2 Kings 23
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 23
Josiah the Reformer. 1 The king then sent and assembled all of the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 The king went up to the temple of the Lord, and all of the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem went with him, including the priests, the prophets, and all of the people, both the humble and the important. He read aloud all of the words from the book of the covenant that had been found in the temple of the Lord.
3 The king stood by the pillar, and he made a covenant before the Lord to follow the Lord and to observe his commandments, his testimonies, and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, fulfilling the words of this covenant that were written in this book. All of the people joined in the covenant.
4 The king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the doormen to carry out of the temple of the Lord all of the utensils that had been used for Baal, for Asherah, and for the heavenly host. He burned them outside of Jerusalem in a field in the Kidron Valley, and they took their ashes to Bethel.
5 He expelled the pagan priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and those that surrounded Jerusalem, those who had burned incense to Baal, to the sun, the moon, the planets, and to all of the hosts of heaven. 6 He brought the Asherah out of the temple of the Lord, taking it outside of Jerusalem to the Kidron Valley. He smashed it to pieces, tossing its dust upon the graves of the common people.
7 He also tore down the quarters that housed the male prostitutes in the temple of the Lord, and where the women did the weavings for the Asherah. 8 He brought all of the priests from the cities of Judah, and he desecrated all of the high places from Geba to Beer-sheba where the priests had burned incense. He demolished the shrines at the gates, at the entrance to the gate of Joshua, the leader of the city, which was to the left of the city gate. 9 Although the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the Lord, they did eat the unleavened bread with their brethren.
10 He desecrated Topheth[a] in the Valley of Ben-hinnom so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter in fire to Molech. 11 He removed the horses that the king of Judah had dedicated to the sun at the entrance to the temple of the Lord. They had been in the court near the room of the official Nathan-melech. He burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.
12 The king demolished the altars[b] that the kings of Judah had built on the roof near the upper room of Ahaz as well as the two altars that Manasseh had built in the two courts of the temple of the Lord. He broke them to pieces and cast them into the Kidron Valley. 13 The king also desecrated the high places that were to the east of Jerusalem, that is, to the south of the Hill of Corruption which Solomon, the king of Israel, had dedicated to the Ashtaroth, the vile goddess of the Sidonians, to Chemosh, the vile god of the Moabites, and to Molech, the abomination of the Ammonites.
14 He smashed the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah. He defiled these places with human bones. 15 He broke down the altar in Bethel, the altar and the high place that Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin, had built. He burned the high place and crushed it to powder, and he also burned the Asherah.
16 Josiah looked around and when he saw that there were graves on the hillside, he sent for and removed the bones from the graves. He burned them upon the altar to defile it. This fulfilled the word of the Lord that the man of God had proclaimed through these words.
17 He then asked, “What is that monument that I see?” The men of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things that you have done against the altar of Bethel.” 18 He said, “Leave it alone! Do not let anyone disturb his bones!” So they left his bones and the bones of the prophet who had come from Samaria.
19 Josiah also removed all of the shrines of the high places in the cities of Samaria that the kings of Israel had established, thus provoking the Lord to anger, just as he had done at Bethel.
20 Josiah killed all of the priests of the high places upon the altars and he burned human bones upon them. He then returned to Jerusalem.
21 The king then commanded all of the people saying, “Observe the Passover of the Lord, your God, according to what is written in this book of this covenant.” 22 Passover had not been observed from the days of the judges who governed Israel nor all throughout the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. 23 This Passover of the Lord was celebrated in Jerusalem in the eighteenth year of the reign of King Josiah.
24 Josiah also expelled the mediums and the wizards. He did away with the household gods, the idols, and all the other abominations that were to be found in the land of Judah and Jerusalem. He did this to fulfill the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the temple of the Lord.
25 There had never before been any king like him nor will there ever be one after him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and all his soul and all his might according to the law of Moses.
26 In spite of this, the Lord did not turn away the heat of his fierce anger which raged against Judah because all of the things that Manasseh had done to provoke his anger. 27 The Lord said, “I will remove Judah from out of my sight just as I have removed Israel. I will reject this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the temple of which I said: My name will be there.”
28 [c]As for all of the other deeds of Josiah, what he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
29 During his reign, Pharaoh Neco, the king of Egypt, traveled up to the Euphrates River to give his assistance to the king of Assyria. King Josiah attacked him. When Pharaoh Neco saw him at Megiddo, he killed him. 30 His servants brought his dead body back from Megiddo to Jerusalem and they buried him in his own tomb.
The people of the land took Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, and they anointed him as king in his father’s stead.
31 Reign of Jehoahaz. Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal, and she was the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah.
32 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, everything that his fathers had done.
33 Pharaoh Neco imprisoned him at Riblah in the land of Hamath so that he could not reign in Jerusalem. He imposed a tribute upon the land of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.[d]
34 Pharaoh Neco appointed Eliakim, the son of Josiah, as king in his father’s stead. He changed his name to Jehoiakim, and he took Jehoahaz away when he returned to Egypt, where he died.
35 Jehoiakim gave silver and gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to get the money that Pharaoh had demanded. He taxed the people of the land according to their assessments for the silver and the gold that he had to give to Pharaoh.
