25. After Josiah had done all these things, the king of Egypt led an army to fight at Carchemish on the River Euphrates. Josiah tried to stop him,
26. but the king of Egypt sent Josiah this message: “The war I am fighting does not concern you, King of Judah.
27. The Lord God did not send me to fight you; my battle is on the Euphrates. The Lord is with me, and he is urging me on; so withdraw your troops and don't oppose the Lord.”
28. But Josiah did not go back to his chariot and withdraw. He refused to listen to what the Lord had said through the prophet Jeremiah and decided to fight.
29. He went into battle on the plain of Megiddo, and the Egyptian commanders attacked him.
30. King Josiah ordered his servants, “Take me off the battlefield; I'm badly wounded.” So they took him out of the line of battle immediately,
31. and he got into a second chariot and was taken back to Jerusalem. There he died and was buried in the royal tomb.
32. All the people of Judah mourned for him.The prophet Jeremiah composed a lament for King Josiah. It has become a custom in Israel for the leaders and their wives to sing this song when they mourn for him.
33. These things are recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah. Everything that Josiah did, how he gained his fame and his understanding of the Law, what he did earlier and what is told here, is all recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel and Judah.
34. The people of Judah chose Josiah's son Joahaz and made him king. Joahaz was 23 years old,
35. and he ruled over Judah and Jerusalem for three months. Then the king of Egypt deposed him
36. and made the nation pay 3.4 tonnes of silver and 34 kilogrammes of gold as tribute.
37. The king of Egypt appointed Joahaz's brother Jehoiakim king of Judah and Jerusalem.
38. Jehoiakim put the leading men of the nation in prison, then had his brother Zarius arrested and brought back from Egypt.
39. Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king of Judah and Jerusalem. He sinned against the Lord.
40. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia invaded Judah, captured Jehoiakim, and took him to Babylonia in bronze chains.
41. Nebuchadnezzar also carried off some of the sacred utensils from the Temple and put them in his own temple in Babylon.
42. The stories about Jehoiakim, his depravity, and the godless way he lived are recorded in The Chronicles of the Kings.
43. Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he succeeded his father Jehoiakim as king,
44. and he ruled in Jerusalem for three months and ten days. He too sinned against the Lord.
45. A year later King Nebuchadnezzar had Jehoiachin taken to Babylonia as a prisoner; Nebuchadnezzar also carried off sacred utensils from the Temple.