One reason is because university work intensifies itself around now, namely assessment essays and examinations - aka 'actual work,' the great scourge of the student.
The other reason is because everyone deals with everything so well on their own blogs, I find there's nothing more to add to the subject. As for starting new subjects, most of them have already been addressed really well...hence the "far out" blogs I've written, I suppose.
Anyway, just to keep you up to date with my own life:
G. (my girlfriend) and I spent the day in a local park here, what with the nice weather we were getting, up until recently. We've made summer plans to go camping somewhere, seeing as both of us have really wanted to go camping for ages...and now we each have someone who is willing to go with us. So yay for that. Other plans are also being made for the summer, which I really can't wait for. Summer means no work and no work means I'll be able to see G more, and for longer.
Anyway. Because I've spent the last few posts speaking about how religion might be true, I have decided to spell out how it may not be true - specifically, Judaism.
How Judaism might be false - in three simple steps!
Moses may not have existed.
This follows from Jewish Atheist's blog, where he discusses who it was who wrote the bible, and I use his sources to support this view.
He opines that Ezrah Hasofer could have been the redactor of the bible, as much of it doesn't make sense before his time. If this is true, then someone after Moses' time would have written the following:
So Moses the servant of HaShem died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of HaShem. And he was buried in the valley in the land of Moab over against Beth-peor; and no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. (Deuteronomy 6:34)
The death of Moses in the fifth book he was alleged to have written obviously makes no sense: how can you write about your own death? Further, this verse could indicate that people didn't know where his tomb was, because he never existed in the first place, so quite understandably never had a tomb. If he was fictitious, this line would explain away his non-existence nicely: he was buried somewhere, but you can't go and look because no one knows where it is. Rather convenient, I think.
And there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom HaShem knew face to face. (Deuteronomy 34:10)Wouldn't this explain away the existence of God and lack of miracles? This verse confirms God exists and that he knew Moses, but with the caveat that there is none worthy enough to approach God on the same level as Moses. This is why we simply cannot ask God questions and receive back answers as Moses allegedly did...especially why we cannot ask God where Moses is buried, or who he was.
Similarly, the ordanances and laws Moses was supposed to have introduced to the Children of Israel "for all eternity" such as the Succoth festival (holiday of booths) had no record of being practised "since the days of Joshua" until Ezra's day:
Indeed, much of the book of Deuteronomy may have been written after Moses' time. The following is the discovery of what may have been Deuteronomy, which contains many laws inside it:
Nechemia 8:17 And all the congregation of them that were come back out of the captivity made booths, and dwelt in the booths; for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness.
The rest of the chapter describes how the king commands all of Israel to be brought before him and the following chapter describes the religious awakening and "renewing of the covenant" between the Children of Israel and God, where this "book of the law" is read out by the king to the people, and they all swear to be bound by it. This certainly indicates that the book was new - there was not even one person, perhaps an elderly person, who recalled having heard of this book from their youth, or being told about the laws of the book by their grandparents or parents...8 And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
9 And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the house of the LORD.
10 And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. 11 And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.
The bible continues to describe how the common practises of the nation were reformed after this book was sworn in - no more prostitutes in the temple, no more asheira trees, no more idols - basically everything the book of Deuteronomy prohibits was suddenly adhered to, despite there being no previous record of the book ever having been adheared to.
Of course, Moses may have existed, but I merely offer points to the contrary. Feel free to argue intelligently.
The Torah isn't from heaven.
That would certainly explain a lot about all these contradictions about the authorship viewed above. What makes people think it is? That the book itself says so? Viewed together with the above possible evidence, it seems abundantly clear the Torah isn't from heaven.
There is no God.
If it isn't from heaven, this isn't his work and there is likely no God.
Bonus: The Messiah isn't coming.
It's beenover 2,000 years and there's still no messiah. Whilst many Jews would say "you must believe he can come at any moment!" - don't Christians believe Jesus' return is imminent and wouldn't Jews think that misguided, pointing out the long delay in Jesus' death until today?
It's the height of irony that two religions have been waiting for different Messiahs for around the same length of time, justifying their own lengthy wait whilst simultaneously rejecting the justifications of the other religion in exactly the same fashion as the other does to their religion.
