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And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring forth out of the temple of Jehovah all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the Asherah, and for all the host of heaven, and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Beth-el. And he put down the [a]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 [b]planets, and to all the host of heaven. And he brought out the Asherah from the house of Jehovah, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and beat it to dust, and cast the dust thereof upon the graves of the [c]common people. And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were in the house of Jehovah, where the women wove [d]hangings for the Asherah. 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 Beer-sheba; and he brake 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 a man’s left hand at the gate of the city. Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of Jehovah in Jerusalem, but they did eat unleavened bread among their brethren. 10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the [e]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 entrance of the house of Jehovah, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12 And the altars that were on the roof 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 Jehovah, did the king break down, and [f]beat 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 [g]corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile. 14 And he brake in pieces the [h]pillars, and cut down the Asherim, and filled their places with the bones of men.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 23:5 Hebrew Chemarim. See Hos. 10:5; Zeph. 1:4.
  2. 2 Kings 23:5 Or, twelve signs
  3. 2 Kings 23:6 Hebrew children of the people.
  4. 2 Kings 23:7 Or, tents. Hebrew houses.
  5. 2 Kings 23:10 According to another reading, son.
  6. 2 Kings 23:12 Or, ran from thence
  7. 2 Kings 23:13 Or, destruction
  8. 2 Kings 23:14 Or, obelisks

Then the king[a] 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. 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. He brought out the Asherah image from the temple of Yahweh outside of Jerusalem to the Wadi of the Kidron and burnt it there;[b] then he pulverized it to dust and threw its dust upon the tombs of the children of the people. 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. 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. 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[c] 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,[d] 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.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 23:4 That is, Josiah
  2. 2 Kings 23:6 Literally “at the wadi of the Kidron”
  3. 2 Kings 23:10 Literally “so that not”
  4. 2 Kings 23:13 Literally “sons/children of Ammon”