Kings IV 23

1 So they reported the word to the king: and the king sent and gathered all the elders of Juda and Jerusalem to himself.

Then the king summoned all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.

2 And the king went up to the house of the Lord, and every man of Juda and all who lived in Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people small and great; and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the Lord.

And he went up to the house of the LORD with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, as well as the priests and the prophets—all the people small and great—and in their hearing he read all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been 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, to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his ordinances with all the heart and with all the soul, to confirm the words of this covenant; [even] the things written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.

So the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD to follow the LORD and to keep His commandments, decrees, and statutes with all his heart and all his soul, and to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant.

4 And the king commanded Chelcias the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and them that kept the door, to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and all the host of heaven, and he burnt them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kedron, and took the ashes of them to Baethel.

Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests second in rank, and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the LORD all the articles made for Baal, Asherah, and all the host of heaven. And he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel.

5 And he burnt the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Juda [had] appointed, (and they burnt incense in the high places and in the cities of Juda, and the places around about Jerusalem); and them that burnt incense to Baal, and to the sun, and to the moon, and to Mazuroth, and to all the host of heaven.

Josiah also did away with the idolatrous priests ordained by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem—those who had burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven.

6 And he carried out the grove from the house of the Lord to the brook Kedron, and burnt it at the brook Kedron, and reduced it to powder, and cast its powder on the sepulchres of the sons of the people.

He brought the Asherah pole from the house of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem, and there he burned it, ground it to powder, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.

7 And he pulled down the house of the sodomites that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove tents for the grove.

He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the house of the LORD, where the women had woven tapestries for Asherah.

8 And he brought up all the priest from the cities of Juda, and defiled the high places where the priests burnt incense, from Gaebal even to Bersabee; and he pulled down the house of the gates that was by the door of the gate of Joshua the ruler of the city, on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.

Then Josiah brought all the priests from the cities of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense. He tore down the high places of the gates at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which was to the left of the city gate.

9 Only the priests of the high places went not up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, for they only ate leavened bread in the midst of their brethren.

Although the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.

10 And he defiled Taphes which is in the valley of the son of Ennom, [constructed] for a man to cause his son or his daughter to pass through fire to Moloch.

He also desecrated Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnom so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech.

11 And he burnt the horses which the king of Juda had given to the sun in the entrance of the house of the Lord, by the treasury of Nathan the king's eunuch, in the suburbs; and he burnt the chariot of the sun with fire.

And he removed from the entrance to the house of the LORD the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court near the chamber of an official named Nathan-melech. And Josiah burned up the chariots of the sun.

12 And the altars that were on the roof of the upper chamber of Achaz, which the kings of Juda had made, and the altars which Manasses had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, did the king pull down and forcibly remove from thence, and cast their dust into the brook of Kedron.

He pulled down the altars that the kings of Judah had set up on the roof near the upper chamber of Ahaz, and the altars that Manasseh had set up in the two courtyards of the house of the LORD. The king pulverized them there and threw their dust into the Kidron Valley.

13 And the king defiled the house that was before Jerusalem, on the right hand of the mount of Mosthath, which Solomon king of Israel built to Astarte the abomination of the Sidonians, and to Chamos the abomination of Moab, and to Moloch the abomination of the children of Ammon.

The king also desecrated the high places east of Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Corruption, which King Solomon of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

14 And he broke in pieces the pillars, and utterly destroyed the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.

He smashed the sacred pillars to pieces, cut down the Asherah poles, and covered the sites with human bones.

15 Also the high altar in Baethel, which Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin, had made, even that high altar he tore down, and broke in pieces the stones of it, and reduced it to powder, and burnt the grove.

He even pulled down the altar at Bethel, the high place set up by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin. Then he burned the high place, ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole.

16 And Josias turned aside, and saw the tombs that were there in the city, and sent, and took the bones out of the tombs, and burnt them on the altar, and defiled it, according to the word of the Lord which the man of God spoke, when Jeroboam stood by the altar at the feast: and he turned and raised his eyes to the tomb of the man of God that spoke these words.

And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the hillside, and he sent someone to take the bones out of the tombs, and he burned them on the altar to defile it, according to the word of the LORD proclaimed by the man of God who had foretold these things.

17 And he said, What [is] that mound which I see? And the men of the city said to him, [It is the grave of] the man of God that came out of Juda, and uttered these imprecations which he imprecated upon the altar of Baethel.

