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.

He went to the Lord's Temple with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, together with the priests and the Levites, all the people from the least to the greatest, and he read to them the whole Book of the Agreement that had been discovered in the Lord's Temple.

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.

The king stood by the pillar and made a solemn agreement before the Lord to follow him and to keep his commandments, laws, and regulations with total dedication, and to observe the requirements of the agreement as written in the book. All the people entered into the agreement.

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 ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of second rank, and the doorkeepers to remove from the Lord's Temple everything made for Baal, Asherah, and the worship of sun, moon, and stars. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the Kidron fields and took 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.

He also dismissed the priests appointed by the kings of Judah to present burnt offerings on the high places of the towns of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem, those who had sacrificed to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations, and to all the powers 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 removed the Asherah pole from the Lord's Temple and took it to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem. He burned it there, ground it into dust, and threw its dust over the graves of the ordinary 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 demolished the quarters of the cult prostitutes that were in the Lord's Temple, where the women used to weave tapestries for the 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.

Josiah brought to Jerusalem all the priests from the towns of Judah and defiled the high places, from Geba to Beersheba, where the priests had sacrificed burnt offerings. He demolished the high places of the gates, near to the entrance of the gate of Joshua, the governor of the city, which was left of the town 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.

Though the priests of the high places did not serve at the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, they did eat unleavened bread with their brother 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 defiled the Topheth altar 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.

He removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun from the entrance to the Lord's Temple. They were in the courtyard near the room of a eunuch named Nathan-melech. Josiah also burned the chariots dedicated to 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 demolished the altars that the kings of Judah had set up on the roof near the upper chamber of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had placed in the two courtyards of the Lord's Temple. The king smashed them to pieces and scattered them in 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 defiled the high places to the east of Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Corruption, the places which King Solomon of Israel had built for Ashtoreth, the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh, the vile god of the Moabites, and for Molech, the vile god 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 stone pillars to pieces, chopped down the Asherah poles, and covered the places 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 also demolished the altar at Bethel, the high place set up by Jeroboam, son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. Then he burned the high place, ground it to dust, 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.

As Josiah looked around he saw some tombs there on the hill. He had the bones taken from the tombs, and he burned them on the altar to defile it, just as the Lord had said through the man of God who had prophesied 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 he asked, “Whose gravestone is this that I see?” “It's the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed exactly what you have done to the altar of Bethel,” the townspeople replied.

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 in peace,” said Josiah. “Don't anyone touch his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed, together with the bones of the prophet who came 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.

Josiah destroyed, just as he did at Bethel, all the shrines of the high places in the towns of Samaria that the kings of Israel had built that had angered the Lord.

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.

Josiah slaughtered all the priests who were there at the high places on the altars, and 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 sent out an order to all the people, “Observe the Passover of the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Agreement.”

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.

Such a Passover as this had not been observed from the days of the judges who ruled Israel on 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 King Josiah, this Passover was observed to honor 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.

In addition, Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists, the household gods and idols, and all the disgusting practices that were present in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. He did this to fulfill the words of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had found in the Lord's Temple.

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.

Never before was there a king like him who committed himself to the Lord in all his thoughts and attitudes, and with all his strength, keeping all the Law of Moses. There was no king like him afterwards either.

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.

However, the Lord had not given up his furious hostility, which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh had done to anger him.

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.

So the Lord announced, “I'm also going to banish Judah from my presence, just as I banished Israel. I will abandon this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the Temple regarding which I said, My name will 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?

The rest of what happened in Josiah's reign, and all he did, are recorded in the Book of 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.

While Josiah was still king, Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, led his army to help the king of Assyria at the Euphrates River. King Josiah took his army to fight him at Megiddo, but when Neco saw Josiah he killed him.

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.

His servants put his body in a chariot, brought him back from Megiddo to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. Then the people of the land chose Jehoahaz, son of Josiah, anointed him, and made him king in succession to 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 when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for three months. His mother's name was Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah. She came from Libnah.

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

He did what was evil in the Lord's sight, just as all his forefathers 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.

Pharaoh Neco imprisoned Jehoahaz at Riblah in the land of Hamath to stop him ruling in Jerusalem. He also imposed on Judah a tribute of one 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.

Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim, son of Josiah, king in succession to his father Josiah, and he changed Eliakim's name to Jehoiakim. Neco took Jehoahaz 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.

Jehoiakim paid the silver and gold to Pharaoh Neco, but in order to meet Pharaoh's demand he taxed the land and required payment of the silver and the gold from the people, each in proportion to their 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 when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother's name was Zebidah, daughter of Pedaiah She came from Rumah.

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

He did evil in the Lord's sight, just as his forefathers had done.