2 Kings 23
Lexham English Bible
Josiah’s Covenantal Reforms
23 So the king sent word, and all of the elders of Judah and Jerusalem gathered to him. 2 Then the king went up to the temple of Yahweh, and all of the men of Judah and all of the inhabitants of Jerusalem were with him, including the priests, the prophets, and all of the people from smallest to greatest; and in their hearing[a] he read all of the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been found in the temple of Yahweh. 3 Then the king stood by the pillar, and he made[b] a covenant before Yahweh, to go after Yahweh and to keep his commands and his warnings and his statutes, with all of his heart and with his all of his soul, to keep the words of this covenant written on this scroll. Then all of the people joined[c] in the covenant.
4 Then the king[d] commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the second priests, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring out of the temple of Yahweh all of the objects made for Baal and for the Asherah and for all the host of heaven, and he burned them outside of Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and then he carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 He removed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem and who offered incense to, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven. 6 He brought out the Asherah image from the temple of Yahweh outside of Jerusalem to the Wadi of the Kidron and burnt it there;[e] then he pulverized it to dust and threw its dust upon the tombs of the children of the people. 7 He tore down the shrines of the male shrine prostitutes which were in the temple of Yahweh, where the women were weaving shrines for the Asherah. 8 Then he brought all of the priests from the cities of Judah and defiled the high places where the priests from Geba up to Beersheba burned incense. He tore down the high places of the gates which were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua, the governor of the city, which were on the left of each gate of the city. 9 However, the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of Yahweh in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread in the midst of their relatives. 10 He defiled the Topheth which is in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom, to prevent[f] anyone causing his sons or his daughters to pass through the fire for Molech. 11 He kept the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun from coming to the temple of Yawheh at the side room of Nathan-Melech the eunuch, which was in the court; and the chariots of the sun he burned with fire. 12 The altars which were on the roof of the upper room of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courtyards of the temple of Yahweh, the king tore down and ran from there and threw their ashes into the Wadi Kidron. 13 The high places which were east of Jerusalem, which were on the south of the Mountain of Destruction which Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab and for Molech the detestable thing of the Ammonites,[g] the king defiled. 14 He also broke into pieces the stone pillars and cut down the Asherah poles and covered their sites with human bones.
15 Moreover, the altar which was in Bethel, the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin, had built, even that altar and the high place, Josiah tore down. Then he burned down the high place and crushed the pole of Asherah worship to dust and burned it with fire. 16 When Josiah turned and saw the tombs which were there on the hill, he sent and took the bones from the tombs and burned them on the altar. Thus he defiled them according to the word of Yahweh that the man of God had proclaimed who had proclaimed these things. 17 Then he said, “What is this gravestone that I am seeing?” The men of the city said to him, “This is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel.” 18 So Josiah said, “Let him rest and let no man move his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed with the bones of the prophet who had come from Samaria. 19 Moreover, all of the shrines of the high places which were in the towns of Samaria which the kings of Israel had made to provoke Yahweh, Josiah removed, and he did to them like all of the deeds he had done in Bethel. 20 Then he slaughtered all of the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and he burned the bones of the humans on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
Passover Renewed
21 Then the king commanded all of the people, saying, “Keep the Passover to Yahweh your God, as has been written on the scroll of this covenant.” 22 For they had not kept this Passover from the days of the judges who had judged over Israel or[h] during the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was kept for Yahweh in Jerusalem.
24 Moreover, the mediums and the spiritists, the household gods and the idols, and all of the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, Josiah removed in order to establish the words of the law written on the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had found in the temple of Yahweh. 25 There was not a king like him before him, who turned to Yahweh with all of his heart and with all of his soul and with all of his might according to the law[i] of Moses, nor did one arise like him afterwards.
26 However, Yahweh did not turn from the fierceness of his great anger which was kindled against Judah because of all of the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. 27 Yahweh had said, “Even Judah I will remove from my face, as I have removed Israel; I will reject this city that I have chosen, even Jerusalem and the house of which I said, ‘My name shall be there’!”
28 The remainder of the acts of Josiah and all that he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah? 29 In his days, Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, went up against the king of Assyria at the Euphrates River. King Josiah went to meet him, and he[j] killed him at Megiddo as soon as he saw him. 30 So his servants drove him dead in a chariot from Megiddo, and they brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his tomb. Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.
