2 Kings 23
1 Then the king summoned all the elders of Jerusalem and [of the other places in] Judah.
And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.
2 They went together to the temple, along with the priests and the prophets, and many other [HYP] people, from the most important people to the least important people. And while they listened, the king read to them all of the laws that Moses had written. He read from the scroll that had been found in the temple.
And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, from the small to the great: and he read before their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which had been found in the house of the Lord.
3 Then the king stood next to the pillar [where the kings stood when they made important announcements], and while Yahweh was listening, he repeated his promise to sincerely obey [DOU] all of Yahweh’s commands and regulations [DOU]. He also promised to (fulfill the conditions of/do what was written in) the agreement he made with Yahweh. And all the people also promised to obey the agreement.
And the king stood upon the stand, and he made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies and his statutes with all [their] heart and all [their] soul, to maintain the words of this covenant that are written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant.
4 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the Supreme Priest and all the other priests who assisted him and the men who guarded the entrance to the temple to bring out from the temple all the items that people had been using to worship Baal, the goddess Asherah, and the stars. [After they carried them out, ] they burned all those things outside the city near the Kidron Valley. Then they took all the ashes to Bethel, [because that city was already considered to be desecrated/unholy].
And the king commanded Chilkiyahu the high-priest, and the priests of the second order, and the door-keepers, to carry forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that had been made for Ba'al, and for the Asherah, and for all the host of heaven: and they burnt them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes unto Beth-el.
5 There were many pagan priests that the previous kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense on the altars on the tops of hills in Judah. They had been offering sacrifices to Baal, to the sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars. The king stopped them from doing those things.
And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had appointed that they might burn incense on the high-places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; those also that burnt incense unto Ba'al, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.
6 He [commanded that] the statue of the goddess Asherah [be] taken out of the temple. Then they took it outside Jerusalem, down to the Kidron Brook, and burned it. Then they pounded the ashes to powder and scattered that over the graves in the public cemetery.
And he brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burnt it at the brook Kidron, and ground it small to powder, and cast its powder upon the graves of the children of the people.
7 He also destroyed the rooms in the temple where the temple male prostitutes lived. That was where women wove robes that were used to worship the goddess Asherah.
And he pulled down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah.
8 Josiah also brought [to Jerusalem] all the priests who were offering sacrifices in the other cities in Judah. He also desecrated the places on the tops of hills where the priests had burned incense [to honor idols], from Geba [in the north] to Beersheba [in the south]. Those priests were not allowed to offer sacrifices in the temple, but they [were allowed to] eat the unleavened bread that the priests [who worked in the temple] ate. He also [commanded that] the altars that were dedicated to the goat demons near the gate built by Joshua, the mayor of Jerusalem, [be] destroyed. Those altars were at the left of the main gate into the city.
And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high-places where the priests had burnt incense, from Geba' to Beer-Sheba', and he pulled 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 a man's left at the gate of the city.
Nevertheless the priests of the high-places came not up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem; but they ate unleavened bread in the midst of their brethren.
10 Josiah also desecrated the place named Topheth, in the Hinnom Valley, in order that no one could offer his son or daughter there to be completely burned for a sacrifice to [the god] Molech.
And he defiled the Thopheth, which was in the valley Ben-hinnom, so that no man should cause his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.
11 He also removed the horses that the [previous] kings of Judah had dedicated to worshiping the sun, and he burned the chariots that were used in that worship. Those horses and chariots were kept in the courtyard outside the temple, near the entrance to the temple, and near the room where [one of Josiah’s] officials, whose name was Nathan-Melech, lived.
And he put down the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, from the entrance of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nethan-melech the chamberlain, who was over the suburbs; and the chariots of the sun he burnt with fire.
12 Josiah also commanded his servants to tear down the altars that the previous kings of Judah had built on the roof of the palace, above the room where King Ahaz had stayed. They also tore down the altars that had been built by King Manasseh in the two courtyards outside the temple. He commanded that they be smashed to pieces and thrown down into the Kidron Valley.
And the altars that were on the roof of the upper-chamber of Achaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Menasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, did the king pull down, and tore them away from there, and cast their dust into the brook Kidron.
13 He also commanded that the altars that King Solomon had built east of Jerusalem, south of Olive Tree Hill, be desecrated. Solomon had built them for the worship of the disgusting idols—the [statue of the goddess] Astarte [worshiped by the people in] Sidon [city], Chemosh the god of the Moab people-group, and Molech the god of the Ammon people-group.
And the high-places that were before Jerusalem, which were to the right of the mount of destruction, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for 'Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Kemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of 'Ammon, did the king defile.
14 They also broke into pieces the stone pillars that the Israeli people worshiped, and cut down the [pillars that honored the goddess] Asherah, and they scattered the ground there with human bones [to desecrate it].
And he broke in pieces the standing images, and cut down the Asherah-groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.
15 Furthermore, he commanded them to tear down the place of worship at Bethel which had been built by King Jeroboam, the king who persuaded the people of Israel to sin. They tore down the altar. Then they broke its stones into pieces and pounded them to become powder. They also burned the statue [of the goddess] Asherah.
So also the altar that was at Beth-el, the high-place which Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, who induced Israel to sin, had made, —also that altar and the high-place did he pull down; and he burnt the high-place, ground it small to powder, and burnt then the Asherah.
16 Then Josiah looked around and saw some tombs there on the hill. He commanded his men to take the bones out of those tombs and burn them on the altar. By doing that, he desecrated the altar. That was what a prophet had predicted many years before when Jeroboam was standing close to that altar at a festival. Then Josiah looked up and saw the tomb of the prophet who had predicted that.
And Josiah turned about, and beheld the graves that were there in the mount, and he sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burnt them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, who had proclaimed these events.
