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2 Kings 23
Legacy Standard Bible

Josiah Reads the Book of the Covenant

23 (A)Then the king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 And the king went up to the house of Yahweh and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great; and (B)he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant (C)which was found in the house of Yahweh. 3 (D)Then the king stood by the pillar and cut a covenant before Yahweh, (E)to walk after Yahweh, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to establish the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people [a]entered into the covenant.

4 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and (F)the priests of the second order and the [b]doorkeepers, (G)to bring out of the temple of Yahweh all the vessels that were made for Baal, for [c]Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and (H)he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 And he did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed and who burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem, as well as those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the constellations and to all the (I)host of heaven. 6 And he brought out the Asherah from the house of Yahweh outside Jerusalem to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and (J)ground it to dust, and (K)threw its dust on the graves of the [d]common people. 7 He also tore down the houses of the (L)male cult prostitutes which were in the house of Yahweh, where (M)the women were weaving [e]hangings for the Asherah. 8 Then he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from (N)Geba to Beersheba; and he tore down the high places of the gates which were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the ruler of the city, which were on one’s left at the city gate. 9 Nevertheless (O)the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of Yahweh in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. 10 (P)He also defiled [f]Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, (Q)that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire for (R)Molech. 11 And he did away with the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the (S)sun, at the entrance of the house of Yahweh, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the official, which was in the precincts; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12 (T)Also, the altars which were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and (U)the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of Yahweh, the king tore down; and he [g]crushed them there and (V)threw their dust into the brook Kidron. 13 And the high places which were before Jerusalem, which were on the right of (W)the mount of destruction which Solomon the king of Israel had built for (X)Ashtoreth the detestable idol of the Sidonians, and for (Y)Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the sons of Ammon, the king defiled. 14 (Z)And he broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherim and (AA)filled their places with human bones.

15 Furthermore, (AB)the altar that was at Bethel and the (AC)high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he tore down. Then he [h](AD)demolished its stones, ground them to dust, and burned the Asherah. 16 Then Josiah turned, and he saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent and took the bones from the graves and burned them on the altar and defiled it (AE)according to the word of Yahweh which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things. 17 Then he said, “What is this monument that I see?” And the men of the city told him, “(AF)It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel.” 18 And he said, “Let him alone; let no one move his bones.” So they [i]left his bones undisturbed (AG)with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria. 19 And also all the houses of the high places which were (AH)in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made provoking [j]Yahweh to anger, Josiah removed; and he did to them [k]just as he had done in Bethel. 20 And all the priests of the high places who were there (AI)he [l]slaughtered on the altars and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Josiah Celebrates the Passover

21 Then the king commanded all the people saying, “(AJ)Celebrate the Passover to Yahweh your God (AK)as it is written in this book of the covenant.” 22 (AL)For such a Passover had not been celebrated from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and of the kings of Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to Yahweh in Jerusalem.

24 Moreover, (AM)the mediums and the spiritists and the (AN)teraphim and (AO)the idols and all the detestable things that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, Josiah purged in order (AP)that he might [m]establish the words of the law which were written (AQ)in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of Yahweh. 25 And before him there was no king (AR)like him who turned to Yahweh with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.

26 However, Yahweh did not turn from His great burning anger, His anger which burned against Judah, (AS)because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him to anger. 27 And Yahweh said, “I will remove Judah also from My presence, (AT)as I have removed Israel. And (AU)I will reject Jerusalem, this city which I have chosen, and the [n]house of which I said, ‘My name shall be there.’”

Jehoahaz Reigns Over Judah

28 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 29 (AV)In his days (AW)Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. And King Josiah went to meet him, and when Pharaoh Neco saw him he put him to death at (AX)Megiddo. 30 (AY)And his servants drove [o]his body in a chariot from Megiddo and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. (AZ)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’s Reign and Imprisonment

31 (BA)Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was (BB)Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, (BC)according to all that his fathers had done. 33 (BD)And Pharaoh Neco imprisoned him at (BE)Riblah in the land of (BF)Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a fine of one hundred [p]talents of silver and one talent of gold.

