EasyEnglish Bible 2018
2 Kings 23:2
2He went up to the Lord's temple. All the people who lived in Jerusalem and in the rest of Judah went with him. They included the priests, the prophets, young people and old people. Everyone went to the temple. They all listened while the king read to them all the words in the Book of God's Covenant. That was the book that Hilkiah had found in the Lord's temple.
2 Kings 23:2 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord.
- New International Version (NIV)He went up to the temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And the king went up to the house of the Lord, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord.
- New King James Version (NKJV)The king went up to the house of the Lord with all the men of Judah, and with him all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the house of the Lord.
Context of 2 Kings 23:2
1King Josiah told all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem to come and meet with him. He went up to the Lord's temple. All the people who lived in Jerusalem and in the rest of Judah went with him. They included the priests, the prophets, young people and old people. Everyone went to the temple. They all listened while the king read to them all the words in the Book of God's Covenant. That was the book that Hilkiah had found in the Lord's temple. 3Then the king stood in his place beside the pillar in the temple. He promised the Lord that he would obey the covenant. He agreed to serve the Lord faithfully and to obey his commands, laws and rules. Josiah agreed to obey what was written in the Book of God's Covenant. All the people also promised to obey the covenant. 4Then the king gave a command to Hilkiah, the leader of the priests, and to the other priests and the temple guards. He told them to bring out from the Lord's temple everything that people used there to worship false gods. People used those things to worship Baal, Asherah and all the stars in the sky. King Josiah burned those things outside Jerusalem, in the fields of the Kidron Valley. Then he took all the ashes to Bethel.
Read all of 2 Kings 232 Kings 23:2 word by word
וַיַּ֣עַל הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ בֵּית־יְהוָ֡ה וְכָל־אִ֣ישׁ יְהוּדָה֩ וְכָל־יֹשְׁבֵ֨י יְרוּשָׁלִַ֜ם אִתּ֗וֹ וְהַכֹּֽהֲנִים֙ וְהַנְּבִיאִ֔ים וְכָל־הָעָ֖ם לְמִקָּטֹ֣ן וְעַד־גָּד֑וֹל וַיִּקְרָ֣א בְאָזְנֵיהֶ֗ם אֶת־כָּל־דִּבְרֵי֙ סֵ֣פֶר הַבְּרִ֔ית הַנִּמְצָ֖א בְּבֵ֥ית יְהוָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And the kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
- went upעָלָה‛âlâh · to ascend: riseH5927
- into the houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: templeH1004
- of the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- and all the menאִישׁ'îysh · manH376
- of Judahיְהוּדָהyehûdâh · JudahH3063
- and all the inhabitantsיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427
- of Jerusalemיְרוּשָׁלִַ֫ם, יְרוּשְׁלֵםyerûshâlaim yerûshâlayim · JerusalemH3389
- with him, and the priestsכֹּהֵןkôhên · priestH3548
- and the prophetsנָבִיאnâbîy' · prophetH5030
- and all the peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
- both smallקָטֹןqâţân qâţôn · smallH6996
- and greatגָּדוֹלgâdôl gâdôl · great: largeH1419
- and he readקָרָאqârâ' · to call: read outH7121
- in their earsאֹ֫זֶן'ôzen · ear: hearingH241
- all the wordsדָּבָרdâbâr · wordH1697
- of the bookסֵ֫פֶרsêpher siphrâh · scroll: bookH5612
- of the covenantבְּרִיתberîyth · covenantH1285
- which was foundמָצָאmâtsâ' · to findH4672
Cross-references for 2 Kings 23:2
- Genesis 19:11Then they caused all the men outside to become blind. The young men of the city and the old men all became blind. As a result, they could not find the door of the house, even though they tried for some time.
- 1 Samuel 5:9After they had moved the Covenant Box to Gath, the Lord punished the people in that city too. He made them all very afraid. He caused tumours to grow on them, young people as well as old people.