Jehoahaz Reigns in Judah
31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. 32 He did evil in the eyes of Yahweh according to all his ancestors[k] had done. 33 Then Pharaoh Neco confined him at Riblah in the land of Hamath, from reigning in Jerusalem, and imposed a levy on the land of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
Jehoiakim Replaces Jehoahaz
34 Then Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in place of Josiah his father, and he changed his name to Jehoiakim. Then he took Jehoahaz and brought him to Egypt, and he died there. 35 The silver and the gold Jehoiakim gave to Pharaoh; however, he taxed the land to give the silver to meet the demands of Pharaoh.[l] Each according to assessment, he exacted payment of the silver and the gold from the people of the land to give to Pharaoh Neco.
36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Zebudah,[m] the daughter of Pedaiah from Rumah. 37 He did evil in the eyes of Yahweh according to all that his ancestors[n] had done.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 23:2 Literally “ears”
- 2 Kings 23:3 Literally “cut”
- 2 Kings 23:3 Literally “stood”
- 2 Kings 23:4 That is, Josiah
- 2 Kings 23:6 Literally “at the wadi of the Kidron”
- 2 Kings 23:10 Literally “so that not”
- 2 Kings 23:13 Literally “sons/children of Ammon”
- 2 Kings 23:22 Or “and”
- 2 Kings 23:25 Or “Torah”
- 2 Kings 23:29 That is, Neco
- 2 Kings 23:32 Or “fathers”
- 2 Kings 23:35 Literally “on the hunger of Pharaoh”
- 2 Kings 23:36 According to the reading tradition (Qere); Kethib reads “Zebidah”
- 2 Kings 23:37 Or “fathers”
2 Kings 23
Wycliffe Bible
23 which king sent, and all the eld men of Judah, and of Jerusalem, were gathered to him. (and the king sent for all the elders of Judah, and of Jerusalem, and they were gathered unto him.)
2 And the king went up into the temple of the Lord, and all the men of Judah, and all the men that dwelled in Jerusalem with him, the priests and the prophets, and all the people from little unto great; and the king read, while all men heard, all the words of the book of [the] bond of peace of the Lord, the which was found in the house of the Lord. (And the king went up into the Temple of the Lord, and all the men of Judah, and all the men who lived in Jerusalem with him, the priests and the prophets, and all the people from the little unto the great; and the king read, while all the men listened, all the words of The Book of the Covenant of the Lord, which had been found in the House of the Lord.)
3 And the king stood on the degrees; and smote a bond of peace before the Lord, that they would go after the Lord, and keep his commandments and witnessings and ceremonies in all their heart and in all their soul, and that they should raise up the words of this bond of peace, that were written in that book; and the people assented to the covenant. (And the king stood on the steps; and struck a covenant before the Lord, that they would follow the Lord, and keep his commandments and testimonies and statutes, with all their heart and with all their soul, and that they would raise up the words of this covenant that were written in that book; and the people agreed to the covenant.)
4 And the king commanded to Hilkiah, the bishop, and to the priests of the second order, and to the porters, that they should cast out of the temple [of the Lord] all the vessels, that were made to Baal, and in the maumet wood, and to all the knighthood of (the) heaven(s); and he burnt those vessels without Jerusalem, in the even valley of Kidron, and he bare the powder of those vessels into Bethel. (And the king commanded to the High Priest Hilkiah, and to the priests of the second order, and to the guards, that they should throw out of the Temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned those vessels outside Jerusalem, in the Kidron Valley, and he brought the powder of those vessels to Bethel.)
5 And he did away [the] false diviners, which the kings of Judah had set to make sacrifice in (the) high things by the cities of Judah, and in the compass of Jerusalem; and he did away them that burnt incense to Baal, and to the sun, and to the moon, and to (the) twelve signs, and to all the knighthood of (the) heaven(s). (And he did away the false diviners, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make sacrifice in the hill shrines in the cities of Judah, and all around Jerusalem; and he did away those who burned incense to Baal, and to the sun, and to the moon, and to the twelve signs, yea, to all the host of heaven.)
6 And the king made the wood of maumetry to be borne out of the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, in(to) the even valley of Kidron, and he burnt it there; and he drove it into powder, and casted it forth upon the sepulchres of the common people. (And the king ordered the sacred pole of that idol, or that false god, Asherah to be taken out of the House of the Lord, and out of Jerusalem, to the Kidron Valley, and he burned it there; and he drove it down into powder, and threw it forth onto the tombs, or the graves, of the common people.)
