.

 

(2 Kings 23:16)  And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it, according to the word of the LORD that the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things.

 

(2 Kings 23:17)  Then he said, "What is that monument that I see?" And the men of the city told him, "It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted these things that you have done against the altar at Bethel."

 

(2 Kings 23:18)  And he said, "Let him be; let no man move his bones." So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria.

 

(2 Kings 23:19)  And Josiah removed all the shrines also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which kings of Israel had made, provoking the LORD to anger. He did to them according to all that he had done at Bethel.

 

(2 Kings 23:20)  And he sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

 

(2 Kings 23:21)  And the king commanded all the people, "Keep the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant."

 

(2 Kings 23:22)  For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah.

 

(2 Kings 23:23)  But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the LORD in Jerusalem.

 

(2 Kings 23:24)  Moreover, Josiah put away the mediums and the necromancers and the household gods and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.

 

(2 Kings 23:25)  Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.

 

(2 Kings 23:26)  Still the LORD did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him.

 

(2 Kings 23:27)  And the LORD said, "I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there."

 

(2 Kings 23:28)  Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

 

(2 Kings 23:29)  In his days Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. King Josiah went to meet him, and Pharaoh Neco killed him at Megiddo, as soon as he saw him.

 

(2 Kings 23:30)  And his servants carried him dead in a chariot from Megiddo and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's place.

 

(2 Kings 23:31)  Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

 

(2 Kings 23:32)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.

 

(2 Kings 23:33)  And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.

 

(2 Kings 23:34)  And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there.

 

(2 Kings 23:35)  And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco.

 

(2 Kings 23:36)  Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.

 

(2 Kings 23:37)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.

 

2 Kings chapters 24 and 25 then describe the gradual fall of Judah in stages to the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. It was first a vassal then eventually completely conquered as the vassal kings rebelled. One would find mercy at the end though and get some comfort

(2 Kings 24:1)  In his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him.

 

(2 Kings 24:2)  And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldeans and bands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by his servants the prophets.

 

(2 Kings 24:3)  Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the LORD, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done,

 

(2 Kings 24:4)  and also for the innocent blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD would not pardon.

 

(2 Kings 24:5)  Now the rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

 

(2 Kings 24:6)  So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.

 

(2 Kings 24:7)  And the king of Egypt did not come again out of his land, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the Brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates.

 

(2 Kings 24:8)  Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.

 

(2 Kings 24:9)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done.

 

(2 Kings 24:10)  At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.

 

(2 Kings 24:11)  And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it,

 

(2 Kings 24:12)  and Jehoiachin the king of Judah gave himself up to the king of Babylon, himself and his mother and his servants and his officials and his palace officials. The king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his reign

 

(2 Kings 24:13)  and carried off all the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold in the temple of the LORD, which Solomon king of Israel had made, as the LORD had foretold.

 

(2 Kings 24:14)  He carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all the mighty men of valor, 10,000 captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained, except the poorest people of the land.

 

(2 Kings 24:15)  And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon. The king's mother, the king's wives, his officials, and the chief men of the land he took into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.

 

(2 Kings 24:16)  And the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of valor, 7,000, and the craftsmen and the metal workers, 1,000, all of them strong and fit for war.

 

(2 Kings 24:17)  And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's uncle, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.

 

(2 Kings 24:18)  Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

 

(2 Kings 24:19)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.

 

(2 Kings 24:20)  For because of the anger of the LORD it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

 

(2 Kings 25:1)  And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and laid siege to it. And they built siegeworks all around it.

 

(2 Kings 25:2)  So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

 

(2 Kings 25:3)  On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.

 

(2 Kings 25:4)  Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, by the king's garden, though the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the Arabah.

 

(2 Kings 25:5)  But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him.

 

(2 Kings 25:6)  Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they passed sentence on him.

 

(2 Kings 25:7)  They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains and took him to Babylon.

 

(2 Kings 25:8)  In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month--that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon--Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.

 

(2 Kings 25:9)  And he burned the house of the LORD and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down.

 

(2 Kings 25:10)  And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem.