Jehoiakim Made King by Pharaoh

34 Then Pharaoh Neco made (BG)Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father and (BH)changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz and [q](BI)brought him to Egypt, and he died there. 35 So Jehoiakim (BJ)gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land in order to give the money at the [r]command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land, each according to his valuation, to give it to Pharaoh Neco.

36 (BK)Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. 37 And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, (BL)according to all that his fathers had done.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 23:3 Lit took a stand in
  2. 2 Kings 23:4 Lit keepers of the threshold
  3. 2 Kings 23:4 A wooden symbol of a female deity, so in ch
  4. 2 Kings 23:6 Lit sons of the people
  5. 2 Kings 23:7 Or tents; lit houses
  6. 2 Kings 23:10 Lit place of burning
  7. 2 Kings 23:12 Or ran from there
  8. 2 Kings 23:15 As in Gr; Heb burned the high place
  9. 2 Kings 23:18 Lit let his bones escape
  10. 2 Kings 23:19 As in ancient versions
  11. 2 Kings 23:19 Lit according to all the acts
  12. 2 Kings 23:20 Lit sacrificed
  13. 2 Kings 23:24 Or perform
  14. 2 Kings 23:27 Or temple
  15. 2 Kings 23:30 Lit him, dead
  16. 2 Kings 23:33 A talent was approx. 75 lb. or 34 kg
  17. 2 Kings 23:34 As in Gr; Heb he came
  18. 2 Kings 23:35 Lit mouth
Close NLT

2 Kings 23
New Living Translation

Josiah’s Religious Reforms

23 Then the king summoned all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 And the king went up to the Temple of the Lord with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, along with the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. There the king read to them the entire Book of the Covenant that had been found in the Lord’s Temple. 3 The king took his place of authority beside the pillar and renewed the covenant in the Lord’s presence. He pledged to obey the Lord by keeping all his commands, laws, and decrees with all his heart and soul. In this way, he confirmed all the terms of the covenant that were written in the scroll, and all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.

4 Then the king instructed Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second rank and the Temple gatekeepers to remove from the Lord’s Temple all the articles that were used to worship Baal, Asherah, and all the powers of the heavens. The king had all these things burned outside Jerusalem on the terraces of the Kidron Valley, and he carried the ashes away to Bethel. 5 He did away with the idolatrous priests, who had been appointed by the previous kings of Judah, for they had offered sacrifices at the pagan shrines throughout Judah and even in the vicinity of Jerusalem. They had also offered sacrifices to Baal, and to the sun, the moon, the constellations, and to all the powers of the heavens. 6 The king removed the Asherah pole from the Lord’s Temple and took it outside Jerusalem to the Kidron Valley, where he burned it. Then he ground the ashes of the pole to dust and threw the dust over the graves of the people. 7 He also tore down the living quarters of the male and female shrine prostitutes that were inside the Temple of the Lord, where the women wove coverings for the Asherah pole.

8 Josiah brought to Jerusalem all the priests who were living in other towns of Judah. He also defiled the pagan shrines, where they had offered sacrifices—all the way from Geba to Beersheba. He destroyed the shrines at the entrance to the gate of Joshua, the governor of Jerusalem. This gate was located to the left of the city gate as one enters the city. 9 The priests who had served at the pagan shrines were not allowed to serve at[a] the Lord’s altar in Jerusalem, but they were allowed to eat unleavened bread with the other priests.

10 Then the king defiled the altar of Topheth in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, so no one could ever again use it to sacrifice a son or daughter in the fire[b] as an offering to Molech. 11 He removed from the entrance of the Lord’s Temple the horse statues that the former kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were near the quarters of Nathan-melech the eunuch, an officer of the court.[c] The king also burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.

12 Josiah tore down the altars that the kings of Judah had built on the palace roof above the upper room of Ahaz. The king destroyed the altars that Manasseh had built in the two courtyards of the Lord’s Temple. He smashed them to bits[d] and scattered the pieces in the Kidron Valley. 13 The king also desecrated the pagan shrines east of Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Corruption, where King Solomon of Israel had built shrines for Ashtoreth, the detestable goddess of the Sidonians; and for Chemosh, the detestable god of the Moabites; and for Molech,[e] the vile god of the Ammonites. 14 He smashed the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah poles. Then he desecrated these places by scattering human bones over them.