7 Also he destroyed the little houses of [the] womanish men, the which houses were in the house of the Lord; for the which houses women weaved, or wattled, as little houses of the wood. (And he destroyed the little houses of the male whores of the Temple, which houses were attached to the House of the Lord; and where women weaved, or wattled, vestments used in honouring and worshipping Asherah.)
8 And he gathered all the priests from the cities of Judah, and he defouled the high things, where the priests made sacrifice, from Geba unto Beersheba; and he destroyed the altars of the gates (that were) in the entering of the door of Joshua, (who was the) prince of a city, which door was at the left half of the gate of the city. (And he gathered all the priests from the cities of Judah, and he defiled the hill shrines, where the priests made sacrifice, from Geba unto Beersheba; and he destroyed the altars of the demons that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua, who was the ruler of the city, which gate was on the left side of the city gate.)
9 Nevertheless the priests of [the] high things went not up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but only they ate therf loaves in the midst of their brethren. (Now the priests of the hill shrines did not go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they did eat the unleavened bread in the midst of their kinsmen.)
10 Also he defouled Topheth, which is in the even valley of the son of Hinnom, (so) that no man should hallow his son either his daughter by fire to Moloch. (And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, so that no man would sacrifice his son or his daughter in the fire to Moloch.)
11 Also he did away [the] horses, that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, in the entering of the temple of the Lord, beside the chamber of Nathanmelech, the gelding, that was in (the) Parvarim, (that is, the suburbs, or the living quarters); forsooth he burnt by fire the chariots of the sun. (And he did away the horses, that the kings of Judah had erected to the sun, at the entrance to the Temple of the Lord, beside the chamber of Nathanmelech, the eunuch, that was in the Parvarim, that is, in the suburbs, or the living quarters; and he burned up the chariots of the sun.)
12 Also the king destroyed the altars, that were on the roofs of the solar of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made; and the king destroyed the altars, which Manasseh had made in the two great places of the temple of the Lord; and he ran from thence, and scattered the ashes of those altars into the strand of Kidron. (And the king destroyed the altars that were on the roof of the solarium of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made; and the king destroyed the altars which Manasseh had made in the two great courtyards of the Temple of the Lord; and he went from there, and scattered the ashes of those altars in the Kidron Valley.)
13 Also the king defouled the high things, that were in Jerusalem at the right half of the hill of offence, that is, the hill of Olivet, which Solomon, king of Israel, had builded to Ashtoreth, the idol of Sidonians, and to Chemosh, the offence of Moab, and to Malcham, the abomination of the sons of Ammon; (And the king defiled the hill shrines that were east of Jerusalem, on the right side of the hill of offence, that is, south of the Mount of Olives, which Solomon, the king of Israel, had built for Ashtoreth, the false god of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh, the offensive god of Moab, and for Milcom, the abominable god of the Ammonites;)
14 and he all-brake [the] images, and cutted down (the) [maumet] woods (and cut down the sacred poles of Asherah), and filled the places of those with the bones of dead men.
15 Furthermore also he destroyed the altar that was in Bethel, and the high solemn thing, which Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, had made, that made Israel to do sin; and he destroyed that high altar, and burnt it, and all-brake it into powder, and cutted down also the [maumet] wood. (And furthermore he destroyed the altar that was in Bethel, and the hill shrine, which Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, had made, who had made Israel to do sin; and he destroyed that high altar, and burned it, and broke it all into powder, and also cut down the sacred pole of Asherah.)
16 And Josiah turned, and saw there sepulchres that were in the hill; and he sent, and took the bones from the sepulchres, and burnt those on the altar, and defouled it, after the word of the Lord, that the man of God spake, that before-said these words. (And Josiah turned, and saw the tombs, or the graves, that were there on the hill; and he sent for, and took all the bones from those tombs, or those graves, and burned them on the altar, and defiled it, after the word of the Lord, that the man of God spoke, who foretold these things.)
17 And the king said, What is this burial, that I see? [Whose is this tomb that I see?] And the citizens of that city answered to him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, that came from Judah, and before-said these words (and foretold these things), which thou hast done upon the altar of Bethel.
18 And the king said, Suffer ye him (Do not ye touch him); no man move his bones. And (so) his bones dwelled untouched with the bones of the prophet, that came from Samaria.
19 Furthermore also Josiah did away all the temples of [the] high things, that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to stir the Lord to ire; and he did to those temples by all things which he had done in Bethel. (And furthermore Josiah did away all the temples of the hill shrines that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had built, and had so stirred the Lord to anger; and he did to those temples all the things which he had done to the temples in Bethel.)
