The most sacred Bible, whiche is the Holy Scripture conteyning the Old and New Testament / translated into English, and newly recognised with great diligence after most faythful exemplars, by Rychard Taverner.

¶ Iosias holdeth passouer. After his death is Ie∣chonias his sonne made kynge in his steade: whom the kynge of Egypte putteth oute, and setteth in his brother Ioachim. Ierusalem is destroyed, and Sedech. as taken.

CAPI. I.

[ A] ANd Iosias helde the feaste of Easter in Ierusalē vnto y^e Lorde and slewe the passouer the fourtenth daye of y^e fyrst moneth.* 1.1 He set the prestes also in ordre (ac¦cordynge to their day∣lye courses) beinge a∣raied in long garmentes in the temple of the Lord. And he spake vnto the Leuites the ho¦ly ministers of Israel, that they shulde ha∣lowe them selues vnto the Lorde, to set the holy arcke of the Lord in the house that king Salomon the sonne of Dauid hadde buylded and sayde: Ye shall no more beare the arcke vpon your shoulders. Now serue your Lorde, and take the charge of his people of Israell, after your vyllages and your trybes: accor∣dynge as kynge Dauid the kynge of Israell hath ordeyned, and accordynge as Salomon his son hath honourably prepared: yea loke that ye all doo seruyce in the temple, accor∣dynge to the ordryng and distribucion of the pryncipall men, whiche are appoynted out of the trybes, to doo seruyce for the chyldren of Israel. Kyll the Passeouer, and prepare offrin¦ges for your brethren,* 1.2 and do accordyng to y^e commaundement of the Lord, which he gaue vnto Moses. And vnto the people that was found, Iosias gaue .xxx. thousand shepe, lam∣bes, kyddes and gotes, and thre thousand oxē. These the kynge (of his pryncely liberalitie) gaue vnto the people, according as he had pro¦mised: and to the preestes for the Passeouer he gaue two thousande shepe, and an hundred oxen. Moreouer Iechonias and Semeias, and Nathanael brethren, and Hasabias, Iechiel, and Iosabad gaue theym to the Passeouer, fyue thousande shepe, and fyue hundred bul∣lockes.

And when these thinges were broughte to [ B] passe, the prestes and the Leuites stode good∣ly in their ordre, and had the vnleuened breed thorowout the tribes. And after the ordryng of the pryncipall men in the trybes, they of∣fered vnto the Lorde in the syght of the peo∣ple, accordyng as it is wrytten in the boke of Moses,* 1.3 and so they rosted the Easter lambe, as accordynge was. As for the thankeofferin∣ges and the other, they dyght them in kettels and pottes, and set them before the people w^t good wyll, and afterwarde before them sel∣ues, and the preestes. For the preestes off••red the fatte, vntyll the tyme was expyred, but the Leuites prepared for them selues and for theyr brethren the chyldren of Aaron. The sin¦gers also the children of Asaph, stode in theyr ordre, according as Dauid had deuised. So did Asaph Zachary and Iduthum, whiche were appointed by the king Moreouer the porters and dore kepers stode by the dores and that di∣ligently, so that none went out of his stāding and seruice / for their brethrē (the Leuites) pre¦pared for them. Thus were all thinges per∣formed, that belonged to the offeringe of the Lorde. In that day they beld the Passeouer, and offred thākeofferinges besyde the sacrifice of the Lorde, according to the cōmaundement of kyng Iosias.

So the children or Israel which were then [ C] present, held an honourable Passeouer, and y^e feast of swete breed seuē dayes long. Yea such a Passeouer was not kept in Israel from the time of the Prophet Samuel. And al the kyn¦ges of Israel held not suche an Easter as this which kyng Iosias helde, and the prestes, the Leuites, the Iewes and all Israell, of all thē that were at Ierusalem. And in the .xviij. yere of the raigne of Iosias was this Passeouer kept. And with a perfect here dyd kyng Iosi∣as ordre all his workes before the Lorde, and the thynges that were wrytten of him in ty∣mes past, concerninge those that synned and were vngodly agaynste the Lorde before all people, and that sought not the worde of the Lorde vpon Israel.

After all these actes of kynge Iosias,* 1.4 Pha∣rao the king of Egypt went vp and came to∣ward Carcamis by Euphrates, & Iosias went to mete him. Then sent the kyng of Egypt vn¦to Iosias, saying: what haue I to do w^t the, O king of Iuda? I am not sent of the Lorde to fyght agaynst the, for my warre is vpō Eu¦phrates, go thou thy waye home agayn in al the haste. And Iosias wolde not turne agayn vpon his charet, but vndertoke to fyghte a∣gaynst him, and harkened not vnto the word of the Prophete, whiche he tolde him oute of the mouth of God, but pytched a battayle a∣gaynst him in the felde of Mageddo. And the princes preased to kyng Iosias. Then said the kyng vnto his seruauntes: Carye me awaye out of the battayle, for I am sore wounded,* 1.5 And immediatly his seruauntes toke him a∣way out of the front of the battayle. Thē sat he vpon the seconde charet, came to Ierusalē, dyed, and was buried in his fathers sepulcre. And in all Iury they mourned for Iosias, yea the rulers also with their wiues made lamen¦tacion for him vnto this daye. And this was done euer stil in Israel.