That's all for now, folks!
1 comment:
Passover and Sukkos were celebrated centuries before Ezra and Nechemia. It is not saying the holiday of Sukkos was never observed. As with Passover something about it was unique in how it was celebrated at a particular time and so with Passover a few times over we have a statemnt saying it hadn't been celebrated like that for a long time before. Also it doesn't say the Torah was not heard of. Because what was said that they said that they have found the book of the Torah, not a book called the Torah. For the most part the Torah doesn't make sense being in any period but its own claimed period and further it doesn't belong in the Persian period. Persia is unknown to the Torah. It is not in the list of nations. It is only revisionisism which makes us deprived of the ability to say what our own history is unlike the other nations. It is the way of the world that most of what we expect to be recorded of the history of a nation is from itself.
Sukkos
Kings I Chapter 8
1. Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the people of Israel, before king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the city of David, which is Zion.
2. And all the men of Israel assembled themselves to king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.
3. And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.
4. And they brought up the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy utensils that were in the tabernacle, those did the priests and the Levites bring up.
5. And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, who were assembled before him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude.
6. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord to his place, to the sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place, under the wings of the kerubim.
7. For the kerubim spread out their two wings over the place of the ark, and the kerubim covered the ark and its poles above.
8. And they drew out the poles, so that the ends of the poles were seen out in the holy place before the sanctuary, and they were not seen outside; and there they are to this day.
9. There was nothing in the ark save the two tablets of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.
10. And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord,
11. And that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.
12. Then spoke Solomon, The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
13. I have surely built you a house to dwell in, a settled place for you to abide in forever.
14. And the king turned his face around, and blessed all the congregation of Israel; and all the congregation of Israel stood;
15. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David my father, and has with his hand fulfilled it, saying,
16. Since the day when I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city from all the tribes of Israel to build a house, that my name might be in there; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.
17. And it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.
18. And the Lord said to David my father, Because it was in your heart to build a house to my name, you did well that it was in your heart.
19. Nevertheless you shall not build the house; but your son who shall come forth from your loins, he shall build the house to my name.
20. And the Lord has performed his word that he spoke, and I have risen in place of David my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and I have built a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.
21. And I have set there a place for the ark, where the covenant of the Lord is, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.
22. And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven;
23. And he said, Lord God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keeps covenant and mercy with your servants who walk before you with all their heart;
24. Who have kept with your servant David my father what you promised him; you spoke also with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is this day.
25. Therefore now, Lord God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father what you promised him, saying, There shall not fail you a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that your children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as you have walked before me.
26. And now, O God of Israel, let your word, I pray you, be confirmed, which you spoke to your servant David my father.
27. But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built?
28. Yet have regard for the prayer of your servant, and for his supplication, O Lord my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer, which your servant prays before you today;
29. That your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which you have said, My name shall be there; that you may listen to the prayer which your servant shall make toward this place.
30. And listen to the supplication of your servant, and of your people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place; and hear you in heaven your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive.
31. If any man trespasses against his neighbor, and an oath is laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath comes before your altar in this house;
32. Then hear you in heaven, and do, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.
33. When your people Israel are stuck down before the enemy, because they have sinned against you, and shall turn again to you, and confess your name, and pray, and make supplication to you in this house;
34. Then hear you in heaven, and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them again to the land which you gave to their fathers.
35. When heaven is closed, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against you; if they pray toward this place, and acknowledge your name, and turn from their sin, when you afflict them;
36. Then hear you in heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, and teach them the good way where they should walk, and give rain upon your land, which you have given to your people for an inheritance.
37. If there is in the land famine, if there is pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there is caterpillar; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatever plague, whatever sickness there might be;
38. Whatever prayer and supplication is made by any man, or by all your people Israel, who shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread out his hands toward this house;
39. Then hear you in heaven your dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart you know; for you, you only, know the hearts of all the children of men;
40. That they may fear you all the days that they live in the land which you gave to our fathers.
41. And also concerning a stranger, who is not of your people Israel, but comes from a far country for your name’s sake;
42. For they shall hear of your great name, and of your strong hand, and of your stretched out arm; when he shall come and pray toward this house;
43. Hear you in heaven your dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calls to you for; that all people of the earth may know your name, to fear you, as do your people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have built, is called by your name.
