26. Even so, the Lord did not stop his strong and terrible anger. His anger burned against Judah. It was because of all that Manasseh had done to make him angry.
27. The Lord said, “I have taken Israel away. I will do the same to Judah. I will take them out of my sight. I will reject Jerusalem which I chose. I will take away the Temple about which I said, ‘I will be honored there.’”
28. Everything else Josiah did is written down. It is in the book of the history of the kings of Judah.
29. While Josiah was king, Neco king of Egypt went to help the king of Assyria. Neco was at the Euphrates River. King Josiah marched out to fight against Neco. But at Megiddo, Neco faced Josiah and killed him.
30. Josiah’s servants carried his body in a chariot from Megiddo. They brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own grave. Then the people of Judah chose Josiah’s son Jehoahaz. They poured olive oil on him to appoint him king in his father’s place.
31. Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king. And he was king in Jerusalem for three months. His mother’s name was Hamutal. She was the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah.
32. Jehoahaz did what the Lord said was wrong. He did just as his ancestors had done.
33. King Neco took Jehoahaz prisoner at Riblah in the land of Hamath. He did this so Jehoahaz could not rule in Jerusalem. Neco made the people of Judah pay about 7,500 pounds of silver and about 75 pounds of gold.
34. King Neco made Josiah’s son Eliakim the king in place of Josiah his father. Then Neco changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Jehoahaz to Egypt, and he died there.
35. Jehoiakim gave King Neco the silver and gold he demanded. But Jehoiakim taxed the land so he could pay the king. He took silver and gold from the people of the land. The amount he took from each person depended on how much he had.