The Greedy Ornery King

By Mary Vee
Jeremiah 22

From the Journals of Jeremiah

Photo Courtesy

Josiah died. His son Shallum was crowned king, although he should never have been king.

As Josiah's oldest son, Shallum accepted the crown to rule over Judah when his father died. 

Shallum didn't want to please anyone but himself. 

Before many days passed after his father's death, Shallum ordered a new palace to be built just for him. He taxed the people to pay for the supplies. After taxing them, he forced the people to build the palace and didn't pay them any money for their work. None at all.

Shallum bragged to everyone about the huge palace being built just for him. There would be huge rooms, large windows, panels made of cedar, and the walls painted red. 

He walked around with his nose in the air. Shallum the rich and powerful king of Judah.

Really he should be called Shallum the wicked and ornery king of Judah.

Josiah never asked for riches. Instead he gave to the people. He got rid of all the idols and taught the people to worship the God of the Universe. The one who made us and loves us. Josiah did what was right and just. During Josiah's reign everything went well in Judah. This was their reward from God.

Josiah did everything he could to help the poor and needy. God said, "Isn't that what knowing me means?" Yes. Of course it is. 

But Shallum, greedy, ornery Shallum worked to get whatever he wanted even if he hurt people, stole from people, and threatened to kill people.

Yes, Shallum may have been rich with things, but his father, Josiah was rich with blessings from God, including peace and protection for the whole country.

Pharaoh Neco, attacked from Egypt and took Shallum as a prisoner. Shallum never returned to Judah. He died in Egypt, never seeing his beautiful palace again.

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1. Who was Josiah's oldest son?
2. What did his son do as soon as he became king?
3. How did he pay for it?
4. Who did the work? How much were they paid?
5. How was Josiah different from his son?
6. What happened to Shallum?
7. Did he ever come home? Why?

Josiah-Evil Came When the Good King Died

By Mary Vee
II Kings 23, II Chronicles 35

From the Journals of Jeremiah

This was the time when countries went to battle to conquer and take the land of other countries.

Egypt was to our southwest and Assyria was to our north. 

King Josiah had done a great job leading the people of Judah back to worshiping God and God alone. Although everything went well for us, our country happened to be stuck in the middle of Assyria and Egypt.

A while ago, the prophet Jonah had gone to Nineveh as God told Him to. God warned the people of Nineveh they would be destroy for all their evil. The people said they were sorry and stopped..for a little while.

One day the Pharaoh Neco from Egypt decided to fight the Assyrians at Carchemish. To get there he had to go through Israel and Judah.

King Josiah became very concerned. He didn't want the Egyptians to conquer our land. He called his army to battle and marched them to meet Neco in battle. 

Neco told his army to let Josiah through so they could talk. "Why did you come? I don't have any reason to fight with you. I didn't come to attack you this time, I am at war with someone else. God told me to hurry, so leave me alone or you will be destroyed, too."

I guess Josiah didn't believe Neco. He put on a disguise and went to battle at the plains of Megiddo.

Archers from Neco's army shot King Josiah. 

"Take me away. I am badly wounded," said Josiah. His men took him to another chariot and drove to Jerusalem. Josiah died.  

Everyone from Judah and Jerusalem loved Josiah and mourned his death. He was buried in the tombs with the other kings.

God inspired me to write several poems to show my sadness over Josiah's death. Men and women from Jerusalem and Judah sang these laments and after some time they became a traditional song to sing in Israel.

Not only did we weep over the death of a good king, but also because we knew his son, Jehoahaz the new king of Judah, was evil.

Pharaoh Neco attacked and put king Jehoahaz in chains and carried him off to Egypt. He forced Judah to pay him lots of money and put Jehoahaz's brother, Eliakim on the throne. Eliakim was no better than Jehoahaz. He didn't worship God and God alone. He made the people pay lots of money to Neco from Egypt. We hardly had anything to eat.

I wish Josiah was still king.

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1. Who was pharaoh of Egypt?
2. Who did pharaoh attack?
3. We don't know exactly why Josiah attacked this pharaoh, but what might have happened?
4. What happened to Josiah in the battle?
5. Why did the people mourn?
6. Who became the new king?
7. What happened to him?