 

(2 Kings 25:11)  And the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile.

 

(2 Kings 25:12)  But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.

 

(2 Kings 25:13)  And the pillars of bronze that were in the house of the LORD, and the stands and the bronze sea that were in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried the bronze to Babylon.

 

(2 Kings 25:14)  And they took away the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the dishes for incense and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service,

 

(2 Kings 25:15)  the fire pans also and the bowls. What was of gold the captain of the guard took away as gold, and what was of silver, as silver.

 

(2 Kings 25:16)  As for the two pillars, the one sea, and the stands that Solomon had made for the house of the LORD, the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight.

 

(2 Kings 25:17)  The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and on it was a capital of bronze. The height of the capital was three cubits. A latticework and pomegranates, all of bronze, were all around the capital. And the second pillar had the same, with the latticework.

 

(2 Kings 25:18)  And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest and the three keepers of the threshold,

 

(2 Kings 25:19)  and from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the men of war, and five men of the king's council who were found in the city, and the secretary of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city.

 

(2 Kings 25:20)  And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.

 

(2 Kings 25:21)  And the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was taken into exile out of its land.

 

(2 Kings 25:22)  And over the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, governor.

 

(2 Kings 25:23)  Now when all the captains and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor, they came with their men to Gedaliah at Mizpah, namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite.

 

(2 Kings 25:24)  And Gedaliah swore to them and their men, saying, "Do not be afraid because of the Chaldean officials. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you."

 

(2 Kings 25:25)  But in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down Gedaliah and put him to death along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.

 

(2 Kings 25:26)  Then all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces arose and went to Egypt, for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

 

(2 Kings 25:27)  And in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, graciously freed Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison.

 

(2 Kings 25:28)  And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon.

 

(2 Kings 25:29)  So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life he dined regularly at the king's table,

 

(2 Kings 25:30)  and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, according to his daily needs, as long as he lived.

 

2 Chronicles chapter 33 describes the reign of evil reign of Manasseh but that he was dragged captive and then in captivity did repent of his deeds and then came back and undid some of the things he did earlier, but there was too much evil done and his son Amon was evil too

(2 Chronicles 33:1)  Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.

 

(2 Chronicles 33:2)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.

 

(2 Chronicles 33:3)  For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had broken down, and he erected altars to the Baals, and made Asherahs, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.

 

(2 Chronicles 33:4)  And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, "In Jerusalem shall my name be forever."

 

(2 Chronicles 33:5)  And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.

 

(2 Chronicles 33:6)  And he burned his sons as an offering in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and used fortune-telling and omens and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger.

 

(2 Chronicles 33:7)  And the carved image of the idol that he had made he set in the house of God, of which God said to David and to Solomon his son, "In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever,

 

(2 Chronicles 33:8)  and I will no more remove the foot of Israel from the land that I appointed for your fathers, if only they will be careful to do all that I have commanded them, all the law, the statutes, and the rules given through Moses."

 

(2 Chronicles 33:9)  Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel.

 

(2 Chronicles 33:10)  The LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention.

 

(2 Chronicles 33:11)  Therefore the LORD brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon.

 

(2 Chronicles 33:12)  And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.

 

(2 Chronicles 33:13)  He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God.

 

(2 Chronicles 33:14)  Afterward he built an outer wall for the city of David west of Gihon, in the valley, and for the entrance into the Fish Gate, and carried it around Ophel, and raised it to a very great height. He also put commanders of the army in all the fortified cities in Judah.

 

(2 Chronicles 33:15)  And he took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built on the mountain of the house of the LORD and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside of the city.

 

(2 Chronicles 33:16)  He also restored the altar of the LORD and offered on it sacrifices of peace offerings and of thanksgiving, and he commanded Judah to serve the LORD, the God of Israel.

 

(2 Chronicles 33:17)  Nevertheless, the people still sacrificed at the high places, but only to the LORD their God.