36 Reign of Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother’s name was Zebidah, and she was the daughter of Pedaiah from Rumah.
37 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, everything that his fathers had done.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 23:10 Topheth: a crematory for the sacrifice of children.
- 2 Kings 23:12 Altars: dedicated to the astral divinities (see 2 Ki 21:3f; Jer 19:13; Zep 1:5).
- 2 Kings 23:28 After the threat from Assyria (which was attacked by the Babylonians and Medes in 616 B.C.; Nineveh fell in 612 B.C.), came the threat from Egypt. Josiah tried to stop the pharaoh as the latter was marching to the aid of Assyria; Josiah opposed him at Haran but it ended tragically (609 B.C.).
- 2 Kings 23:33 Talent of gold: this is an unusually small amount to be charged and is rendered in older translations as ten or one hundred talents.
2 Kings 23
King James Version
23 And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.
2 And the king went up into the house of the Lord, 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 he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord.
3 And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.
4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.
5 And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.
6 And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.
7 And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove.
8 And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.
9 Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren.
10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.
11 And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire.
12 And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, did the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.
13 And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.
14 And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.
15 Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove.
16 And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.
17 Then he said, What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel.
18 And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.
19 And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel.
20 And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men's bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.
21 And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the Lord your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant.
22 Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;
23 But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to the Lord in Jerusalem.
24 Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord.
25 And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.
26 Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal.
27 And the Lord said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.
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 In his days Pharaohnechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he slew him at Megiddo, when he had seen him.
30 And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's stead.
31 Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
32 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.
33 And Pharaohnechoh put him in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to a tribute of an hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.
34 And Pharaohnechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away: and he came to Egypt, and died there.
35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh: he exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every one according to his taxation, to give it unto Pharaohnechoh.
36 Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.
37 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.
2 Kings 23
English Standard Version
Josiah's Reforms
23 (A)Then the king sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him. 2 And the king went up to the house of the Lord, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And (B)he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant (C)that had been found in the house of the Lord. 3 And the king stood (D)by the pillar and (E)made a covenant before the Lord, (F)to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant.
4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests (G)of the second order and the keepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels made for (H)Baal, for (I)Asherah, and for all the host of heaven. (J)He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 And he deposed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and the moon and the constellations (K)and all the host of the heavens. 6 And he brought out (L)the Asherah from the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, (M)and burned it at the brook Kidron (N)and beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves (O)of the common people. 7 And he broke down the houses of (P)the male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the Lord, (Q)where the women wove hangings for (R)the Asherah. 8 And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings, from (S)Geba to Beersheba. And he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one's left at the gate of the city. 9 (T)However, the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. 10 And he defiled (U)Topheth, which is (V)in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, (W)that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to (X)Molech.[a] 11 And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts.[b] And he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12 And the altars (Y)on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars (Z)that Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, he pulled down and broke in pieces[c] and cast the dust of them (AA)into the brook Kidron. 13 And the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of (AB)the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for (AC)Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for (AD)Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for (AE)Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 14 And he broke in pieces the (AF)pillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with the bones of men.
15 Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected (AG)by Jeroboam the son of Nebat, (AH)who made Israel to sin, (AI)that altar with the high place he pulled down and burned,[d] reducing it to dust. He also burned the Asherah. 16 And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it, (AJ)according to the word of the Lord that the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things. 17 Then he said, “What is that monument that I see?” And the men of the city told him, (AK)“It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted[e] these things that you have done against the altar at Bethel.” 18 And he said, “Let him be; let no man move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones (AL)of the prophet who came out of Samaria. 19 And Josiah removed all the shrines also of the high places that were (AM)in the cities of Samaria, which kings of Israel had made, provoking the Lord to anger. He did to them according to all that he had done at Bethel. 20 And (AN)he sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, (AO)and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
Josiah Restores the Passover
21 And the king commanded all the people, (AP)“Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, (AQ)as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 (AR)For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem.
24 Moreover, Josiah put away (AS)the mediums and the necromancers and (AT)the household gods and (AU)the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish (AV)the words of the law that were written in the book (AW)that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. 25 (AX)Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord 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 Still the Lord did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, (AY)because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. 27 And the Lord said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight, (AZ)as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, (BA)and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.”
Josiah's Death in Battle
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 (BB)In his days (BC)Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. King Josiah went to meet him, and Pharaoh Neco killed him at (BD)Megiddo, as soon as he saw him. 30 (BE)And his servants carried him dead in a chariot from (BF)Megiddo and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. (BG)And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's place.
Jehoahaz's Reign and Captivity
31 (BH)Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was (BI)Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, (BJ)according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And (BK)Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at (BL)Riblah in the land of (BM)Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents[f] of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And (BN)Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and (BO)changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, (BP)and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim (BQ)gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco.
Jehoiakim Reigns in Judah
36 (BR)Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. 37 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, (BS)according to all that his fathers had done.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 23:10 Hebrew might cause his son or daughter to pass through the fire for Molech
- 2 Kings 23:11 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
- 2 Kings 23:12 Hebrew pieces from there
- 2 Kings 23:15 Septuagint broke in pieces its stones
- 2 Kings 23:17 Hebrew called
- 2 Kings 23:33 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
