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 commanded the high priest Hilkiah, the priests of the second order, and the guardians of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel.(A) He deposed the idolatrous 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 made offerings to Baal, to the sun, the moon, the constellations, and all the host of the heavens. He brought out the image of[a] Asherah from the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem, to the Wadi Kidron, burned it at the Wadi Kidron, beat it to dust, and threw the dust of it upon the graves of the common people.(B) He broke down the houses of the illicit priests who were in the house of the Lord, where the women did weaving for Asherah.(C) He brought all the priests out of the towns of Judah and defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings, from Geba to Beer-sheba; 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 the left at the gate of the city.(D) The priests of the high places, however, did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem but ate unleavened bread among their kindred.(E) 10 He defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of Ben-hinnom, so that no one would make a son or a daughter pass through fire as an offering to Molech.(F) 11 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 the eunuch Nathan-melech, which was in the precincts;[b] then he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12 The altars on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz that the kings of Judah had made and the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord he pulled down from there and broke in pieces and threw the rubble into the Wadi Kidron.(G) 13 The king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Destruction, which King Solomon of Israel had built for Astarte the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.(H) 14 He broke the pillars in pieces, cut down the sacred poles,[c] and covered the sites with human bones.(I)

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Footnotes

  1. 23.6 Heb lacks image of
  2. 23.11 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  3. 23.14 Or Asherahs