Why did Josias go into battle despite Nechao's warning?

King Josias celebrated a solemn Passover in Jerusalem in honor of the Lord, sacrificing the paschal victims on the fourteenth day of the first month. He assigned the priests to their appointed duties and encouraged them in their sacred ministry within the house of the Lord. Addressing the Levites, by whose instruction Israel was sanctified to the Lord, the king directed them to place the sacred Ark inside the sanctuary built by King Solomon, explaining that they would no longer bear it upon their shoulders. Instead, they were to dedicate themselves to serving the Lord their God and ministering to His people Israel. Josias commanded them to organize themselves according to their ancestral houses and divisions, following the regulations established by King David and Solomon, sanctifying themselves to slaughter the paschal offerings and assist their brethren in fulfilling the commands given through Moses.

To ensure the solemnity was observed with extraordinary abundance, Josias donated from his own royal livestock thirty thousand lambs, young goats, and other small cattle, along with three thousand oxen, to provide offerings for all the people gathered in Jerusalem. His princes willingly offered what they had vowed for the people, the priests, and the Levites. Temple administrators Helcias, Zacharias, and Jahiel provided the priests with two thousand six hundred small cattle and three hundred oxen to celebrate the Passover. Concurrently, Levite leaders—including Chonenias, Semeias, Nathanael, Hasabias, Jehiel, and Jozabad—donated five thousand small cattle and five hundred oxen to support their fellow Levites during the sacred assembly.

The sacred ministry was meticulously arranged according to royal decree, with priests standing at their stations and Levites organized in their divisions. As the paschal lambs were immolated, the priests sprinkled the blood with their hands while the Levites flayed the offerings. The sacrifices were carefully portioned out among the ancestral families to be presented to the Lord as prescribed in the Law of Moses, with the oxen prepared in like manner. The Levites roasted the paschal offerings over fire according to the law, while boiling the peace offerings in caldrons, kettles, and pots, distributing the cooked portions swiftly among the assembled multitude. Only after serving the people did the Levites prepare portions for themselves and the sons of Aaron, who were occupied offering holocausts and burning the sacred fat until nightfall. Meanwhile, the temple singers from the sons of Asaph stood in their assigned ranks in accordance with the ordinances of David, Asaph, Heman, and Idithun, while the gatekeepers maintained continuous watch at every portal without abandoning their posts; and therefore their brethren the Levites prepared food for them so they would not depart from their stations. The children of Israel present observed the Passover and celebrated the seven-day feast of unleavened bread with such magnificence that no comparable Passover had been kept in Israel since the days of the prophet Samuel, nor had any previous king matched the celebration led by Josias in the eighteenth year of his reign.

After Josias had successfully repaired the temple and restored its service, King Nechao of Egypt marched an army northward to wage war at Charcamis along the Euphrates River. Josias advanced with his forces to intercept the Egyptian monarch. Nechao sent ambassadors to the king of Juda, declaring: 'What have I to do with thee, O king of Juda? I come not against thee this day, but I fight against another house, to which God hath commanded me to go in haste: forbear to do against God, who is with me, lest he kill thee.' Josias, however, refused to turn back and hearkened not to the words of Nechao from the mouth of God, but prepared for combat and marched onto the battlefield in the field of Mageddo.

During the clash at Mageddo, archers shot King Josias, inflicting grievous wounds. The king instructed his attendants to carry him out of the battle because he was grievously wounded, and they transferred him from his battle chariot into a secondary chariot that followed him. They transported him to Jerusalem, where he died of his injuries and was buried among the tombs of his ancestors. The entire population of Juda and Jerusalem mourned the fallen monarch, with the prophet Jeremias composing special lamentations in his memory. These mournful songs were repeated by male and female singers throughout the generations, becoming an enduring custom in Israel recorded in the Lamentations. The remaining deeds of Josias, his pious observance of the divine law, and his accomplishments from beginning to end were preserved in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel.