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Josiah and Other Worthies

49The name^* of Josiah is like blended incense
   prepared by the skill of the perfumer;
his memory^* is as sweet as honey to every mouth,
   and like music at a banquet of wine.
² He did what was right by reforming the people,
   and removing the wicked abominations.
³ He kept his heart fixed on the Lord;
   in lawless times he made godliness prevail.

⁴ Except for David and Hezekiah and Josiah,
   all of them were great sinners,
for they abandoned the law of the Most High;
   the kings of Judah came to an end.
⁵ They^* gave their power to others,
   and their glory to a foreign nation,
⁶ who set fire to the chosen city of the sanctuary,
   and made its streets desolate,
   as Jeremiah had foretold.^*
7 For they had maltreated him,
   who even in the womb had been consecrated a prophet,
to pluck up and ruin and destroy,
   and likewise to build and to plant.

⁸ It was Ezekiel who saw the vision of glory,
   which God^* showed him above the chariot of the cherubim.
⁹ For God^* also mentioned Job
   who held fast to all the ways of justice.^*
10 May the bones of the Twelve Prophets
   send forth new life from where they lie,
for they comforted the people of Jacob
   and delivered them with confident hope.

¹¹ How shall we magnify Zerubbabel?
   He was like a signet ring on the right hand,
¹²   and so was Jeshua son of Jozadak;
in their days they built the house
   and raised a temple^* holy to the Lord,
   destined for everlasting glory.
¹³ The memory of Nehemiah also is lasting;
   he raised our fallen walls,
and set up gates and bars,
   and rebuilt our ruined houses.

Retrospect

¹⁴ Few have^* ever been created on earth like Enoch,
   for he was taken up from the earth.
¹⁵ Nor was anyone ever born like Joseph;^*
   even his bones were cared for.
¹⁶ Shem and Seth and Enosh were honoured,^*
   but above every other created living being was Adam.