15 The king also tore down the altar at Bethel—the pagan shrine that Jeroboam son of Nebat had made when he caused Israel to sin. He burned down the shrine and ground it to dust, and he burned the Asherah pole. 16 Then Josiah turned around and noticed several tombs in the side of the hill. He ordered that the bones be brought out, and he burned them on the altar at Bethel to desecrate it. (This happened just as the Lord had promised through the man of God when Jeroboam stood beside the altar at the festival.)

Then Josiah turned and looked up at the tomb of the man of God[f] who had predicted these things. 17 “What is that monument over there?” Josiah asked.

And the people of the town told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted the very things that you have just done to the altar at Bethel!”

18 Josiah replied, “Leave it alone. Don’t disturb his bones.” So they did not burn his bones or those of the old prophet from Samaria.

19 Then Josiah demolished all the buildings at the pagan shrines in the towns of Samaria, just as he had done at Bethel. They had been built by the various kings of Israel and had made the Lord[g] very angry. 20 He executed the priests of the pagan shrines on their own altars, and he burned human bones on the altars to desecrate them. Finally, he returned to Jerusalem.

Josiah Celebrates Passover

21 King Josiah then issued this order to all the people: “You must celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, as required in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 There had not been a Passover celebration like that since the time when the judges ruled in Israel, nor throughout all the years of the kings of Israel and Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s reign, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.

24 Josiah also got rid of the mediums and psychics, the household gods, the idols,[h] and every other kind of detestable practice, both in Jerusalem and throughout the land of Judah. He did this in obedience to the laws written in the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had found in the Lord’s Temple. 25 Never before had there been a king like Josiah, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and soul and strength, obeying all the laws of Moses. And there has never been a king like him since.

26 Even so, the Lord was very angry with Judah because of all the wicked things Manasseh had done to provoke him. 27 For the Lord said, “I will also banish Judah from my presence just as I have banished Israel. And I will reject my chosen city of Jerusalem and the Temple where my name was to be honored.”

28 The rest of the events in Josiah’s reign and all his deeds are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah.

29 While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, went to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah and his army marched out to fight him,[i] but King Neco[j] killed him when they met at Megiddo. 30 Josiah’s officers took his body back in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. Then the people of the land anointed Josiah’s son Jehoahaz and made him the next king.

Jehoahaz Rules in Judah

31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. 32 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, just as his ancestors had done.

33 Pharaoh Neco put Jehoahaz in prison at Riblah in the land of Hamath to prevent him from ruling[k] in Jerusalem. He also demanded that Judah pay 7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold[l] as tribute.

Jehoiakim Rules in Judah

34 Pharaoh Neco then installed Eliakim, another of Josiah’s sons, to reign in place of his father, and he changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. Jehoahaz was taken to Egypt as a prisoner, where he died.

35 In order to get the silver and gold demanded as tribute by Pharaoh Neco, Jehoiakim collected a tax from the people of Judah, requiring them to pay in proportion to their wealth.

36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother was Zebidah, the daughter of Pedaiah from Rumah. 37 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, just as his ancestors had done.

Footnotes

  1. 23:9 Hebrew did not come up to.
  2. 23:10 Or to make a son or daughter pass through the fire.
  3. 23:11 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
  4. 23:12 Or He quickly removed them.
  5. 23:13 Hebrew Milcom, a variant spelling of Molech.
  6. 23:16 As in Greek version; Hebrew lacks when Jeroboam stood beside the altar at the festival. Then Josiah turned and looked up at the tomb of the man of God.
  7. 23:19 As in Greek and Syriac versions and Latin Vulgate; Hebrew lacks the Lord.
  8. 23:24 The Hebrew term (literally round things) probably alludes to dung.
  9. 23:29a Or Josiah went out to meet him.
  10. 23:29b Hebrew he.
  11. 23:33a The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
  12. 23:33b Hebrew 100 talents [3,400 kilograms] of silver and 1 talent [34 kilograms] of gold.
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