to take him away from among the wicked." All the books bear
evidence of having been written long after the date to which
they are ascribed.


FIRST ESDRAS


And Josias held the feast of the Passover in Jerusalem unto his Lord,
the 14th day of the first month of the 18th year of his reign, and
ordered the Levites, the holy ministers of Israel, to hallow themselves
unto the Lord, and set the Holy Ark of the Lord in the house that King
Solomon had built. And there were offered in sacrifices to the Lord on
the altar 37,600 lambs and kids, and 4,300 calves. And they roasted the
Passover with fire: as for the sacrifices, they sod them in brass pots
and pans with a good savour, and set them before all the people. And
such a Passover was not kept in Israel since the time of the Prophet
Samuel. And the works of Josias were upright before his Lord with an
heart full of godliness.

Now, after all these acts of Josias, it came to pass that Pharaoh, the
King of Egypt, came to raise war at Carchamis upon Euphrates; and
Josias, not regarding the words of the Prophet Jeremy, spoken by the
mouth of the Lord, went out against him and joined battle with him in
the plain of Magiddo. Then said the king unto his servants: Carry me
away out of the battle; for I am very weak. And being brought back to
Jerusalem he died and was buried in his father's sepulchre. And in all
Jewry the chief men, with the women, yea Jeremy the prophet, made
lamentation for him unto this day.