35:20-24 The narrative jumps from Josiah’s eighteenth year (622 BC) to the year of his death (609 BC). The decline of the Assyrian Empire brought Egypt and Babylon, two great powers that had long been subject to Assyria, into conflict with each other. King Neco of Egypt, who had allied with Assyria to resist Babylonian expansion, asked Josiah to allow free passage of his army. Josiah’s interception might have been the result of a coalition with Babylon, or it might have been his own attempt to establish independence from Egypt. Josiah’s death was caused by his disobedience to a divine oracle delivered by a Gentile king.