Josiah and Judah’s Kings

1 The memory of Josiah is like the blend of incense prepared by the work of the perfumer. It will be sweet like honey in every mouth, and like music at a banquet of wine. 2 He did what was right in reforming the people, and took away the detestable acts of wrongdoing. 3 He set his heart right toward the Lord. In lawless days, he made godliness prevail. 4 Except David, Hezekiah, and Josiah, all were wicked, because 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 They set the chosen city of the sanctuary on fire and made her streets desolate, as Jeremiah had written.

Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve Prophets

7 For they mistreated him, yet he was made holy in the womb to be a prophet, to uproot, to bring suffering, to destroy and likewise to build and to plant. 8 Ezekiel saw the vision of glory, which God showed him on the chariot of the cherubim.⁠a 9 For truly he remembered the enemies in a rainstorm, and remembered to do good to those who directed their ways rightly. 10 Also of the twelve prophets, may their bones flourish again from their place.⁠b He comforted the people of Jacob, and delivered them by confident hope.

The Leaders of the Restoration

11 How can we proclaim Zerubbabel’s greatness? He was like a signet ring on the right hand.⁠c 12 So was Joshua the son of Jehozadak, who in their days built the house, and exalted a people holy to the Lord, prepared for everlasting glory. 13 Nehemiah’s memory is also great. He raised up for us fallen walls, set up the gates and bars, and rebuilt our houses.⁠d

The Earliest Ancestors

14 No man was created on the earth like Enoch, for he was taken up from the earth. 15 Nor was there a man born like Joseph, a leader of his relatives, a supporter of the people. Even his bones were cared for.⁠e 16 Shem and Seth were honored among men, but Adam was above every living thing in creation.