Josiah-Reaching the Finish Line

By Mary Vee
II Kings 23, II Chronicles 35

From the Journals of Josiah

I felt like I was running a race and would not touch the finish line until every idol in Judah and Israel had been destroyed and every priest who taught the people to worships these idols removed.

And when my men and I found no more to destroy, I went home--to Jerusalem.

At last my kingdom could freely worship God and not be distracted by evil idols. 

We celebrated the passover feast. What a huge gathering. All the people came and gave their offerings to the Lord. I appointed godly men as priests and encouraged them in their duties.

I then called the Levites together, the priestly tribe of Israel and told them to put the sacred ark in the temple that Solomon, son of David, king of Israel built. I then called the rest of the people to join us. "Prepare yourselves by gathering into families according to the directions written by David king of Israel and his son Solomon."

They stood in the holy place, each tribe with a group of Levites nearby. The offerings were given to the priests and the people did what the Lord commanded through Moses. 

I provided a total of thirty thousand sheep and goats, three thousand cattle, all from my personal possessions for all the working people who were there.

My officials also gave to the people and the priests twenty six hundred sheep and goats and three hundred cattle. Others freely gave as well. 

The priests stood in their places with the Levites in their divisions as I had ordered and offered the gifts to the Lord as was written in the Book of Moses. The priests worked until nightfall.

At this time the entire service of the Lord was carried out for the celebration of the Passover and the offerings on the altar as I had ordered. We welcomed our Israelite brothers.

The Passover had not been done like this in Israel since the days of the prophet Samuel. None of the kings of Israel had ever celebrated such a Passover like we did today having the priest, the Levites, and all Judah and Israel. This Passover was celebrated in this, my eighteenth year of reign. 

I don't think I have experienced a more wonderful time than this celebration of what God has done for us. I can't wait to celebrate again next year.

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1. What did Josiah insist on finishing before he went home?
2. Where was his home?
3. Who is Josiah?
4. What special celebration did Josiah lead the people in having?
5. What special group of people came to the celebration?

Josiah - A Strong Man Who Took a Stand

By Mary Vee
Ii Kings 23, II Chronicles 34

From the Journals of Josiah

Photo Courtesy

We had no excuse for worshiping other gods. We'd foolishly wanted to be like the countries around us.

Over time, many idols made their way into Judah, because, sadly, our people let them come. Baal, Asherah, the starry hosts, Molech, the sun, Topheth, Chemosh. What were we thinking?

We had everything. God had given us this land and asked only that we worshiped Him. Give thanks for what He had done. And know that we could go to Him for help at any time. But the kings before me had led our nation away and up to this time, so had I. My heart is broken.

Anger filled me. I took men and went throughout Judea to:

1. Get rid of all the priest who served idols.
2. Take the Asherah poles down from the temple and carried them to the Kidron Valley where we burned them.
3. Took down the booths where women did weaving for Asherah
4. Destroyed all the high places where incense to idols had been burned.
5. Broke the shrines at the gates
6. Destroyed Topheth where the people worshiped Molech by hurting their children.
7. Removed the horses at the front of the temple that had been dedicated to the sun god.
8. Burned the chariots dedicated to the sun god.
9. Pulled down the altars on the roof and altars in the courts of the temple, smashed them to pieces and put the rubble in the Kidron Valley
10. Destroyed the high places that Solomon had built for Asherah, for Chemosh, and for Molech.
11. Smashed the sacred stones and the Asherah poles east of Jerusalem.
12. Got rid of all the false prophets and false spiritual people

Then I went out to all the territories of Israel and removed all the idols that God hated. I told them to worship only God. And as long as I was alive I knew they worshiped only the almighty God who loves all of us. 

This was the least I could do for the God who saved us from captivity, gave us a land, and promised to care for us.

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1. What had the people of Judah done wrong?
2. Why did the people worship idols?
3. Why was Josiah angry?
4. What are some of the things Josiah did?
5. After Josiah finished in Judah, where did he go? And what did he do there?
6. What did the people do the rest of Josiah's days?

Josiah-Bad News Changed the People

By Mary Vee
Ii Kings 22, II Chronicles 34

From the Journals of Shaphan, the secretary

The news priest Hilkiah, the other officials, and I took back to King Josiah had good and bad.

The good news was: God was pleased with King Josiah.