17 Josiah asked, “Whose tomb is that?” The people of Bethel replied, “It is the tomb of the prophet who came from Judah and predicted that these things that you have just now done to this altar would happen.”
Then said he, What kind of monument is that which I see? And the men of the city said to him, It is the grave of the man of God, who came from Judah, and proclaimed these things which thou hast done against the altar of Beth-el.
18 Josiah replied, “Allow his tomb to remain as it is. Do not remove the prophet’s bones from the tomb.” So the people did not remove those bones, or the bones of the other prophet, the one who had come from Samaria.
And he said, Let him rest: no man shall disturb his bones. So they saved his bones, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.
19 In every city in Israel, at Josiah’s command, they tore down the shrines that had been built by the previous kings of Israel, which had caused Yahweh to become very angry. He did to all those shrines/altars the same thing that he had done to the altars at Bethel.
And also all the houses of the high-places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made as provocations to anger, did Josiah remove, and did to them in accordance with all the acts that he had done in Beth-el.
20 He ordered that all the priests who offered sacrifices on the altars on the tops of hills must be killed on those altars. Then he burned human bones on every one of those altars [to desecrate them]. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
And he slaughtered all the priests of the high-places that were there upon the altars, and burnt men's bones upon them, and returned [then] to Jerusalem.
21 Then the king commanded all the people to celebrate the Passover Festival to honor Yahweh their God, which was written in the law of Moses that they should do [every year].
And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the Lord your God, as it is written in this book of the covenant.
22 During all the years that leaders ruled Israel and during all the years that kings had ruled Israel and Judah, they had not celebrated that festival.
For there had not been holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel; nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, and of the kings of Judah;
23 But now, after Josiah had been ruling for almost 18 years, to [honor] Yahweh they celebrated the Passover Festival in Jerusalem.
But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah was this passover holden to the Lord in Jerusalem.
24 Furthermore, Josiah got rid of all the people in Jerusalem and other places in Judah who practiced sorcery and those who requested the spirits of dead people [to tell them what they should do]. He also removed from Jerusalem and from the other places in Judah all the household idols and all the other idols and abominable things. He did those things in order to obey what had been written in the scroll that Hilkiah had found in the temple.
And also the men of familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the teraphim, and the idols, and all the abominations that were to be seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah clear away; in order that he might accomplish the words of the law which were written in the book that Chilkiyahu the priest had found in the house of the Lord.
25 Josiah was totally devoted to Yahweh. There had never been [in Judah or Israel] a king like him. He obeyed all the laws of Moses. And there has never since then been a king like Josiah.
And like unto him there was no king before him, that returned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; and after him there arose none like him.
26 But Yahweh had become extremely angry with the people of Judah because of all the things that [King] Manasseh had done to infuriate him, and he continued to be very angry.
Notwithstanding this the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great anger, since his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provokings wherewith Menasseh had provoked him to anger.
27 He said, “I will do to Judah what I have done to Israel. I will banish the people of Judah, with the result that they will never enter my presence again. And I will reject Jerusalem, the city that I chose [to belong to me], and I will abandon the temple, the place where I said that I [MTY] should be worshiped.”
And the Lord said, Also Judah will I remove out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city which I have chosen, even Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.
28 [If you want to know more about] [RHQ] all the other things that Josiah did, they are written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Judah’.
Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah.
29 While Josiah was the king of Judah, King Neco of Egypt led his army north to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah tried to stop the army of Egypt at Megiddo [city], but Josiah was killed in a battle there.
In his days went up Pharaoh-nechoh the king of Egypt against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he slew him at Megiddo, when he saw him.
30 His officials placed his corpse in a chariot and took it back to Jerusalem, where it was buried in his own tomb, a tomb where the other previous kings had not been buried. Then the people of Judah poured [olive] oil on [the head of] Josiah’s son Joahaz, to appoint him to be the new king.
And his servants carried him dying in a chariot from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoachaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's stead.
31 Joahaz was 23 years old when he became the king [of Judah], but he ruled from Jerusalem for [only] three months. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah [city].
Twenty and three years old was Jehoachaz when he became king; and three months did he reign in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Chamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
32 Joahaz did many things that Yahweh said were evil, just like many of his ancestors had done.
And he did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, all just as his fathers had done.
33 King Neco’s [army came from Egypt and captured him and] tied him up with chains and took him as a prisoner to Riblah [town] in Hamath [district], to prevent him from continuing to rule in Jerusalem. Neco forced the people of Judah to pay to him (7,500 pounds/3,400 kg.) of silver and (75 pounds/34 kg.) of gold.
And Pharaoh-nechoh put him in fetters at Riblah in the land of Chamath, that he should not reign in Jerusalem, and imposed a fine on the land of a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.
34 King Neco appointed another son of Josiah, Eliakim, to be the new king, and he changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. Then he took Joahaz to Egypt, and later Joahaz died there in Egypt.
And Pharaoh-nechoh made Elyakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoyakim, and took Jehoachaz away: and he came to Egypt, and died there.
35 King Jehoiakim collected a tax from the people [of Judah]. He collected more from the rich people and less from the poor people. He collected silver and gold from them, in order to pay to the king of Egypt what he commanded them to give.
And Jehoyakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give the money by the order of Pharaoh: from every one according to his estimation did he exact the silver and gold from the people of the land, to give it unto Pharaoh-nechoh.
36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became the king [of Judah], and he ruled from Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother was Zebidah, the daughter of Pedaiah from Rumah [town].
Twenty and five years old was Jehoyakim when he became king; and eleven years did be reign in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedayah of Rumah.
37 He did many things that Yahweh says are evil, like his ancestors had done.
And he did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, all just as his fathers had done.
