2 Kings 23

Josiah’s Covenant

11Then the king sent messengers, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2And the king went up to the house of the Lord and every man of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, the prophets, and all the people, from the small to the great; and 2he read in their 3presence all the words of the Book of the Covenant 4which was found in the house of the Lord. 3And 5the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, 6to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments, His provisions, and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people 7entered into the covenant.

Reforms under Josiah

4Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, 8the priests of the second order, and the 9doorkeepers 10to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the utensils that had been made for Baal, for 11Asherah, and for all the heavenly 12lights; and 13he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5Then he did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem, as well as those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the remaining 14heavenly 15lights. 6He also brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord outside Jerusalem to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and 16ground it to dust, and 17threw its dust on the graves of the 18common people. 7And he tore down the cubicles of the 19male cult prostitutes which were in the house of the Lord, where 20the women were weaving 21hangings 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 22Geba to Beersheba; and he tore 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 one’s left at the city gate. 9Nevertheless 23the 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. 1024He also defiled 25Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, 26so that no one would make his son or his daughter pass through the fire for 27Molech. 11And he did away with the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the 28sun, at the entrance of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the official, which was at the 29covered courtyard; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12The king also tore down 30the altars that were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and 31the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courtyards of the house of the Lord; and he 32smashed them there and 33threw their dust into the brook Kidron. 13And the king defiled the high places that were opposite Jerusalem, which were on the right of 34the mount of destruction which Solomon the king of Israel had built for 35Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for 36Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the sons of Ammon. 1437He also smashed to pieces the memorial stones and cut down the 38Asherim, and 39filled their places with human bones.

15Furthermore, 40the altar that was at Bethel and the 41high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who misled Israel into sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he tore down. Then he 42burned the high place, ground the remains to dust, and burned the Asherah. 16Now when Josiah turned, he saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent men and took the bones from the graves, and burned them on the altar and defiled it 43in accordance with the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, the one who proclaimed these things. 17Then he said, “What is this gravestone there that I see?” And the men of the city told him, “44It 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.” 18And he said, “Leave him alone; no one is to disturb his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed 45with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria. 19Then Josiah also removed all the houses of the high places which were 46in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had constructed, 47provoking the Lord to anger; and he did to them 48just as he had done in Bethel. 20And 49he slaughtered all the priests of the high places who were there on the altars, and burned human bones on them; then he returned to Jerusalem.

Passover Reinstituted

21Then the king commanded all the people, saying, “50Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God 51as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 2252Truly such a Passover had not been celebrated since the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. 23But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.

24Moreover, Josiah removed 53the mediums, the spiritists, the 5455household idols, 56the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, 57so that he might 58fulfill the words of the Law which were written 59in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. 25Before him there was no king 60like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart, all his soul, and all his might, in conformity to all the Law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.

26Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath with which His anger burned against Judah, 61because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. 27And the Lord said, “I will also remove Judah from My sight, 62just as I have removed Israel. And 63I will reject this city which I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the 64temple of which I said, ‘My name shall be there!’”

Jehoahaz Succeeds Josiah

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? 2965In his days 66Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria at the river Euphrates. And King Josiah went to meet him, and when Pharaoh Neco saw him he killed him at 67Megiddo. 3068His servants carried 69his body in a chariot from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. 70Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.

3171Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was 72Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32He did evil in the sight of the Lord, 73in accordance with all that his forefathers had done. 33And 74Pharaoh Neco imprisoned him at 75Riblah in the land of 76Hamath, so that he would not reign in Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a fine of 77a hundred talents of silver and 78a talent of gold.

Jehoiakim Made King by Pharaoh

34Then Pharaoh Neco made 79Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of his father Josiah, and he 80changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz and 8182brought him to Egypt, and he died there. 35So Jehoiakim 83gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh, but he assessed the land in order to give the money at the 84command of Pharaoh. He collected the silver and gold from the people of the land, each according to his assessment, to give to Pharaoh Neco.

3685Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for 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, 86in accordance with all that his forefathers had done.