The Daily Audio Bible

¹⁴ After these things he builded the wall without the city of David, at the west side of Gihon, in the valley, from the entering of the gate of fishes, by compass unto Ophel; and he raised it up greatly; and he ordained princes of the host in all the strong cities of Judah. (After these things he built the outside wall of the City of David, at the west side of Gihon, in the valley, unto the entrance at the Fish Gate, and all around Ophel; and he raised it up to a great height; and he stationed leaders of his army in all the fortified cities of Judah.)

¹⁵ And he did away alien gods and simulacra from the house of the Lord; and he did away the altars, which he had made in the hill of the house of the Lord, and in Jerusalem, and he casted them away all without the city. (And he took away the foreign, or other, gods and the idols from the House of the Lord; and he did away the altars which he had built on the Temple Mount, and in Jerusalem, and he threw all of them out of the city.)

¹⁶ Certainly he restored the altar of the Lord, and offered thereon slain sacrifices, and peaceable sacrifices, and praising (And he restored the altar of the Lord, and offered slain sacrifices, and peace offerings, or thank offerings, upon it); and he commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel.

¹⁷ Nevertheless the people offered yet in high places to the Lord their God. (But still the people offered at the hill shrines, but only to the Lord their God.)

¹⁸ Forsooth the residue of [the] deeds of Manasseh, and his beseeching to his Lord God, and the words of [the] prophets, that spake to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, be contained in the words of the kings of Israel. (And the rest of the deeds of Manasseh, and his beseeching to the Lord his God, and the words of the prophets, who spoke to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, be contained in The Book of the Kings of Israel.)

¹⁹ And his prayer, and the hearing that the Lord heard him, and all his sins, and all his despising, and also the places in which he builded high things, and made maumet woods and images, before that he did penance, these be written in the book of Hozai. (And his prayer, and the answer that he received from the Lord, and all his sins, and offences, and also where he built the hill shrines, and made idol groves/and set up sacred poles, and carved images, before that he did penance, these be written in The Book of the Seers.)

²⁰ And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his house; and Amon, his son, reigned for him.

²¹ Amon was of two and twenty years, when he began to reign; and he reigned two years in Jerusalem.

²² And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasseh, his father, had done; and he offered, and served to all the idols, which Manasseh had made.

²³ And he reverenced not the face of the Lord, as Manasseh, his father, reverenced (And he did not humble himself before the Lord, like his father Manasseh had humbled himself); and he did much greater trespasses than his father did.

²⁴ And when his servants had sworn together against him, they killed him in his house.

²⁵ Soothly the residue multitude of the people, after that they had slain them that had slain Amon, ordained Josiah, his son, king for him.

34 Josiah was of eight years, when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years.

² And he did that, that was rightful in the sight of the Lord; and went in the ways of David, his father, and bowed not to the right side, neither to the left side.

³ And in the eighth year of the realm of his empire, when he was yet a boy, (that is, sixteen years of age,) he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year after that he began, he cleansed Judah and Jerusalem from high places, and woods, and simulacra, and graven images (and in the twelfth year after that he began to reign, he cleansed Judah and Jerusalem from the hill shrines, and the idol groves/and the sacred poles, and the idols, and the carved images).

⁴ And they destroyed before him the altars of Baalim, and they destroyed the simulacra, that were put above (them). Also he hewed down the maumet woods, and the graven images, and brake to small gobbets; and scattered abroad the small gobbets on the burials of them, that were wont to offer to those. (And they destroyed before him the altars of the Baalim, and they destroyed the idols, that were put upon them. And he cut down the idol groves, or the sacred poles, and the carved idols, and broke them into small pieces; and he scattered those small pieces all over the burials of those, who were wont to offer to those idols.)

⁵ Furthermore the king burnt the bones of (the) priests upon the altars of (the) idols, and (so) he cleansed Judah and Jerusalem of idolatry.

⁶ But also he destroyed all the idols in the cities of Manasseh, and of Ephraim, and of Simeon, unto Naphtali.

