They also lived in all the settlements that surrounded these towns as far as Baal. ¹  These were their settlements; they kept genealogical records.

All of them were listed in the genealogical records in the time of King Jotham of Judah and in the time of King Jeroboam of Israel.

According to the genealogical records of their families, they had 36,000 warriors available for battle, for they had numerous wives and sons. ¹ 

Altogether the genealogical records of the clans of Issachar listed 87,000 warriors. ¹ 

Recorded there are all the facts about his reign and accomplishments, and an account of the events that involved him, Israel, and all the neighboring kingdoms. ¹ 

The rest of the events of Josiah’s reign, including the faithful acts he did in obedience to what is written in the law of the Lord ¹ 

A scroll was found in the citadel ¹  of Ecbatana which is in the province of Media, and it was inscribed as follows: “Memorandum:

They searched for their records in the genealogical materials, but none were found. They were therefore excluded ¹  from the priesthood.

Do not let truth and mercy ¹  leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. ² 

Is there anything about which someone can say, “Look at this! It is new!”? ¹  It was already ²  done long ago, ³  before our time. ⁴ 

Look, I have decreed: ¹  I will not keep silent, but will pay them back; I will pay them back exactly what they deserve, ² 

¹ The sin of Judah is engraved with an iron chisel on their stone-hard ²  hearts. It is inscribed with a diamond ³  point on the horns of their altars. ⁴ 

He unrolled it before me, and it had writing on the front ¹  and back; ²  written on it were laments, mourning, and woe.

But this has happened so that ¹  the scriptures of the prophets would be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled.

But he did not execute the sons of the assassins. He obeyed the Lord’s commandment as recorded in the law scroll of Moses, ¹  “Fathers must not be put to death for what their sons do, ²  and sons must not be put to death for what their fathers do. ³  A man must be put to death only for his own sin.” ⁴ 

Josiah also got rid of ¹  the ritual pits used to conjure up spirits, ²  the magicians, personal idols, disgusting images, ³  and all the detestable idols that had appeared in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. In this way he carried out the terms of the law ⁴  recorded on the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the Lord’s temple.

The men whose names are listed came during the time of King Hezekiah of Judah and attacked the Hamites’ settlements, ¹  as well as the Meunites they discovered there, and they wiped them out to this very day. They dispossessed them, ²  for they found pasture for their sheep there.

However, he did not execute their sons. He obeyed the Lord’s commandment as recorded in the law scroll of Moses, ¹  “Fathers must not be executed for what their sons do, ²  and sons must not be executed for what their fathers do. ³  A man must be executed only for his own sin.” ⁴ 

The Annals of the Prophets include his prayer, give an account of how the Lord responded to it, record all his sins and unfaithful acts, and identify the sites where he built high places and erected Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself. ¹ 

The king stood by his pillar ¹  and renewed ²  the covenant before the Lord, agreeing to follow ³  the Lord and to obey his commandments, laws, and rules with all his heart and being, ⁴  by carrying out the terms ⁵  of this covenant recorded on this scroll.