44. If your people go out to battle against their enemy, wherever you shall send them, and shall pray to the Lord toward the city which you have chosen, and toward the house that I have built for your name;
45. Then hear you in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
46. If they sin against you, for there is no man who does not sin, and you are angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive to the land of the enemy, far or near;
47. Yet if they take thought in the land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to you in the land of them that carried them captive, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;
48. And so return to you with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, who led them away captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name;
49. Then hear you their prayer and their supplication in heaven your dwelling place, and maintain their cause,
50. And forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions where they have transgressed against you, and give them compassion before those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them;
51. For they are your people, and your inheritance, whom you brought forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron;
52. That your eyes may be open to the supplication of your servant, and to the supplication of your people Israel, to listen to them in all that they call for to you.
53. For you did set them apart from among all the people of the earth, to be your inheritance, as you spoke by the hand of Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.
54. And it was so, that when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven.
55. And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying,
56. Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised; there has not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.
57. The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers; let him not leave us, nor forsake us;
58. That he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers.
59. And let these my words, with which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as each day may require;
60. That all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there is no one else.
61. Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.
62. And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the Lord.
63. And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to the Lord, twenty two thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. And the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord.
64. The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord for there he offered burnt offerings, and meal offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings; because the bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to receive the burnt offerings, and meal offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.
65. And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entrance to Hamath to the brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days and seven days, fourteen days.
66. On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people.
Chronicles II Chapter 5
1. Thus all the work that Solomon made for the house of the Lord was finished; and Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had consecrated; and the silver, and the gold, and all the instruments, put he among the treasures of the house of God.
2. Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the heads of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel, to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the city of David, which is Zion.
3. And all the people of Israel assembled themselves before the king at the feast which is in the seventh month.
4. And all the elders of Israel came; and the Levites took up the ark.
5. And they brought up the ark, and the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy utensils that were in the tabernacle, these did the priests and the Levites bring up.
6. Also king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled to him before the ark, sacrificed sheep and oxen, which could not be told nor numbered for multitude.
7. And the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to his place, to the inner sanctuary of the house, into the most holy place, under the wings of the kerubim;
8. For the kerubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, and the kerubim covered the ark and its poles above.
9. And they drew out the poles of the ark, so that the ends of the poles were seen from the ark before the inner sanctuary; but they were not seen outside. And there it is till this day.
10. There was nothing in the ark save the two tablets which Moses put in at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came from Egypt.
11. And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place; for all the priests who were present were sanctified, and did not then keep to their duty watches;
12. Also the Levites who were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brothers, clothed in white linen, having cymbals and lyres and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them a hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets;
13. It came to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, sounding a note in unison, in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord, lifting their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, praising the Lord, saying, For he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever, that then the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud;
14. And the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.
Chronicles II Chapter 6
1. Then said Solomon, The Lord has said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
2. And I have built a house of habitation for you, and a place for your dwelling forever.
3. And the king turned his face, and blessed the whole congregation of Israel; and all the congregation of Israel stood.
4. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who has with his hands fulfilled that which he spoke with his mouth to my father David, saying,
5. Since the day that I brought forth my people from the land of Egypt I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build a house in, that my name might be there; nor did I choose any man to be a ruler over my people Israel;
6. And I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel.
7. And it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.
8. And the Lord said to David my father, Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well in that it was in your heart;
9. Nevertheless you shall not build the house; but your son who shall come forth from your loins, he shall build the house for my name.
10. The Lord therefore has performed his word that he has spoken; for I am risen up in the place of David my father, and am set on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and have built the house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.
11. And in it have I put the ark, where inside is the covenant of the Lord, that he made with the people of Israel.
12. And he stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and stretched out his hands;
13. For Solomon had made a bronze scaffold, of five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court; and upon it he stood, and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and stretched out his hands toward heaven,
14. And said, O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or in earth; who keeps the covenant, and shows loving kindness to your servants, who walk before you with all their hearts;
15. You who have kept with your servant David my father that which you had promised him; and have spoken with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is this day.
16. Now therefore, O Lord God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father that which you have promised him, saying, There shall not fail you a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel, if only your children would take heed to their way, to walk in my Torah, as you have walked before me.