⁷ And when he had scattered the altars, and had all-broken into gobbets the maumet woods, and the graven images, and had destroyed all [the] temples of idols from all the land of Israel, he turned again into Jerusalem. (And when he had destroyed the altars, and the idol groves/and the sacred poles, and had broken the carved idols into pieces, and destroyed all the temples of idols in all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.)

⁸ Therefore in the eighteenth year of his realm, when the land and the temple was cleansed now, he sent Shaphan, the son of Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, the prince of the city, and Joah, the son of Joahaz, his chancellor, that they should repair the house of the Lord his God. (And so in the eighteenth year of his reign, when the land and the Temple had been cleansed, he sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah, the leader of the city, and Joah, the son of Joahaz, his chancellor, to repair the House of the Lord his God.)

⁹ Which came to Hilkiah, the great priest; and when they had taken of him the money, that was brought into the house of the Lord, which money the deacons and porters had gathered of men of Manasseh, and of Ephraim, and of all the remnant men of Israel, and of Judah and of Benjamin, and of the dwellers of Jerusalem, (And they came to the High Priest Hilkiah; and when they had delivered the money to him, that was brought to the House of the Lord, which money the Levites, who were the guards, or the doorkeepers, had gathered from the people of Manasseh, and of Ephraim, and from all the remnant of Israel, and of Judah and of Benjamin, and from the inhabitants of Jerusalem,)

¹⁰ they gave it in(to) the hands of them that were sovereigns of the workmen in the house of the Lord, that they should restore the temple, and repair all the feeble things thereof. (they gave it to those who were the rulers, or the overseers, of the workmen in the House of the Lord, so that they could restore the Temple, and repair all its weakened, or its broken, parts.)

¹¹ And they gave that money to the craftsmen and masons, for to buy stones hewed out of the quarries, and wood to the joinings of the building(s), and to the coupling(s) of [the] houses, which the kings of Judah had destroyed. (And they gave that money to the craftsmen and the masons, to buy stones cut out of the quarries, and timber for the joints of the buildings, and for the couplings of the houses, which the kings of Judah had destroyed.)

¹² The which workmen did faithfully all things. And the sovereigns of workers were Jahath, and Obadiah, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah, and Meshullam, of the sons of Kohath, which hasted the work; all were deacons, knowing how to sing with organs. (And the workmen faithfully did their work. And the rulers, or the overseers, of the workers were Jahath, and Obadiah, Levites of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah, and Meshullam, of the Kohathites, who hastened the work; all of them were Levites, who knew how to play instruments.)

¹³ And over them that bare burdens to diverse uses were scribes, and masters of deacons, and porters. (And they were over those who carried burdens, and did diverse types of work; and other Levites were writers, or secretaries, and clerks, and guards, or doorkeepers.)

¹⁴ And when they bare out the money, that was brought into the temple of the Lord, Hilkiah, the priest, found a book of the law of the Lord by the hand of Moses. (And when they took out the money, that was brought into the Temple of the Lord, the High Priest Hilkiah found The Book of the Law of the Lord, written by Moses.)

¹⁵ And Hilkiah said to Shaphan, the writer, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah took it to Shaphan, (And Hilkiah said to Shaphan, the writer, I have found The Book of the Law in the House of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave it to Shaphan,)

¹⁶ and he bare in the book to the king (and he took the book to the king); and he told to him, and said, Lo! all things be fulfilled, or ended, which thou hast given into the hands of thy servants.

¹⁷ And they have welled together the silver, which is found in the house of the Lord; and it is given to the sovereigns of the craftsmen, and (to those) making diverse works; (And they have melted together the silver, which was kept in the House of the Lord; and it was given to the rulers, or the overseers, of the craftsmen, and to those doing diverse types of work;)

¹⁸ furthermore Hilkiah, the priest, took to me this book. And when he had rehearsed this book in the presence of the king, (and furthermore, the High Priest Hilkiah gave me this book. And when he had read the book before the king,)

¹⁹ and when the king had heard the words of the law, he rent his clothes; (and the king had heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes;)

²⁰ and he commanded to Hilkiah, and to Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and to Abdon, the son of Micah, and to Shaphan, the scribe, and to Asaiah, the servant of the king, and said,

²¹ Go ye, and pray the Lord for me, and for the remnant of men of Israel and of Judah, on all the words of this book, that is found (Go ye, and pray to the Lord for me, and for the rest of the people who remain in Israel and Judah, concerning all the words of this book, that is found). For great (is the) vengeance of the Lord (that) hath dropped upon us, for our fathers kept not the words of the Lord, to do all things that be written in this book.

