Azariah, the head priest from the family of Zadok, said to him, “Since the contributions began arriving in the Lord’s temple, we have had plenty to eat and have a large quantity left over. For the Lord has blessed his people, and this large amount remains.”

A Passover like this had not been observed in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel had observed a Passover like the one celebrated by Josiah, the priests, the Levites, all the people of Judah and Israel who were there, and the residents of Jerusalem.

Necho ¹  sent messengers to him, saying, “Why are you opposing me, O king of Judah? ²  I am not attacking you today, but the kingdom with which I am at war. ³  God told me to hurry. Stop opposing God, who is with me, or else he will destroy you.” ⁴ 

The porch in front of the main hall was 30 feet long, corresponding to the width of the temple, ¹  and its height was 30 feet. ²  He plated the inside with pure gold.

When your people ¹  come to their senses ²  in the land where they are held prisoner, they will repent and beg for your mercy in the land of their imprisonment, admitting, ‘We have sinned and gone astray ³ , we have done evil!’

As for this temple, which was once majestic, ¹  everyone who passes by it will be shocked and say, ‘Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?’

the food in his banquet hall, ¹  his servants and attendants ²  in their robes, his cupbearers in their robes, and his burnt sacrifices which he presented in the Lord’s temple, ³  she was amazed. ⁴ 

King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, ¹  the supervisor of the work crews, out after them, but the Israelites stoned him to death. King Rehoboam managed to jump into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. ² 

When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he summoned 180,000 skilled warriors from Judah and Benjamin ¹  to attack Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.

When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “He must be the king of Israel!” So they turned and attacked him, but Jehoshaphat cried out. The Lord helped him; God lured them away from him.

Eliezer son of Dodavahu from Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, “Because ¹  you made an alliance with Ahaziah, the Lord will shatter what you have made.” The ships were wrecked and unable to go to sea. ² 

When Azariah the high priest and the other priests looked at ¹  him, there was a skin disease on his forehead. They hurried him out of there; even the king ²  himself wanted to leave quickly because the Lord had afflicted him.

They stood at their posts according to the regulations outlined in the law of Moses, the man of God. The priests were splashing the blood as the Levites handed it to them. ¹ 

Because many in the assembly had not consecrated themselves, the Levites slaughtered ¹  the Passover lambs of all who were ceremonially unclean and could not consecrate their sacrifice to the Lord. ² 

They handed it over to the construction foremen ¹  assigned to the Lord’s temple. They in turn paid the temple workers to restore and repair it. ² 

The men worked faithfully. Their supervisors were Jahath and Obadiah (Levites descended from Merari), as well as Zechariah and Meshullam (descendants of Kohath). The Levites, all of whom were skilled musicians,

Say this to the king of Judah, who sent you to seek an oracle from the Lord: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says concerning the words you have heard:

From his own royal flocks and herds, Josiah supplied the people with 30,000 lambs and goats for the Passover sacrifice, as well as 3,000 cattle. ¹ 

But Josiah did not turn back from him; ¹  he disguised himself for battle. He did not take seriously ²  the words of Necho which he had received from God; he went to fight him in the Plain of Megiddo. ³ 

All the leaders of the priests and people became more unfaithful and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations. ¹  They defiled the Lord’s temple which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.