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49:1  The memory of Josiah is like a blend of incense, prepared with skill by a perfumer. It will be sweet in the mouth, like honey, like music at a wine-drinking party.
49:2  He succeeded in turning around the people, and he removed unlawful displays of idolatry.
49:3  He directed his heart toward the Lord; at a time of lawlessness, he made devotion to God stronger.
49:4  Except for David, Hezekiah, and Josiah, all of them struck a bad chord, because they abandoned the Law of the Most High. The kings of Judah came to an end.
49:5  They gave their power to others and their glory to a foreign nation,
49:6  which set fire to Jerusalem, the chosen city, and its sanctuary and made its streets desolate, as Jeremiah said.
49:7  They mistreated him, even though he had been set apart from the womb to be a prophet to uproot, ruin, destroy, and likewise to build and plant.
49:8  Ezekiel saw a vision of glory, when God showed him the chariot of the winged creatures.
49:9  He remembered the enemies in the storm, and favored those keeping to a righteous path.
49:10  May the bones of the twelve prophets sprout new life from their burial places, because they comforted Jacob and rescued them with hopeful confidence.
49:11  How should we praise Zerubbabel? He also was like a signet ring on the right hand,
49:12  as was Joshua, Jozadak’s son. In their time, they built a house and raised a holy temple to the Lord, prepared for everlasting glory.
49:13  Nehemiah’s memory is lasting; he who raised our fallen walls, set up gates and bars, and rebuilt our buildings.
49:14  No one was created on the earth who was like Enoch, for he was taken up from the earth.
49:15  Nor has any man been born like Joseph, a leader of his brothers, a support for the people. They took special care even of his bones.
49:16  Shem and Seth were honored among human beings, and above every living thing in creation was Adam.