Portions: Kings 20 - 23

Hezekiah had asked Isaiah,
"What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me
and that I will go up to the temple of the Lord
on the third day from now?
Isaiah answered,
"This is the Lord's sign to you
that the Lord will do what He has promised:
Shall the shadow go forward ten steps,
or shall it go back ten steps?"
As for the other events of Hezekiah's reign,
all his achievements and how he made the pool
and the tunnel by which he brought water into the city,
are they not written in the book
of the annals of the kings of Judah?
Hezekiah rested with his fathers.
And Manasseh hi son succeeded him as king.
(II Kings 20:8-10,20-21)

Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king,
and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years.
His mother's name was Hephzibah.
He did evil in the eyes of the Lord,
following the detestable practices of the nations
the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.
Manasseh rested with his fathers
and was buried in his palace garden,
the garden of Uzza.
And Amon his son succeeded him as king.
Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king,
and he reigned in Jerusalem two years.
His mother's name was Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz;
she was from Jotbah.
He did evil in the eyes of the Lord,
as his father Manasseh had done.
He was buried in his grave in the garden of Uzza.
And Josiah his son succeeded him as king.
(II Kings 21:1-2,18-20,26)

Josiah was eight years old when he became king,
and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years.
His mother's name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah;
she was from Bozkath.
He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord
and walked in all the ways of his father David,
not turning aside to the right or the left.
Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king,
"Go and inquire of the Lord for me
and for the people and for all Judah
about what is written in this book that has been found."
(II Kings 22 ;1-2,10-11,13)

The king stood by the pillar
and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord -
to follow the Lord and keep His commands,
regulations and decrees with all his heart and soul,
thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book.
Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.
Neither before or after Josiah was there a king like him
who turned 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.
While Josiah was king,
Pharaoh Neco 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 Neco faced him and killed him at Megiddo.
Josiah's servants brought his body in a chariot
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 was twenty-three years old
when he became king,
and he reigned in Jerusalem three months.
His mother's name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah;
she was from Libnah.
Pharaoh Neco put him in chains at Riblah
in the land of Hamath
so that he might not reign in Jerusalem . . . .
Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim 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.
Jehoiakim 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.
And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord,
just as his fathers had done.
(II Kings 23:3,25,29-32,34,36-37)