20 And he killed all the priests of [the] high things, that were there upon the altars, and he burnt men’s bones on those altars; and he turned again to Jerusalem; (And he killed all the priests of the hill shrines, who were there at the altars, and he burned the bones of people upon those altars; and then he returned to Jerusalem;)
21 and he commanded to all the people, and said, Make ye pask to the Lord your God, after that, that is written in the book of this bond of peace. (and he commanded to all the people, and said, Keep ye the Passover to the Lord your God, after what is written in this Book of the Covenant.)
22 Certainly such a pask was not made, from the days of judges that deemed Israel, and of all the days of the kings of Israel, and of Judah, (Certainly such a Passover was not kept, from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, or of Judah,)
23 as this pask (that) was made to the Lord in Jerusalem in the eighteenth year of king Josiah.
24 But also Josiah did away men having fiends speaking in their wombs, and false diviners in altars, and he did away the figures of idols, and all [the] uncleannesses, and [the] abominations, that were in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he should do the words of the law, that were written in the book, that Hilkiah, the priest, found in the temple of the Lord. (And Josiah also did away men having fiends speaking in their wombs, and false diviners at altars, and the figures of idols, and all the uncleannesses, and the abominations, that were in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, so that he would do all the words of the Law, that were written in the book that the High Priest Hilkiah had found in the Temple of the Lord.)
25 No king before him was like him, that turned again to the Lord in all his heart, and in all his soul, and in all his strength, after all the law of Moses; neither after him rose (up) any like him. (There was no king like him before him, who had turned again to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his strength, after all the Law of Moses; nor did there rise up any king like him after him.)
26 Nevertheless the Lord was not turned away from the ire of his great vengeance, by which his strong vengeance was wroth against Judah, for the stirrings to ire by which Manasseh had stirred him to ire.
27 Therefore the Lord said, I shall do away also Judah from my face, as I did away Israel; and I shall cast away this city Jerusalem, which I chose, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there. (And so the Lord said, I shall also do away Judah from before me, as I did away Israel; and I shall throw away this city of Jerusalem, which I chose, and the House of which I said, My name shall always be there.)
28 Forsooth the residue of the words of Josiah, and all things that he did, whether these be not written in the book of [the] words of [the] days of the kings of Judah?
29 In the days of Josiah, Pharaoh Necho, the king of Egypt, went up against the king of Assyrians, to the flood Euphrates; and Josiah, king of Judah, went into the meeting of Pharaoh, to forbid him to pass through Judah; and Josiah was slain in Megiddo, when he had seen Pharaoh. (In the days of Josiah, Pharaoh Necho, the king of Egypt, went up to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria; and Josiah, the king of Judah, went out against Pharaoh, to forbid him to pass through Judah; and Josiah was killed at Megiddo, when he met Pharaoh in battle.)
30 And his servants bare him dead from Megiddo, and brought him into Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre; and the people of the land took Jehoahaz[a], the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king for his father (and made him king in place of his father).
31 Jehoahaz was of three and twenty years, when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; the name of his mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremy of Libnah.
32 And he did evil before the Lord, by all things which his fathers had done.
33 And Pharaoh Necho bound him in prison in Riblah, that is in the land of Hamath, that he should not reign in Jerusalem; and Pharaoh set a pain, either a fine, to the land of Judah, in an hundred talents of silver, and in one talent of gold (and Pharaoh put a fine on the land of Judah, of a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold).
34 And Pharaoh Necho made king Eliakim, the son of Josiah, for Josiah, his father (And Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim, Josiah’s son, to be king in place of his father); and he turned the name of him to Jehoiakim; forsooth Pharaoh took Jehoahaz (away), and led him into Egypt, (and he died there).
35 Soothly Jehoiakim gave silver and gold to Pharaoh, when he had commanded to the land by all years, that it should be brought, by the commandment of Pharaoh; and Jehoiakim raised of each man by his mights, or after his power, both silver and gold, of the people of the land, that he should give to Pharaoh Necho. (And Jehoiakim paid the silver and gold to Pharaoh, in all the years that he commanded over the land, that it should be brought in, by Pharaoh’s commandment; and Jehoiakim raised both the silver, and the gold, from the people of the land, yea, out of each man’s own wealth, so that he could pay it to Pharaoh Necho.)
36 Jehoiakim was of five and twenty years, when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; the name of his mother was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.
37 And he did evil before the Lord, by all things which his fathers had done.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 23:30 Also known as Joahaz.
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