 

(2 Chronicles 33:18)  Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, behold, they are in the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

 

(2 Chronicles 33:19)  And his prayer, and how God was moved by his entreaty, and all his sin and his faithlessness, and the sites on which he built high places and set up the Asherim and the images, before he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the Chronicles of the Seers.

 

(2 Chronicles 33:20)  So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his house, and Amon his son reigned in his place.

 

(2 Chronicles 33:21)  Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem.

 

(2 Chronicles 33:22)  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as Manasseh his father had done. Amon sacrificed to all the images that Manasseh his father had made, and served them.

 

(2 Chronicles 33:23)  And he did not humble himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself, but this Amon incurred guilt more and more.

 

(2 Chronicles 33:24)  And his servants conspired against him and put him to death in his house.

 

(2 Chronicles 33:25)  But the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon. And the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.

 

In 2 Chronicles chapters 34 and 35 is described the reign of the good king Josiah and all the good he did including the restoration of the temple and the tearing down of places of idol worship.

(2 Chronicles 34:1)  Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem.

 

(2 Chronicles 34:2)  And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father; and he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

 

(2 Chronicles 34:3)  For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, and the carved and the metal images.

 

(2 Chronicles 34:4)  And they chopped down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and he cut down the incense altars that stood above them. And he broke in pieces the Asherim and the carved and the metal images, and he made dust of them and scattered it over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.

 

(2 Chronicles 34:5)  He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.

 

(2 Chronicles 34:6)  And in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, in their ruins all around,

 

(2 Chronicles 34:7)  he broke down the altars and beat the Asherim and the images into powder and cut down all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

 

(2 Chronicles 34:8)  Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had cleansed the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God.

 

(2 Chronicles 34:9)  They came to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the keepers of the threshold, had collected from Manasseh and Ephraim and from all the remnant of Israel and from all Judah and Benjamin and from the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

 

(2 Chronicles 34:10)  And they gave it to the workmen who were working in the house of the LORD. And the workmen who were working in the house of the LORD gave it for repairing and restoring the house.

 

(2 Chronicles 34:11)  They gave it to the carpenters and the builders to buy quarried stone, and timber for binders and beams for the buildings that the kings of Judah had let go to ruin.

 

(2 Chronicles 34:12)  And the men did the work faithfully. Over them were set Jahath and Obadiah the Levites, of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to have oversight. The Levites, all who were skillful with instruments of music,

 

(2 Chronicles 34:13)  were over the burden-bearers and directed all who did work in every kind of service, and some of the Levites were scribes and officials and gatekeepers.

 

(2 Chronicles 34:14)  While they were bringing out the money that had been brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD given through Moses.

 

(2 Chronicles 34:15)  Then Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the secretary, "I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD." And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan.

 

(2 Chronicles 34:16)  Shaphan brought the book to the king, and further reported to the king, "All that was committed to your servants they are doing.

 

(2 Chronicles 34:17)  They have emptied out the money that was found in the house of the LORD and have given it into the hand of the overseers and the workmen."

 

(2 Chronicles 34:18)  Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read from it before the king.

 

(2 Chronicles 34:19)  And when the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes.

 

(2 Chronicles 34:20)  And the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying,

 

(2 Chronicles 34:21)  "Go, inquire of the LORD for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do according to all that is written in this book."

 

(2 Chronicles 34:22)  So Hilkiah and those whom the king had sent went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter) and spoke to her to that effect.

 

(2 Chronicles 34:23)  And she said to them, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: 'Tell the man who sent you to me,

 

(2 Chronicles 34:24)  Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book that was read before the king of Judah.

 

(2 Chronicles 34:25)  Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands, therefore my wrath will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched.

 

(2 Chronicles 34:26)  But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard,

 

(2 Chronicles 34:27)  because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the LORD.

 

(2 Chronicles 34:28)  Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place and its inhabitants.'" And they brought back word to the king.

 

(2 Chronicles 34:29)  Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.

 

(2 Chronicles 34:30)  And the king went up to the house of the LORD, with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the Levites, all the people both great and small. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the LORD.

 

(2 Chronicles 34:31)  And the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book.