The bad news was: God said He would punish Judah for worshiping other gods instead of Him. The punishment will happen after King Josiah dies, which means the rest of us probably have several years before God allows an army to conquer us. But it will happen.

The officials and I entered King Josiah's chambers and told him what the prophetess Huldah said. 

King Josiah cried. "This is terrible! We all deserve punishment and have wronged the Almighty God. We must act right away. I want all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to meet me."

In a short time the elders arrived. They bowed before the king. King Josiah stood and said, "Walk with me to the temple of the Lord. I want everyone to join me including the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, the priests and the Levites, every person front the least to the greatest, poor to rich. Call out to everyone you see to join us."

When he arrived, a great crowd had gathered by the courts. Josiah stood by his pillar and asked for the scroll, the one that had just been found in the temple. I handed it to him. He unrolled the paper and read the words of the Book of the Covenant.

When he finished, King Josiah raised his arms and looked to heaven." Oh God, I promise to follow you and keep your commands, regulations, and decrees with all my heart and soul. I will obey the words of the covenant written in this book."

He look out at all the people and said, "You must pledge yourselves to obey the covenants in this book." 

King Josiah wasn't asking. He meant his words. 

Immediately, the people cried out to God, pledging to keep the commands, regulations, and decrees with all their heart and soul, and to obey the words of the covenant written in the book Josiah just read to them.

The moment the crowd silenced, the king turned to priest Hilkiah, the assistant priest, and the doorkeepers and said. "Go now and destroy everything made for the false gods: Baal, Asherah, and all the starry hosts. Burn them in the fields of the Kidron Valley outside of Jerusalem."

The king paced. I think he is planning much more to honor God and to teach the people of Judah to honor Him. 

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1. What good news did the messengers have for the king?
2. Did the news make him happy?
3. What bad news did the messengers have for the king?
4. What did King Josiah do when he heard the bad news?
5. Josiah had everyone come to the temple including the rich and the poor. Why?
6. What promise did Josiah make.
7. What did he tell the people do?
8. What did Josiah tell Hilkiah and the other temple workers to do?

Josiah-God Sees Our Heart

By Mary Vee
Ii Kings 22, II Chronicles 34

From the Journals of Shaphan, the secretary

Photo Courtesy

King Josiah sent the priest Hilkiah, and a few others from his staff, including me, to the prophetess Huldah. He wanted us to ask her a question.

She lived here in Jerusalem, so we didn't have far to walk.

We went to her small home and showed her the parchment that had been found in the temple. She read it then sat down. "You realize what this is, don't you? This is the Book of the Law."

"Yes," we all answered. "The king has sent us to you. He wants you to ask the Lord what is meant by the words in this book." I shuffled my feet remembering King Josiah's concern. She most likely will give us some bad news.

She left us alone for a time and went outside. We waited, hoping that the Almighty would not  send his anger for the country's disobedience of His law. 

The prophetess Huldah opened the door and walked into the room. She didn't smile. "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says, 'I am going to bring disaster on this place and its people. All the curses written in the book that has been read to King Josiah will come true because the people have turned away from me. 

"'The men and women of Judah have burned incense to other gods and have done evil with their hands. I will punish them. 

"'Tell the king this message: Because your heart listened to my words and was humble when you heard the words, and because you showed how sorry you were by tearing your robe and crying in my presence, I have heard you. You will not see the punishment I will bring on the people of Judah. It will happen after you die.'"

She folded her hands together and shook her head. "I wish I had better news to share. The Lord has spoken."

She walked us to the door. We talked about the message all the way back to the palace. It would be my duty to report to the king. How I wish the news was different.

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1. Where did the king send his messengers?
2. Why did he send them?
3. What did the messengers have with them?
4. What news did they hear?
5. Why did God spare King Josiah?

Josiah-The Lost Scroll Read

By Mary Vee
Ii Kings 22, II Chronicles 34

From the Journals of Shaphan, the secretary

Photo Courtesy

I had never touched anything so important before in my life.

I am but the secretary, yet in my hands rested the missing Book of the Law given by the Almighty God, Himself. 

For years no one knew where it had been placed. For years the people of Jerusalem and Judah had been persuaded to worship Baal, Molech and other false gods. For years--the people, God's people, had walked away from Him.