Then the king asked, “What is this monument I see?” And the men of the city replied, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and pronounced these things that you have done to the altar of Bethel.”

18 And he said, Let him alone; let no one disturb his bones. So his bones were spared, together with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.

“Let him rest,” said Josiah. “Do not let anyone disturb his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed, along with those of the prophet who had come from Samaria.

19 Moreover Josias removed all the houses of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel made to provoke the Lord, and did to them all that he did in Baethel.

Just as Josiah had done at Bethel, so also in the cities of Samaria he removed all the shrines of the high places set up by the kings of Israel who had provoked the LORD to anger.

20 And he sacrificed all the priests of the high places that were there on the altars, and burnt the bones of men upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.

On the altars he slaughtered all the priests of the high places, and he burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

21 And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant.

The king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover of the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.”

22 For a passover [such as] this had not been kept from the days of the judges who judged Israel, even all the days of the kings of Israel, and of the kings of Juda.

No such Passover had been observed from the days of the judges who had governed Israel through all the days of the kings of Israel and Judah.

23 But in the eighteenth year of king Josias, was the passover kept to the Lord in Jerusalem.

But in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign, this Passover was observed to the LORD in Jerusalem.

24 Moreover Josias removed the sorcerers, and the wizards, and the theraphin, and the idols, and all the abominations that had been set up in the land of Juda and in Jerusalem, that he might keep the words of the law that were written in the book, which Chelcias the priest found in the house of the Lord.

Furthermore, Josiah removed the mediums and spiritists, the household gods and idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. He did this to carry out the words of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had found in the house of the LORD.

25 There was no king like him before him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his strength, according to all the law of Moses; and after him there rose not one like him.

Neither before nor after Josiah was there any king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, according to all the Law of Moses.

26 Nevertheless the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great anger, wherewith he was angry in his anger against Juda, because of the provocations, wherewith Manasses provoked him.

Nevertheless, the LORD did not turn away from the fury of His burning anger, which was kindled against Judah because of all that Manasseh had done to provoke Him to anger.

27 And the Lord said, I will also remove Juda from my presence, as I removed Israel, and will reject this city which I have chosen [even] Jerusalem, and the house [of] which I said, My name shall be there.

For the LORD had said, “I will remove Judah from My sight, just as I removed Israel. I will reject this city Jerusalem, which I chose, and the temple of which I said, ‘My Name shall be there.’”

28 And the rest of the acts of Josias, and all that he did, [are] not these things written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Juda?

As for the rest of the acts of Josiah, along with all his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

29 And in his days went up Pharao Nechao king of Egypt against the king of the Assyrians to the river Euphrates: and Josias went out to meet him: and Nechao killed him in Mageddo when he saw him.

At the end of Josiah’s reign, Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt marched up to help the king of Assyria at the Euphrates River. King Josiah went out to confront him, but Neco faced him and killed him at Megiddo.

30 And his servants carried him dead from Mageddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre: and the people of the land took Joachaz the son of Josias, and anointed him, and made him king in the room of his father.

From Megiddo his servants carried his body in a chariot, brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah, anointed him, and made him king in place of his father.

31 Twenty and three years old was Joachaz when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem: and his mother's name [was] Amital, daughter of Jeremias of Lobna.

Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah.

32 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers did.

And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as his fathers had done.

33 And Pharao Nechao removed him to Rablaam in the land of Emath, so that he should not reign in Jerusalem; and imposed a tribute on the land, a hundred talents of silver, and a hundred talents of gold.

And Pharaoh Neco imprisoned Jehoahaz at Riblah in the land of Hamath so that he could not reign in Jerusalem, and he imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.

34 And Pharao Nechao made Eliakim son of Josias king of Juda king over them in the place of his father Josias, and he changed his name [to] Joakim, and he took Joachaz and brought him to Egypt, and he died there.

Then Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah, and he changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt, where he died.

35 And Joakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharao; but he assessed the land to give the money at the command of Pharao: they gave the silver and the gold [each] man according to his assessment together with the people of the land to give to Pharao Nechao.

So Jehoiakim paid the silver and gold to Pharaoh Neco, but to meet Pharaoh’s demand he taxed the land and exacted the silver and the gold from the people, each according to his wealth.

36 Twenty-five years old [was] Joakim when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name [was] Jeldaph, daughter of Phadail of Ruma.

Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah; she was from Rumah.

37 And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the lord, according to all that his fathers had done.

And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as his fathers had done.