17. Now then, O Lord God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David.
18. Will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain you; how much less this house which I have built!
19. Have regard therefore to the prayer of your servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to listen to the cry and the prayer which your servant prays before you;
20. That your eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place about which you have said that you would put your name there; to listen to the prayer which your servant prays toward this place.
21. Listen to the supplications of your servant, and of your people Israel, which they shall make toward this place; hear from your dwelling place, from heaven; and when you hear, forgive.
22. If a man sins against his neighbor, and an oath is laid upon him to make him swear, and the oath comes before your altar in this house;
23. Then hear you from heaven, and do, and judge your servants, by requiting the wicked, by rewarding his way upon his own head; and by justifying the righteous, by giving him according to his righteousness.
24. And if your people Israel are defeated by the enemy, because they have sinned against you; and shall return and confess your name, and pray and make supplication before you in this house;
25. Then hear you from the heavens, and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which you gave to them and to their fathers.
26. When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against you; yet if they would pray toward this place, and confess your name, and turn from their sin, when you afflict them;
27. Then hear you in heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you have taught them the good way, in which they should walk; and send rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.
28. If there should be famine in the land, if there should be pestilence, if there should be blight, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillars; if if their enemies should besiege them in the cities of their land; whatever plague, whatever sickness should be;
29. Then whatever prayer, whatever supplication, shall be made by any man, or by all your people Israel, when every one shall know his own affliction and his own grief, and shall stretch out his hands in this house;
30. Then hear from heaven your dwelling place, and forgive, and render to every man according to all his ways, whose heart you know; for only you know the hearts of the sons of men;
31. That they may fear you, to walk in your ways, that they should live in the land which you gave to our fathers.
32. And also, concerning the foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, but has come from a far country for your great name’s sake, and your mighty hand, and your stretched out arm; if they come and pray in this house;
33. Then hear you from the heavens, from your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you for; that all the peoples of the earth may know your name, and fear you, as does your people Israel, and may know that this house which I have built is called by your name.
34. If your people go out to war against their enemies by the way that you shall send them, and they pray to you toward this city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name;
35. Then hear you from the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
36. If they sin against you, for there is no man who does not sin, and you are angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away captives to a land far or near;
37. Yet if they take thought in the land where they are carried captive, and turn and pray to you in the land of their captivity; saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly;
38. If they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have carried them captives, and pray toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, and toward the city which you have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for your name;
39. Then hear you from the heavens, from your dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive your people who have sinned against you.
40. Now, my God, let, I beseech you, your eyes be open, and let your ears be attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.
41. Now therefore arise, O Lord God, into your resting place, you, and the ark of your strength; let your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let your pious ones rejoice in goodness.
42. O Lord God, turn not away the face of your anointed; remember the mercies of David your servant.
Chronicles II Chapter 7
1. Now when Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the house.
2. And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house.
3. And when all the people of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his loving kindness endures forever.
4. Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord.
5. And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty two thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep; and the king and all the people consecrated the house of God.
6. And the priests stood at their posts; the Levites also with instruments of music of the Lord, which David the king had made to praise the Lord, because his loving kindness endures forever, with the praises of David in their hands; and the priests sounded trumpets before them, and all Israel stood.
7. And Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord; for there he offered burnt offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar which Solomon had made could not hold the burnt offerings, and the meal offerings, and the fat.
8. Also at the same time Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entrance to Hamath as far as the river of Egypt.
9. And in the eighth day they made a solemn assembly; for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days.
10. And on the twenty third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their tents, glad and merry in heart for the goodness that the Lord had shown to David, and to Solomon, and to Israel his people...
Passover
Joshua Chapter 5
1. And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, who were on the west side of the Jordan, and all the kings of the Canaanites, who were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel, until they had passed over, so that their heart melted, nor was there any spirit left in them any more, because of the people of Israel.
2. At that time the Lord said to Joshua, Make sharp knives, and circumcise again the people of Israel a second time.
3. And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the people of Israel at the hill of Aralot.
4. And this is the cause why Joshua circumcised: All the people who came out of Egypt, who were males, all the men of war, died in the wilderness on the road, after they came out of Egypt.