I'm not exactly sure why the scroll was found at this time. I suppose it might have something to do with King Josiah's willingness to restore the temple and to encourage the people to worship God. 

I surrounded myself with the best guards and paraded the parchment to the palace, where King Josiah was. I tried to plan ahead what to say, but couldn't find the words to prepare. This scroll in my hands had the very words of God written on it.

I walked down the corridor to the king's chamber, trembling with excitement. A guard announced my arrival. King Josiah gave me permission to enter his chamber.

He sat on his throne in the midst of a crowded room, no doubt citizens bringing their issues to his attention. He stopped his work to invited me to speak. His tutors and advisors stood on both sides of his chair, ready to offer their comments. Josiah may have been a young king, but had shown his gift as a leader already.

I bowed. "King Josiah, Your officials are doing everything you told them to do. They have paid out the money that was in the temple of the Lord and have given it to the supervisors and workers." I showed him the scroll. "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book."

I carefully unwrapped the parchment and read the words written on it.

I had barely finished the last word when the king stood and tore his robe. A person tears their clothes when they are very sad about something. "Go," he said. "Go to Hilkiah and the other priests and tell them to talk to the Lord for me, the remnant in Israel, and Judah. Ask Him about the words written in this book that has been found." 

He closed his eyes and cried out. "Great is the Lord's anger that is poured out on us because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord. They have not obeyed all that is written in this book."

I left right away to do what he said. Even as I walked down the corridor, I could hear him cry out. What terrible things have we done? How could he know to ask God for help at such a young age?

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1. What did the high priest, Hilkiah, find?
2. Where did he find it?
3. Why did Shaphan, the secretary feel so honored?
4. Who did Shaphan show the missing item to?
5. After Shaphan read, what did King Josiah do? Why?
6. What did King Josiah tell Hilkiah, the high priest to do?
7. Why did King Josiah cry?

Josiah-Look What I Found

By Mary Vee
Ii Kings 22, II Chronicles 34

From the Journals of High Priest Hilkiah

Photo Courtesy

King Josiah has reigned for eighteen years. For such a young king he has done a good job.

As high priest in the temple, I have many duties. This morning, I started my day working in the temple as usual. I didn't have much to do. The kings before Josiah had turned away from God.

Early in the day, though, the king sent some men here to the temple with a message. One said, "King Josiah wants you to take the money given by the people of Manasseh, Ephraim, and the entire remnant of Israel and Judah, Benjamin, and Jerusalem and give it to the men who are supervising the repairs on the temple. The supervisors are to pay the workers, the carpenters, builders, and masons.

"The king also wants the money used to buy wood and prepared stone to repair the temple. He says the supervisors are to be trusted to pay the men what is right.

I stopped my work, immediately, and thanked God. Yes! At last we can return to worshiping the God who has given us life. I was also excited because the temple had needed repairs for a long time, but like I said, previous kings wouldn't give us permission to fix it.

I went into the chamber where the coins had been hidden behind a locked door. As I gathered the money for the project, I noticed a parchment. I pulled it out of the pile. "What is this?" I set the money down and unrolled the scroll. 

My heart nearly stopped when I saw the words. "This is the Book of the Law of the Lord that was given through Moses! It's been missing for years." I turned and called for the men sent by King Josiah. "Shephan. I have found the Book of the Law. It was right here!"

He followed my voice and stared at the scroll in my hand. "Look!" I handed the precious parchment to Shephan. 

He read it and said, "Do you realize what this is?"

"I know! After all these years. Isn't this exciting!"

Shephan rolled the parchment and held it close to his chest to protect it. "I'm going to take this to the king right away. Won't he be surprised."

I can hardly breathe. First we finally received permission to repair the temple and now the missing scroll has been found. Thank you, God for sending us a King who cares about Your temple. Thank You. Praise Your name.

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1. Who is the high priest in this story?
2. What message did King Josiah send to the high priest?
3. Where did the high priest go?
4. What did he accidentally find?
5. Do you think he really found this by accident?
6. Who did the high priest give the object to?
7. What did this man plan to do?

Jeremiah- God is With Us and Will Rescue Us

By Mary Vee
Jeremiah 1

From the Journals of the prophet Jeremiah

Photo Courtesy

King Josiah was now twenty-one years old. Last year he went throughout Jerusalem, Judah, Simeon, Manasseh, Ephraim, and even as far north as Naphtali destroying the idols and turning the people back to worshiping God.