²² Therefore Hilkiah, and they that were sent together (with him) from the king, went to Huldah, the prophetess, the wife of Shallum, the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, (the) keeper of the king’s clothes, the which Huldah dwelled in Jerusalem in the second ward (who lived in Jerusalem’s second ward); and they spake to her the words, which we told before.

²³ And she answered to them, The Lord God of Israel saith these things, Say ye to the man, that sent you to me,

²⁴ The Lord saith these things, Lo! I shall bring evils upon this place, and upon the dwellers thereof (and upon its inhabitants), and all the cursings that be written in this book, that they have read before the king of Judah.

²⁵ For they have forsaken me, and have sacrificed to alien gods, for to stir me to wrathfulness in all the works of their hands (For they have abandoned me, and have sacrificed to foreign, or other, gods, and have stirred me to anger with all the works of their hands); therefore my strong vengeance shall drop upon this place, and it shall not be quenched.

²⁶ But speak ye thus to the king of Judah, that sent you to pray (to) the Lord, The Lord God of Israel saith these things, For thou heardest the words of the book,

²⁷ and thine heart thereby is made nesh, and thou art meeked in the sight of the Lord of these things which be said against this place, and against the dwellers of Jerusalem, and thou hast reverenced my face, and hast rent thy clothes, and hast wept before me; also I have heard thee, saith the Lord. (and thy heart is softened by it, and thou art humbled before the Lord by these things which be said against this place, and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou hast reverenced my face, and hast torn thy clothes, and hast wept before me; yea, I have heard thee, saith the Lord.)

²⁸ For now I shall gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be borne into thy sepulchre in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil, that is, none of all the evils, that I shall bring in upon this place, and upon the dwellers thereof (and upon its inhabitants). Then they told to the king all things, that Huldah had said.

²⁹ And after that the king had called together all the elder men of Judah and of Jerusalem,

³⁰ he went up into the house of the Lord, and there went up together with him all the men of Judah, and the dwellers of Jerusalem, priests, and deacons, and all the people, from the least unto the most; to whose hearing in the house of the Lord, the king read all the words of the foresaid book. (he went up to the House of the Lord, and there went up together with him all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, from the least unto the most; to whom the king then read aloud all the words of the foresaid book that was found in the House of the Lord.)

³¹ And he stood in his throne, and smote, or made, a bond of peace before the Lord, for to follow him, and to keep the commandments, and the witnessings, and the justifyings of him, in all his heart, and in all his soul; and to do those things which were written in that book, that he had read. (And he stood by his throne, and struck a covenant before the Lord, to follow him, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul; and to do those things that were written in that book, that he had read.)

³² And he charged greatly upon this thing all men, that were found in Jerusalem and Benjamin; and the dwellers of Jerusalem did after the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers. (And he greatly charged all who were found in Jerusalem and Benjamin to keep this oath, or this pledge; and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did after the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers.)

³³ Therefore Josiah did away all the abominations from all the countries of the sons of Israel; and made all men, that were left in Israel, to serve the Lord God (And so Josiah did away all the abominations from all the territories of the Israelites; and made all, who were left in Israel, to serve the Lord God); and in all the days of his life they went not away from the Lord God of their fathers.

¹⁰ Greet well Apelles, the noble in Christ [Greet well Apelles, noble in Christ]. Greet well them that be of Aristobulus' house.

¹¹ Greet well Herodion, my cousin. Greet well them that be of Narcissus' house, that be in the Lord.

¹² Greet well Tryphena and Tryphosa, which women travail in the Lord. Greet well Persis, most dear-worthy woman, that hath travailed much in the Lord.

¹³ Greet well Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, and mine.

¹⁴ Greet well Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and brethren that be with them.

¹⁵ Greet well Philologus, and Julia, and Nereus, and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints that be with them.

