1 The remembrance of Josiah is like the composition of incense Prepared by the work of the perfumer. In every mouth it is sweet like honey And like the music at a banquet with wine.
2 He led in the conversion of the people, And he removed the abominations of lawlessness.
3 He directed his heart to the Lord, And in days of lawlessness he strengthened godliness.
4 Except for David, Hezekiah, and Josiah, All offended continually, For they forsook the law of the Most High. The kings of Judah failed,
5 For they gave their power to others And their glory to a foreign nation.
6 They set fire to the chosen city of the sanctuary And desolated her streets
7 According to the word of Jeremiah; For they did him evil, He who was sanctified as a prophet while still inside his mother, To root out, to afflict, and to destroy, And likewise to build and to plant.
8 Ezekiel himself saw a vision of glory, Which the Lord showed him on a chariot of cherubim.
9 For He remembered his enemies with a thunderstorm And did good to those who directed their ways aright.
10 May He indeed revive the bones Of the twelve prophets from their place. For they encouraged the people of Jacob And redeemed them with steadfast hope.
11 How shall we magnify Zerubbabel? He was surely like a seal upon the right hand,
12 And so was Jeshua the son of Jozadak, Who in their days built the house And raised up a holy temple to the Lord, One prepared unto eternal glory.
13 There is the lasting memory of Nehemiah, Who raised for us the walls that had fallen; And he established gates and locks And raised again our home sites.
14 No one like Enoch was created upon the earth, For he himself was taken up from the earth.
15 Neither has a man like Joseph been born, The leader of his brothers and the support of his people; And they watched over his bones.
16 Shem and Seth were honored among men, And Adam over every living thing in creation.