These thynges are wrytten in the boke [ E] of the storyes of the kynges of Iuda / name∣lye all the actes and workes of kynge Iosi∣as, his power royall and maiestye, his vnder∣standynge in the lawe of God, and what he dyd / yea thynges whiche are not wrytten in the boke of the kynges of Israell and Iuda. And the people toke Iechonias the sonne of Iosias,* 1.6 and made him kynge in stede of Io∣sias his father, when he was .xxxiij. yere olde.

And he raigned ouer Israel .iij. monethes. And the kyng of Egypt put him downe, y^t he shold not raigne in Ierusalem, and raysed vp a taxe of the people: namely an hundred talētes of syluer and, one talent of golde. The kynge of Egypt also made Ioachim his brother kynge of Iuda and Ierusalem. As for them of y^e kin∣ges counsell with the king him selfe and Za∣raceles his brother, he toke them & caried them away prisoners in to Egypt. Fiue and twenty yere olde was Ioachim, when he was made kyng in the lande of Iuda and Ierusalem, & he did euil before the Lorde.* 1.7 After this Nabu¦chodonosor the kynge of Babylon came vp, bound him with bandes of yron, & caried him vnto Babylon. Nabuchodonosor also toke all the vessels that were halowed in the temple of the Lord, and all the iewels, & caryed them vnto Babylon, and broughte them in to his owne temple at Babylon. Of his vnclennesse and vngodlynesse it is written in the boke of the actes of the kynges. And Ioachim his son [ F] raigned in his stede. He was made kyng being xviij yere old, and raigned but thre monethes and .x. dayes at Ierusalem, and dyd euil before the Lorde. So after a yere Nabuchodonosor sent and caused him be brought vnto Babylō with the holy vessels of the Lorde, and made Sedechias his brother kynge of Iuda and Ierusalem, when he was .xxj. yere olde, and he raigned .xj. yere.

And he dyd euil also in the sight of y^e Lord, and cared not for the wordes that were spokē vnto him by the Prophete Ieremye,* 1.8 at the mouth of the Lorde. And where as he hadde made an othe vnto kyng Nabuchodonosor, he manswore him self, and fel from him, hauing a stiffe necke and hert, and transgressed all the statutes and ordinaunces of the Lord God of Israel. The rulers also and heedes of the peo¦ple of the Lorde did moche euill, & became vn∣godly more then the Heathen, being defiled in all maner of abhominacions: yea and defiled the holy temple at Ierusalem. And the God of their fathers sent his messengers vnto thē, to turne them backe and to call them agayne from their synnes, for he wold fayne haue spa¦red [ B] them, for his holy tabernacles sake. Ne∣uerthelesse they had his messengers in derisiō: and loke what God spake vnto them by his Prophetes, they made but a sport of it. This drewe on so longe, til the Lorde was wrothe with his people for their vngodlinesse, and til he caused the kynges of the Caldees to come vp, which slew their yong men with y^e swerde: yea euen in the compasse of their holy temple and spared no bodye, neyther yonge man nor olde, neyther mayden nor younge man: but they were al delyuered in to the power of the kynges of the Caldees, and al the holy vessels of the Lorde, and the kynges treasures toke they, and caryed them vnto Babylon. As for the house of the Lorde, they brent it, & brake downe the walles of Ierusalem, set fyre vpō her towres, destroyed all her noble buyldyn∣ges, and brought them to nought, and the peo¦ple that were not slayne with the swerde, they caryed vnto Babylon.

Thus became they prysoners and bonde∣men of the kynge of Babylon, tyll they were delyuered and raygned for them selues,* 1.9 when the wordes of the Lorde were fulfyl∣led, whiche he promysed them by the mouth of the Prophete Ieremye, and tyll the land had her reste: namely all the tyme that it lay waste, hadde it reste and quyetnesse .lxxvij. yeres.

Notes

• * 1.1

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 .xxiii .c ••••nth. a
• * 1.2

  〈…〉〈…〉
• * 1.3

  〈…〉〈…〉
• * 1.4

  iiii. Re .xxiii. t iii. Pa .xxxv. d
• * 1.5

  iii. Reg .xxii. t
• * 1.6

  iiii. Re .xxiii. f ii. Pa .xxxvi. ••
• * 1.7

  iiii. Re .xiiii .c
• * 1.8

  Iere .xxxvii. f
• * 1.9

  Iere .xxv. •• xxix .c