And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests (A)of the second order and the keepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels made for (B)Baal, for (C)Asherah, and for all the host of heaven. (D)He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. 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 (E)and all the host of the heavens. And he brought out (F)the Asherah from the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, (G)and burned it at the brook Kidron (H)and beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves (I)of the common people. And he broke down the houses of (J)the male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the Lord, (K)where the women wove hangings for (L)the Asherah. And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings, from (M)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. (N)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 (O)Topheth, which is (P)in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, (Q)that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to (R)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 (S)on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars (T)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 (U)into the brook Kidron. 13 And the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of (V)the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for (W)Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for (X)Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for (Y)Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 14 And he broke in pieces the (Z)pillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with the bones of men.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 23:10 Hebrew might cause his son or daughter to pass through the fire for Molech
  2. 2 Kings 23:11 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
  3. 2 Kings 23:12 Hebrew pieces from there

The king then commanded the high priest Hilkiah, the second-order priests, and the doorkeepers to remove from the Lord’s temple all the religious objects made for Baal, Asherah, and all the heavenly bodies. The king burned them outside Jerusalem in the Kidron fields and took the ashes to Bethel. He got rid of the pagan priests that the Judean kings had appointed to burn incense at the shrines in Judah’s cities and the areas around Jerusalem. He did the same to those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the heavenly bodies. He removed the Asherah image[a] from the Lord’s temple, taking it to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem. There he burned it, ground it to dust, and threw the dust on the public graveyard. The king tore down the shrines for the consecrated workers[b] that were in the Lord’s temple, where women made woven coverings[c] for Asherah.

Then Josiah brought all the priests out of Judah’s cities. From Geba to Beer-sheba, he defiled the shrines where the priests had been burning incense. He also tore down the shrines at the gates at the entrance to the gate of Joshua the city’s governor, which were on the left as one entered the city gate. Although the priests of these shrines didn’t go up on the Lord’s altar in Jerusalem, they did eat unleavened bread with their fellow priests.

10 Josiah defiled the Topheth in the Ben-hinnom Valley so no one could burn their child alive in honor of the god Molech. 11 He did away with the horses that Judah’s kings had dedicated to the sun. They were kept at the entrance to the Lord’s temple near a room in the annex[d] that belonged to an official named Nathan-melech. Josiah set fire to the chariots that were dedicated to the sun. 12 The king also tore down the altars that were on the roof of Ahaz’s upper story, which had been made by the Judean kings, and he did the same with the altars that Manasseh had built in the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple. He broke them up there[e] and threw their dust into the Kidron Valley. 13 The king then defiled the shrines facing Jerusalem, south of the Mountain of Destruction. Solomon the king of Israel had built these for Ashtoreth, the monstrous Sidonian god, for Chemosh, the monstrous Moabite god, and for Milcom, the detestable Ammonite god. 14 He smashed the sacred pillars and cut down the sacred poles,[f] filling the places where they had been with human bones.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 23:6 Heb lacks image; perhaps a pole dedicated to the goddess.
  2. 2 Kings 23:7 Traditionally cultic prostitutes
  3. 2 Kings 23:7 Heb uncertain
  4. 2 Kings 23:11 Heb uncertain
  5. 2 Kings 23:12 Correction; MT removed them quickly or ran from there
  6. 2 Kings 23:14 Heb asherim, perhaps objects devoted to the goddess Asherah