But so many other kings before him had taught the men and women of Judah to turn from the very God who loved them. Even without the idols, the people didn't obey God.

My name is Jeremiah. My father, Hilkiah is one of the priests and we live in the territory given to the tribe of Benjamin. That means we live to the west and are on border Judah. 

I heard God speak to me one day. I didn't expect it. Even though my father is a priest, I had never heard the Lord speak to me like this before. 

God said to me, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born I set you apart. I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

My father had told me the story about Moses and when God first spoke to him from a burning bush. God gave Moses an important job. Moses said he didn't think he could do the job because he couldn't speak well. Wow. I completely understand. I have the same problem.

So I said to God, "Ah, Sovereign Lord, I do not know how to speak. I am only a child." I didn't mean in years, although I was young. What I meant was I didn't feel I knew enough about God's commands to do the job. The older men knew these things much better.

The Lord said to me, "Don't say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Don't be afraid of them. I am with you and will rescue you."

God always knows what is in our heart and what we are thinking. Although, he told me to not be afraid, I still was on the inside. 

The Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said, "Now I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to tear down, to build and to plant."

God then said, "What do you see, Jeremiah?"

"I see the branch of an almond tree," I answered.

The Lord said, "You have seen correctly. I am watching to see that my word is done."

God then said, "What do you see?"

"I see a boiling pot, tilting away from the north," I answered.

The Lord said, "Disaster will come on the land from the north because of the wicked things my people do. Get ready. Stand up and say what I tell you to say. Don't be afraid of them, or I will put a punishment on you. I will protect you and help you stand against all the people in the land. You will stand against kings, officials, priests, and the people. They will fight against you but will not win.

"I am with you and will rescue you," said the Lord.

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1. How old is king Josiah?
2. What are the people of Judah doing wrong?
3. Who did Jeremiah think of when God first asked him to be a prophet?
4. What did God tell Jeremiah?
5. What will Jeremiah's job be?
6. Who will protect Jeremiah?

Josiah-Smashing Idols

By Mary Vee
II Chronicles 34

From the Journals of the Josiah

Photo Courtesy

I turned sixteen at my birthday party, yesterday. For eight years I have ruled the people of Judah with the help of advisors. No one expected a kid to rule a kingdom.

At sixteen, though, I started to put the pieces together of what had been happening in our city. The prophet Zephaniah taught me about the history of our people. He told me stories of some amazing people like Moses, David, and my great grand father, Hezekiah. These men worshipped God and lived their lives honoring Him.


And think, I am related to all of these men. Wow. I'd like to be like them.

As I grew, Zephaniah taught me the commandments God wanted us to obey. I may have been a kid, but I could still see the people of Judah were not following God's laws, and this bothered me. 

Now that I could understand more of what Zephaniah said, he spent more time with me, teaching me about God's love, what He has done for us, and what we should do to worship God.

When I turned twenty-years-old, I couldn't take the idol worship any more. I understood how very wrong this was. How could the people do that to the very God who made them and loved them? I went throughout Judah and Jerusalem to the high places and ripped down the Asherah poles, destroyed the carved idols and the images made by our people.

Energy flowed through my muscles. I really enjoyed smashing those idols. I took the pieces and threw them over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. I got rid of the priests who worshipped the idols.

I didn't stop there. Something inside me bubbled, an energy to destroy more idols. Everyone needed to know God was the only one to be worshipped. I led the army north into Ephraim, Simeon, Manasseh and as far as Napthali in the far north and the ruins around them. I tore down every altar and Asherah pole I saw. 

My muscles grew stronger each day. When I saw an idol I took and crushed it to powder and cut to pieces all the incense altars throughout Israel. That's right. I even went into Israel to clean up the idol worship. 

I tell you, my insides were warm, like the sun shining in my heart. May the Great God, the Lord Almighty be the only one we worship. Praise God for His mercy and kindness to us.

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1. What happened when Josiah turned sixteen?
2. Who taught Josiah the stories of great men of God?
3. Why did this mean so much to Josiah?
4. When Josiah turned twenty, what did he do?
5. How far did Josiah travel to do this job?
6. Why did Josiah feel good in the end?