- 1 Samuel 30:2They had caught the women and the other people who were in the town, both young people and old people. They did not kill any of them, but they took them away as prisoners.
- 2 Chronicles 15:13If anyone refused to worship the Lord, Israel's God, they would punish that person with death. They agreed to do that, whoever the person was, young or old, male or female.
- Esther 1:5When this feast finished, he gave another feast for everyone who lived in Susa. It was for people who were important, and for ordinary people as well. The feast continued for seven days. It was in part of the garden of the king's palace.
- Job 3:19Great people and ordinary people are all there together. Slaves have no master that they must obey.
- Psalms 115:13He will bless everybody who serves him, whether they are important people or not.
- Acts 26:22But God has helped me every day, even until today. So now I stand here and I can tell you what is true. I say the same thing to people who are very important and to people who are not important. I am telling you the same things that Moses and God's other prophets wrote about. They also said that these things would happen.
- Revelation 20:12I also saw the people who had died, important people and ordinary people. They were standing in front of the great throne. Then someone opened books to see what was in them. God had written in them all the things that the people had done. Then someone opened another book which is God's book of life. God judged the people who had died. He looked in the books to see what they had done, and he decided what was right.
- Deuteronomy 31:10Then Moses said to them, ‘You must read this Law to all the Israelites. Read it every seven years at the Feast of Huts, in the year when you forgive people's debts. At that time all the Israelites will go to the place that the Lord your God will choose. When they meet there to worship the Lord, they must listen to this Law.
- 2 Chronicles 17:9These men travelled everywhere in Judah to teach people. They took with them the book which was a copy of the Lord's law. They used it to teach people in all Judah's towns.
- Nehemiah 8:1All the people met together in the open place near the Water Gate. They asked Ezra to bring the book of the Law of Moses. The Lord had given those laws to the Israelites so that they would obey them.
- Nehemiah 9:3While the Israelites stood there, they read from the book of God's Law during a quarter of the day. During another quarter of the day they told the Lord their God about their sins and they worshipped him.
- Nehemiah 13:1On that day, we read the book of Moses aloud to the people. One of the laws said that no descendant of Ammon or Moab should ever join with God's people when they met together.
- 2 Kings 22:8Hilkiah, the leader of the priests, told Shaphan, the king's secretary, ‘I have found the Book of the Law in the Lord's temple.’ He gave the book to Shaphan and Shaphan read it.
- Deuteronomy 31:26‘Take this book of God's Law. Put it next to the Covenant Box of the Lord your God. It must remain there, so that the Israelites will know when they are guilty.
Commentaries on 2 Kings 23:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2The king went up into the house of the Lord - Here is another very singular circumstance. The high priest, scribes, priest, and prophets, are gathered together, with all the elders of the people, and the king himself reads the book of the covenant which had been lately found! It is strange that either the high priest, Jeremiah, Zephaniah, or some other of the prophets, who were certainly there present, did not read the sacred book! It is likely that the…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2The prophets - The suggestion to regard this word an error of the pen for “Levites,” which occurs in Chronicles (marginal reference), is unnecessary. For though Zephaniah, Urijah, and Jeremiah are all that we can name as belonging to the order at the time, there is no reason to doubt that Judaea contained others whom we cannot name. “Schools of the prophets” were as common in Judah as in Israel. He read - The present passage is strong evidence that the…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-2Following the instructions in Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 31:10–13) and the example of Joshua (Joshua 8:34–35), Josiah called all the people to listen to the reading of the entire Book of the Covenant.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-32Ki 23:1-3. Josiah Causes the Law to Be Read. 1-3. the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders--This pious and patriotic king, not content with the promise of his own security, felt, after Huldah's response, an increased desire to avert the threatened calamities from his kingdom and people. Knowing the richness of the divine clemency and grace to the penitent, he convened the elders of the people, and placing himself at their head…Read the comment
Topics related to 2 Kings 23:2
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 2 Kings 23
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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