5. Now all the people who came out were circumcised; but all the people who were born in the wilderness on the road as they came forth out of Egypt, those were not circumcised.
6. For the people of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people who were men of war, who came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord; to whom the Lord swore that he would not show them the land, which the Lord swore to their fathers that he would give us, a land that flows with milk and honey.
7. And their children, whom he raised up in their place, them Joshua circumcised; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them on the road.
8. And it came to pass, when they had finished circumcising all the people, that they stayed in their places in the camp, till they had recovered.
9. And the Lord said to Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Therefore the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day.
10. And the people of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening in the plains of Jericho.
11. And they ate of the old grain of the land on the next day after the Passover, unleavened cakes, and parched grain in the same day.
12. And the manna ceased on the next day after they had eaten of the old grain of the land; nor had the people of Israel manna any more; but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year...
Kings II Chapter 20
...20. And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a pool, and an aqueduct, and brought water to the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
21. And Hezekiah slept with his fathers; and Manasseh his son reigned in his place.
Kings II Chapter 22
1. Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty one years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath.
2. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the ways of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.
3. And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of the Lord, saying,
4. Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the silver which is brought to the house of the Lord, which the gatekeepers have gathered from the people;
5. And let them deliver it to the hand of the workmen, who supervise the house of the Lord; and let them give it to workers who are in the house of the Lord, to repair the breaches of the house,
6. To carpenters, and to builders, and to masons, and to buy timber and quarried stone to repair the house.
7. But there was no account made with them of the money that was delivered to their hand, because they dealt in good faith.
8. And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the Torah in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
9. And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Your servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it to the hand of the workmen, who supervise the house of the Lord.
10. And Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest has delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.
11. And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the Torah, that he tore his clothes.
12. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king’s, saying,
13. Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that was found; for great is the anger of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that which is written concerning us.
14. And Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; she lived in Jerusalem in the second quarter; and they talked with her.
15. And she said to them, Thus said the Lord God of Israel, Tell the man who sent you to me,
16. Thus said the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read;
17. Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my anger shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.
18. But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus said the Lord God of Israel, Concerning the words which you have heard;
19. Because your heart was tender, and you have humbled yourself before the Lord, when you heard what I spoke against this place, and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and have torn your clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard you, said the Lord.
20. Behold therefore, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought back word to the king.
Kings II Chapter 23
1. And the king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.
2. And the king went up to the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which had been found in the house of the Lord.
3. And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.
4. And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the gatekeepers, to bring out from the temple of the Lord all the utensils that were made for Baal, and for the Ashera, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Beth-El.
5. And he deposed the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places around Jerusalem; also those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven.
6. And he brought out the Ashera from the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to dust, and cast its dust upon the graves of the common people.
7. And he broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes, that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove covering for the Ashera.
8. And he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and broke down the high places of the gates that were in the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man’s left hand at the gate of the city.
9. Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate of the unleavened bread among their brothers.
10. And he defiled the Tophet, which is in the valley of Ben Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.
11. And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-Melech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire.
12. And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, did the king beat down, and broke them down from there, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.
13. And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Kemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites, did the king defile.
14. And he broke in pieces the images, and cut down the Asherim, and filled their places with the bones of men.
15. Moreover the altar that was at Beth-El, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he broke down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the Ashera.
16. And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchers that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones from the sepulchers, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.
17. Then he said, What monument is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulcher of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that you have done against the altar of Beth-El.
18. And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. And they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria.
19. And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Beth-El.
20. And he killed all the priests of the high places who were there upon the altars, and burned men’s bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.
21. And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant.
22. Surely there was not celebrated such a Passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;
23. But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, when this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem...
Chronicles II Chapter 30
1. And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the Passover to the Lord God of Israel.
2. For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the Passover in the second month.
3. For they could not keep it in its time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently, nor had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem.
4. And the thing pleased the king and all the congregation.
5. And they established a decree to proclaim throughout all Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, that they should come to keep the Passover to the Lord God of Israel at Jerusalem; for they had not done it for a long time as it was prescribed.
6. And the couriers went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, People of Israel, turn back to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you, who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria.
7. And do not be like your fathers, and like your brothers, who trespassed against the Lord God of their fathers, who therefore made them a desolation, as you see.