Zephaniah-God Cares for His Own

By Mary Vee
Zephaniah

From the Journals of the prophet Zephaniah

Photo Courtesy

My great-great grandfather, King Hezekiah ruled Judah. 

Since Hezekiah died we have had a lot of trouble here in Judah. 

When I was little, my father told me what had happened to our people long ago. He said, "After years of trouble and disobeying God while King Ahaz led us, we celebrated when his son, King Hezekiah took over the throne. 

"Your great-great-grandfather Hezekiah proved his love for God by tearing down the idols, opening the temple doors, and teaching the people to worship God as He had commanded."

He looked at me with a tear in his eye. "Yes, Hezekiah was a great king." He sighed. "Then his son, Manasseh ruled. Manasseh liked all the glory that came with being king. He wanted to please the nations all around us instead of the Almighty God. 

"He brought back all the idols. The people of Judah listened to him, setting aside all the good Hezekiah had taught them." He squeezed his eyes shut. "Terrible. Just terrible. The new children born in the country didn't know about God. They learned to worship these awful idols."

"Then what happened?" I asked him.

"Well, son, God did as He said He would. The people were punished. The Assyrian army came and took many of the rich and smart men, women, and children from Judah and made them slaves. We who are here are all that is left. 

"Manasseh cried out to God and said he was sorry. God heard his prayer and let him come back home. His son, Amon became king and did bad things like his father had done. There were and still are many of us who are afraid of the kings."

My father had taught me the stories of what had happened to our people, even from the days of Moses. I loved learning the wonderful things God did, but was very sad to hear about the bad things our people did.


Now that I'm older, I have the chance to tell others how God took care of us and about the good leaders we had like Moses, Joshua, David, Hezekiah, and others. 

Bad king Amon has since died and his son, eight-year-old Josiah has been crowned king. He is too young to make decisions right now. I have been appointed as an advisor for him. 

Recently, God gave me a message that I wrote down. 

The message is: because of the years of disobedience to God's Word, the people of Judah would be punished. The day of the Lord is coming. 

No matter what I said, many of the people didn't care. They didn't listen to me or God's message. They kept doing the bad things they enjoyed.

The punishment will come. They will see. But after a time, God said,
"The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you.
He will quiet you with his love.
He will rejoice over you with singing."

I especially liked delivering the last phrase. Just think, God will rejoice over us with singing. Isn't that good news?

I am wondering what young Josiah will do as king. Will he be a good king like Hezekiah or a bad king?

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1. Who is Zephaniah?
2. Had the people of Judah obeyed God?
3. Why or why not?
4. Who is the new king?
5. How old is he?
6. Why is Zephaniah helping the king?
7. Did you know God sings?

The Fall and Rise of Kings

By Mary Vee
II Kings 21 and II Chronicles 33

From the Journals of Josiah

Photo Courtesy

My grandfather, King Manasseh died and was given an honorable burial in the gardens of Uzza. 

I'd heard about the terrible things he'd done when he first ruled Judah and his time as a prisoner in Babylon.

Grandfather saw what he'd done wrong and wept before God. He tried to undo the bad and show his change of heart by getting rid of the idols and telling the people of Judah to worship God like He had started to do, but a lot of the damage had been done. Men and women continued to worship in the high places.

When grandfather died, his son Amon became king of Judah. Apparently my father, King Amon, preferred the old days when everyone worshiped idols. During the time he ruled he never changed. He became angry and yelled. He worshiped all the old idols that Grandfather use to have.

My father didn't live very long. I don't know if the people weren't happy with him or if it was because he never seemed to love God or respect Him. He became king at twenty-two years old and only ruled two years.

I'll never forget the day when several of father's officials came into the palace pretending to want to talk with him about an important matter. They ganged up on him and killed him. 

I know my father didn't follow the laws of God and had been a bad king. I think I even understand why the officials ganged up on him. I am only eight years old and very confused.

The guards and citizens from the kingdom surrounded the officials and everyone else involved in my father's murder and killed them.

The priest held a huge ceremony before all the people to crown me king. 

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1. How did Josiah know Manasseh?
2. Who became king after Manasseh?
3. What kind of a king was he? 
4. What happened to Josiah's father?
5. How old was Josiah?

6. Why did the priest have a huge ceremony before all the people?