In the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s reign, the king sent the scribe Shaphan son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, to the Lord’s temple with these orders:

“Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him melt down the silver that has been brought by the people to the Lord’s temple and has been collected by the guards at the door.

He tore down the quarters of the male cultic prostitutes in the Lord’s temple, where women were weaving shrines for Asherah.

The king said, “Leave it alone! No one must touch his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed, as well as the bones of the Israelite prophet buried beside him.

The king ordered all the people, “Observe the Passover of the Lord your God, as prescribed in this scroll of the covenant.”

He issued this edict because a Passover like this had not been observed since the days of the judges; it was neglected for the entire period of the kings of Israel and Judah.

Because he killed innocent people and stained Jerusalem with their blood, the Lord was unwilling to forgive them.

He burned down the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem, including every large house.

The captain of the royal guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah, the priest who was second in rank, and the three doorkeepers.

Now King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, as governor over the people whom he allowed to remain in the land of Judah.

Gedaliah took an oath so as to give them and their troops some assurance of safety. He said, “You don’t need to be afraid to submit to the Babylonian officials. Settle down in the land and submit to the king of Babylon. Then things will go well for you.”

The sons to whom Keturah, Abraham’s concubine, gave birth: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, Shuah. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan.

When Husham died, Hadad son of Bedad succeeded him. He struck down the Midianites in the plains of Moab; the name of his city was Avith.

Caleb son of Hezron fathered sons by his wife Azubah (also known as Jerioth). Her sons were Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon.

Later Hezron had sexual relations with the daughter of Makir, the father of Gilead. (He had married her when he was sixty years old.) She bore him Segub.

After Hezron’s death, Caleb had sexual relations with Ephrath, his father Hezron’s widow, and she bore to him Ashhur the father of Tekoa.

She also bore Shaaph the father of Madmannah and Sheva the father of Machbenah and Gibea. Caleb’s daughter was Achsah.

Naarah bore him Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Haahashtari. These were the sons of Naarah.

Eshton was the father of Beth-Rapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah, the father of Ir Nahash. These were the men of Recah.

The sons of Ezrah: Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. Mered’s wife Bithiah gave birth to Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah, the father of Eshtemoa.