 

(2 Chronicles 34:32)  Then he made all who were present in Jerusalem and in Benjamin join in it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

 

(2 Chronicles 34:33)  And Josiah took away all the abominations from all the territory that belonged to the people of Israel and made all who were present in Israel serve the LORD their God. All his days they did not turn away from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.

 

(2 Chronicles 35:1)  Josiah kept a Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem. And they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month.

 

(2 Chronicles 35:2)  He appointed the priests to their offices and encouraged them in the service of the house of the LORD.

 

(2 Chronicles 35:3)  And he said to the Levites who taught all Israel and who were holy to the LORD, "Put the holy ark in the house that Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built. You need not carry it on your shoulders. Now serve the LORD your God and his people Israel.

 

(2 Chronicles 35:4)  Prepare yourselves according to your fathers' houses by your divisions, as prescribed in the writing of David king of Israel and the document of Solomon his son.

 

(2 Chronicles 35:5)  And stand in the Holy Place according to the groupings of the fathers' houses of your brothers the lay people, and according to the division of the Levites by fathers' household.

 

(2 Chronicles 35:6)  And slaughter the Passover lamb, and consecrate yourselves, and prepare for your brothers, to do according to the word of the LORD by Moses."

 

(2 Chronicles 35:7)  Then Josiah contributed to the lay people, as Passover offerings for all who were present, lambs and young goats from the flock to the number of 30,000, and 3,000 bulls; these were from the king's possessions.

 

(2 Chronicles 35:8)  And his officials contributed willingly to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the chief officers of the house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings 2,600 Passover lambs and 300 bulls.

 

(2 Chronicles 35:9)  Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethanel his brothers, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, the chiefs of the Levites, gave to the Levites for the Passover offerings 5,000 lambs and young goats and 500 bulls.

 

(2 Chronicles 35:10)  When the service had been prepared for, the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their divisions according to the king's command.

 

(2 Chronicles 35:11)  And they slaughtered the Passover lamb, and the priests threw the blood that they received from them while the Levites flayed the sacrifices.

 

(2 Chronicles 35:12)  And they set aside the burnt offerings that they might distribute them according to the groupings of the fathers' houses of the lay people, to offer to the LORD, as it is written in the Book of Moses. And so they did with the bulls.

 

(2 Chronicles 35:13)  And they roasted the Passover lamb with fire according to the rule; and they boiled the holy offerings in pots, in cauldrons, and in pans, and carried them quickly to all the lay people.

 

(2 Chronicles 35:14)  And afterward they prepared for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron, were offering the burnt offerings and the fat parts until night; so the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron.

 

(2 Chronicles 35:15)  The singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their place according to the command of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer; and the gatekeepers were at each gate. They did not need to depart from their service, for their brothers the Levites prepared for them.

 

(2 Chronicles 35:16)  So all the service of the LORD was prepared that day, to keep the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the LORD, according to the command of King Josiah.

 

(2 Chronicles 35:17)  And the people of Israel who were present kept the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days.

 

(2 Chronicles 35:18)  No Passover like it had been kept in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as was kept by Josiah, and the priests and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

 

(2 Chronicles 35:19)  In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah this Passover was kept.

 

(2 Chronicles 35:20)  After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Neco king of Egypt went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to meet him.

 

(2 Chronicles 35:21)  But he sent envoys to him, saying, "What have we to do with each other, king of Judah? I am not coming against you this day, but against the house with which I am at war. And God has commanded me to hurry. Cease opposing God, who is with me, lest he destroy you."

 

(2 Chronicles 35:22)  Nevertheless, Josiah did not turn away from him, but disguised himself in order to fight with him. He did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, but came to fight in the plain of Megiddo.

 

(2 Chronicles 35:23)  And the archers shot King Josiah. And the king said to his servants, "Take me away, for I am badly wounded."

 

(2 Chronicles 35:24)  So his servants took him out of the chariot and carried him in his second chariot and brought him to Jerusalem. And he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

 

(2 Chronicles 35:25)  Jeremiah also uttered a lament for Josiah; and all the singing men and singing women have spoken of Josiah in their laments to this day. They made these a rule in Israel; behold, they are written in the Laments.

