The Death of Josiah^(A)

²⁰ After Josiah ·did all this for [restored; set in order] the ·Temple [^Lhouse], Neco king of Egypt led an army to ·attack [fight/do battle at] Carchemish, a town on the Euphrates River. And Josiah marched out to fight against Neco. ²¹ But Neco sent messengers to Josiah, saying, “King Josiah, ·there should not be war between us [what have we to do with each other? ^Lwhat to me and to you]. I did not come to fight you, but ·my enemies [the kingdom/^Lhouse with which I am at war]. God told me to hurry, and he is on my side. So ·don’t fight [stop opposing] God, ·or he will [so he will not] destroy you.”

²² But Josiah did not ·go [^Lturn his face] away. He ·wore different clothes [disguised himself] ·so no one would know who he was [in order to fight him]. Refusing to listen to ·what Neco said at God’s command [^Lthe words Neco received from God’s mouth], Josiah went to fight on the plain of Megiddo. ²³ In the battle King Josiah was shot by archers. He told his servants, “Take me away because I am badly wounded.” ²⁴ So they took him out of his chariot and put him in another chariot and carried him to Jerusalem. There he died and was buried in the ·graves [tombs] where his ·ancestors [fathers] were buried. All the people of Judah and Jerusalem ·were very sad because he was dead [mourned for him].

²⁵ Jeremiah ·wrote some sad songs about [composed a lament for] Josiah. Even to this day all the men and women singers ·remember and honor [lament; mourn] Josiah with these songs. It became a ·custom [tradition] in Israel to sing these songs that are written in ·the collection of sad songs [The Book of Laments].

²⁶ The ·other things Josiah did as king [rest of the acts/events/history of Josiah] and his acts of devotion in obedience to what was was written in the Lord’s ·Teachings [instructions; laws], ²⁷ from ·beginning to end [first to last], ·are [^Lare they not…?] written in the ·book [scroll] of the kings of Israel and Judah.

²⁸ Everything else Josiah did ·is [^Lis it not…?] written in the book of the ·history [chronicles; annals; 1:18] of the kings of Judah.

²⁹ While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went to help the king of Assyria at the Euphrates River. King Josiah marched out to fight against Neco, but at Megiddo, Neco ·faced [met] him and killed him. ³⁰ Josiah’s ·servants [officers] carried his body in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in his own ·grave [tomb]. Then the people of Judah ·chose [took] Josiah’s son Jehoahaz and ·poured olive oil on [anointed] him to make him king in his father’s place.