¹⁶ Greet ye well together in holy kiss [Greet well together in holy kiss]. All the churches of Christ greet you well.

¹⁷ But, brethren, I pray you, that ye espy them that make dissensions and hurtings [that ye espy them that make dissensions and hurtings, or offences], besides the doctrine that ye have learned, and bow away from them.

¹⁸ For such men serve not to the Lord Christ, but to their womb, and by sweet words and blessings deceive the hearts of innocent men.

¹⁹ But your obedience is published into every place, therefore I have joy in you. But I will that ye be wise in good thing [But I will you to be wise in good thing], and simple in evil.

²⁰ And God of peace tread Satan under your feet swiftly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

²¹ Timothy, mine helper, greeteth you well, and also Lucius, and Jason, and Sosipater, my cousins.

²² I Tertius greet you well, that wrote this epistle, in the Lord.

²³ Gaius, mine host, greeteth you well, and all the church. Erastus, treasurer of the city [Erastus, treasurer, or keeper, of the city], greeteth you well, and Quartus [the] brother.

²⁴ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

²⁵ And honour and glory be to him, that is mighty to confirm you by my gospel, and preaching of Jesus Christ, by the revelation of mystery held still in times everlasting; [Forsooth to him, that is mighty to confirm you by my gospel, and preaching of Jesus Christ, after the revelation of mystery holden still, that is, not showed, in times everlasting;]

²⁶ which mystery is now made open by scriptures of prophets, by the commandment of God without beginning and ending, to the obedience of faith in all heathen men, [the which is now made open by scriptures of prophets, after the commandment of God without beginning and ending, to the obedience of faith in all heathen men,]

²⁷ the mystery known by Jesus Christ to God alone wise [the mystery known to God alone wise, by Jesus Christ], to whom be honour and glory into worlds of worlds. Amen.

26 [The psalm of David.] Lord, deem thou me, for I entered in mine innocence; and I hoping in the Lord, shall not be made unsteadfast. (The song of David. Lord, judge me, for I have gone my way in innocence; and trusting in the Lord, I have not been made unsteady, that is, I have not slipped, or stumbled.)

² Lord, prove thou me, and assay me; burn thou my reins, and mine heart (burn thou my will, and my heart).

³ For why thy mercy is before mine eyes; and I pleased in thy truth. (For thy love is always before me; and I have gone in thy faithfulness.)

⁴ I sat not with the counsel of vanity; and I shall not enter with men doing wicked things. (I sat not down with vain, that is, empty, or worthless, people; and I shall not go along with those who do wicked things.)

⁵ I hated the church of evil men; and I shall not sit with wicked men. (I hate the company of evil people; and I shall not sit with the wicked.)

⁶ I shall wash mine hands among innocents; and, Lord, I shall compass thine altar. (I shall wash my hands in innocence; and then, Lord, I shall march around thy altar.)

⁷ That I hear the voice of praising; and that I tell out all thy marvels. (And I shall sing thy praises with thanksgiving; and I shall tell of all thy marvellous deeds.)

⁸ Lord, I have loved the fairness of thine house; and the place of the dwelling of thy glory. (Lord, I love the beauty of thy House; yea, the place where thy glory dwelleth.)

⁹ God, lose thou not my soul with unfaithful men; and my life with men of bloods. (God, do not thou destroy me along with the unfaithful; and do not take away my life along with those who thirst for blood, that is, murderers.)

¹⁰ In whose hands wickednesses be; the right hand of them is full-filled with gifts. (In whose hands be wickednesses; their right hands be filled full with bribes.)

¹¹ But I entered in mine innocence; again-buy thou me, and have mercy on me. (But I went forth in innocence; so redeem thou me, and have mercy on me.)

¹² My foot stood in rightfulness; Lord, I shall bless thee in churches. (Yea, my feet standeth on firm ground; Lord, I shall bless thee in the congregations.)

¹⁹ Be thou not meddled with him that showeth privates, and goeth guilefully, and alargeth his lips. (Be thou not mixed in, or mingled, with him who telleth secrets, and goeth deceitfully, and flappeth his lips.)