 

(2 Chronicles 35:26)  Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his good deeds according to what is written in the Law of the LORD,

 

(2 Chronicles 35:27)  and his acts, first and last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

 

In 2 Chronicles 36 the final kings and the captivity and exile in Babylon are described but then Cyrus will then allow the Jews back, after 70 years have elapsed

(2 Chronicles 36:1)  The people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and made him king in his father's place in Jerusalem.

 

(2 Chronicles 36:2)  Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.

 

(2 Chronicles 36:3)  Then the king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.

 

(2 Chronicles 36:4)  And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Jehoahaz his brother and carried him to Egypt.

 

(2 Chronicles 36:5)  Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God.

 

(2 Chronicles 36:6)  Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and bound him in chains to take him to Babylon.

 

(2 Chronicles 36:7)  Nebuchadnezzar also carried part of the vessels of the house of the LORD to Babylon and put them in his palace in Babylon.

 

(2 Chronicles 36:8)  Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and the abominations that he did, and what was found against him, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.

 

(2 Chronicles 36:9)  Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.

 

(2 Chronicles 36:10)  In the spring of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, with the precious vessels of the house of the LORD, and made his brother Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.

 

(2 Chronicles 36:11)  Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.

 

(2 Chronicles 36:12)  He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the LORD.

 

(2 Chronicles 36:13)  He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel.

 

(2 Chronicles 36:14)  All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the LORD that he had made holy in Jerusalem.

 

(2 Chronicles 36:15)  The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place.

 

(2 Chronicles 36:16)  But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, until there was no remedy.

 

(2 Chronicles 36:17)  Therefore he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or aged. He gave them all into his hand.

 

(2 Chronicles 36:18)  And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon.

 

(2 Chronicles 36:19)  And they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem and burned all its palaces with fire and destroyed all its precious vessels.

 

(2 Chronicles 36:20)  He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia,

 

(2 Chronicles 36:21)  to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.

 

(2 Chronicles 36:22)  Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:

 

(2 Chronicles 36:23)  "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, 'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the LORD his God be with him. Let him go up.'"

For more on the building of this temple in Jerusalem please go to the following bible study which covers it, the book of Ezra

https://www.facebook.com/notes/jay-dougherty/book-of-ezra-bible-study/1020074157339527  

These final kings illustrate that while God is good and merciful where there is good, by no means will He ever allow evil and evil doers to escape punishment. He does honor acts of repentance, restoring and having mercy as applicable, but it also is possible for a society to fall too far and become really reprobate and evil a good ruler who might come afterward cannot undo fully the damage a really truly evil and vile one does beforehand, sadly, even if he himself repents somewhat. Still God is a God of mercy, that He did send Jesus to die in our place for our sins, so that if we come to Him in repentance we will be forgiven, especially as Jesus death on the cross paid the price for our sins. God sent His Son to die because he longs for a love relationship with you and with me, and there really is nothing comparable to that love relationship on this earth. I am now including a prayer which will invite Jesus to come and fill your heart and begin this wonderful love relationship or even to return to the love relationship if you have fallen away. Please pray this prayer with me

Dear God in heaven, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I acknowledge to You that I am a sinner, and I am sorry for my sins and the life that I have lived; I need your forgiveness. I believe that your only begotten Son Jesus Christ shed His precious blood on the cross at Calvary and died for my sins, and I am now willing to turn from my sin. You said in Your Holy Word, Romans 10:9 that if we confess Jesus as our Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, we will be saved. Right now I confess Jesus as the Lord of my soul. With my heart, I believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. This very moment I accept Jesus Christ as my own personal Savior and according to His Word, right now I am saved. Thank you Jesus for your unlimited grace which has saved me from my sins. I thank you Jesus that your grace never leads to license, but rather it always leads to repentance. Therefore Lord Jesus transform my life so that I may bring glory and honor to you alone and not to myself. Thank you Jesus for dying for me and giving me eternal life.

Amen.

God bless you and yours