2 Kings 23:24-27

New International Reader's Version

²⁴ And that’s not all. Josiah got rid of those who got messages from people who had died. He got rid of those who talked to the spirits of people who had died. He got rid of the statues of family gods and the statues of other gods. He got rid of everything else the Lord hates that was in Judah and Jerusalem. He did it to carry out what the law required. That law was written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had found in the Lord’s temple. ²⁵ There was no king like Josiah either before him or after him. None of them turned to the Lord as he did. He obeyed the Lord with all his heart and all his soul. He obeyed him with all his strength. He did everything the Law of Moses required.

²⁶ In spite of that, the Lord didn’t turn away from his great anger against Judah. That’s because of everything Manasseh had done to make him very angry. ²⁷ So the Lord said, “I will remove Judah from my land. I will do to them what I did to Israel. I will turn my back on Jerusalem. It is the city I chose. I will also turn my back on this temple. I spoke about it. I said, ‘I will put my Name there.’ ” (1 Kings 8:29)