2 Kings 23:4-37

4Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and 1the priests of the second order and the 2doorkeepers, 3to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, for 4Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and 5he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5He did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem, also those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the constellations and to all the 6host of heaven. 6He brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord outside Jerusalem to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and 7ground it to dust, and 8threw its dust on the graves of the 9common people. 7He also broke down the houses of the 10male cult prostitutes which were in the house of the Lord, where 11the women were weaving 12hangings for the Asherah. 8Then he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from 13Geba to Beersheba; and he broke down the high places of the gates which were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one’s left at the city gate. 9Nevertheless 14the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. 1015He also defiled 16Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, 17that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire for 18Molech. 11He did away with the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the 19sun, at the entrance of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the official, which was in the precincts; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 1220The altars which were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and 21the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, the king broke down; and he 22smashed them there and 23threw their dust into the brook Kidron. 13The high places which were before Jerusalem, which were on the right of 24the mount of destruction which Solomon the king of Israel had built for 25Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for 26Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the sons of Ammon, the king defiled. 1427He broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherim and 28filled their places with human bones.

15Furthermore, 29the altar that was at Bethel and the 30high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he broke down. Then he 3132demolished its stones, ground them to dust, and burned the Asherah. 16Now when Josiah turned, he saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent and took the bones from the graves and burned them on the altar and defiled it 33according to the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things. 17Then he said, “What is this monument that I see?” And the men of the city told him, “34It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel.” 18He said, “Let him alone; let no one disturb his bones.” So they 35left his bones undisturbed 36with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria. 19Josiah also removed all the houses of the high places which were 37in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made provoking 38the Lord; and he did to them 39just as he had done in Bethel. 20All the priests of the high places who were there 40he slaughtered on the altars and burned human bones on them; then he returned to Jerusalem.

21Then the king commanded all the people saying, “41Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God 42as it is written in this book of the covenant.” 2243Surely such a Passover had not been celebrated from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and of the kings of Judah. 23But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was observed to the Lord in Jerusalem.

24Moreover, Josiah 44removed 45the mediums and the spiritists and the 46teraphim and 47the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, 48that he might 49confirm the words of the law which were written 50in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. 25Before him there was no king 51like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.

26However, the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath with which His anger burned against Judah, 52because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. 27The Lord said, “I will remove Judah also from My sight, 53as I have removed Israel. And 54I will cast off Jerusalem, this city which I have chosen, and the 55temple of which I said, ‘My name shall be there.’”

28Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 2956In his days 57Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. And King Josiah went to meet him, and when Pharaoh Neco saw him he killed him at 58Megiddo. 3059His servants drove 60his body in a chariot from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. 61Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.

3162Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was 63Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32He did evil in the sight of the Lord, 64according to all that his fathers had done. 3365Pharaoh Neco imprisoned him at 66Riblah in the land of 67Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a fine of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34Pharaoh Neco made 68Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and 69changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away and 7071brought him to Egypt, and he died there. 35So Jehoiakim 72gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land in order to give the money at the 73command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land, each according to his valuation, to give it to Pharaoh Neco.

3674Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. 37He did evil in the sight of the Lord, 75according to all that his fathers had done.