8. Do not be stiff-necked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the Lord, and enter into his sanctuary, which he has sanctified forever; and serve the Lord your God, so that his fierce wrath may turn away from you.
9. For if you return to the Lord, your brothers and your children shall find compassion with those who led them away captive, so that they shall return to this land; for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him.
10. And the couriers passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun; but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them.
11. Only a few men of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem.
12. The hand of God was also upon Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded by the word of the Lord.
13. And many people assembled at Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month, a very great congregation.
14. And they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for incense they took away, and threw them into the brook Kidron.
15. And they slaughtered the paschal lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month; and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought the burnt offerings into the house of the Lord.
16. And they stood in their place according to the form prescribed for them, according to the Torah of Moses the man of God; the priests sprinkled the blood, which they received from the hand of the Levites.
17. For there were many in the congregation who were not sanctified; therefore the Levites slaughtered the paschal lamb for every one who was not clean, to sanctify them to the Lord.
18. For a multitude of the people, many of them from Ephraim, and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, so that they ate the paschal lamb otherwise than what it was prescribed. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The good Lord pardon every one
19. Who prepares his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, even though he is not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.
20. And the Lord listened to Hezekiah, and healed the people.
21. And the people of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great gladness; and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day, singing with loud instruments to the Lord.
22. And Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good skill in the service of the Lord; and they ate the food of the feast for seven days, offering peace offerings, and making confession to the Lord God of their fathers.
23. And the whole assembly took counsel to keep another seven days; and they kept another seven days with gladness.
24. For Hezekiah king of Judah gave to the congregation a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep; and the princes gave to the congregation a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep; and a great number of priests sanctified themselves.
25. And all the congregation of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the congregation that came from Israel, and the foreigners who came from the land of Israel, and who lived in Judah, rejoiced.
26. And there was great joy in Jerusalem; for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem.
27. Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people; and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, to heaven.
Chronicles II Chapter 35
1. And Josiah kept a Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem; and they killed the paschal lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month.
2. And he set the priests in their watches, and encouraged them to the service of the house of the Lord,
3. And he said to the Levites who taught all Israel, who were holy to the Lord, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built; it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders; serve now the Lord your God, and his people Israel,
4. And prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers, according to your divisions, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son.
5. And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the families of the fathers of your brothers the people, and according to the division of the families of the Levites.
6. And kill the paschal lamb, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare your brothers, that they may do according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
7. And Josiah gave to the people lambs and kids from the flock, all for the Passover offerings, for all who were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bulls; these were from the king’s possessions.
8. And his princes gave willingly to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites; Hilkiah and Zechariah and Yejiel, rulers of the house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings two thousand and six hundred small cattle, and three hundred oxen.
9. Cananiah also, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel, his brothers, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave to the Levites for Passover offerings five thousand small cattle, and five hundred oxen.
10. And the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their divisions, according to the king’s commandment.
11. And they killed the paschal lamb, and the priests sprinkled the blood from their hands, and the Levites flayed them.
12. And they set aside the burnt offerings, that they might distribute them according to the divisions of the families of the people, to offer to the Lord as it is written in the Book of Moses. And so they did with the oxen.
13. And they roasted the paschal lamb with fire according to the ordinance; but the other holy offerings they boiled in pots, and in cauldrons, and in pans, and carried them speedily to all the people.
14. And afterward they made ready for themselves, and for the priests; because the priests the sons of Aaron were busy offering the burnt offerings and the fat until night; therefore the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests the sons of Aaron.
15. And the singers the sons of Asaph were in their place, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer; and the gatekeepers were posted at every gate; they did not need to depart from their service, for their brothers the Levites prepared for them.
16. And all the service of the Lord was prepared the same day, to keep the Passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of the Lord, according to the commandment of king Josiah.
17. And the people of Israel who were present kept the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days.
18. And there was no Passover like that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; nor did any of the kings of Israel keep such a Passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
19. In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this Passover kept...
25. And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah; and all the singing men and the singing women speak of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel; and, behold, they are written in the lamentations.
26. And the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his goodness, according to that which was written in the Torah of the Lord,
27. And his deeds, from first to last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.
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