Anden Kongebog 23

1 Og Kongen sendte hen, og alle de Ældste i Juda og Jerusalem samlede sig om ham.

Then the king summoned all the elders of Jerusalem and [of the other places in] Judah.

2 Og Kongen gik op i Herrens Hus, og alle Judas Mænd og alle Jerusalems Indbyggere med ham og Præsterne og Profeterne og alt Folket, baade smaa og store, og han læste for deres Øren alle Ordene i Pagtens Bog, som var funden i Herrens Hus.

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.

3 Og Kongen stod paa Forhøjningen og gjorde Pagten for Herrens Ansigt, at de skulde vandre efter Herren og holde hans Bud og hans Vidnesbyrd og hans Skikke af ganske Hjerte og af ganske Sjæl for at hævde denne Pagts Ord, som vare skrevne i denne Bog; og alt Folket indgik Pagten.

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.

4 Og Kongen bød Hilkia, Ypperstepræsten, og Præsterne af anden Rang og Dørvogterne, at de skulde udføre af Herrens Tempel alle de Redskaber, som vare gjorte til Baal og til Astarte og til al Himmelens Hær; og de opbrændte dem uden for Jerusalem paa Kedrons Marker, og Støvet af dem lod han bringe til Bethel.

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].

5 Og han afsatte de afgudiske Præster, som Judas Konger havde indsat, og som havde gjort Røgelse paa Højene i Judas Stæder og i dem, som laa omkring Jerusalem, samt dem, som gjorde Røgelse for Baal, for Solen og for Maanen og for Himmeltegnene og for al Himmelens Hær.

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.

6 Og han lod Astartebilledet føre ud af Herrens Hus uden for Jerusalem til Kedrons Bæk og opbrændte det ved Kedrons Bæk og stødte det smaat til Støv, og han kastede dets Støv paa Folkets Børns Grave.

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.

7 Og han nedbrød de Skørlevneres Huse, som vare ved Herrens Hus, i hvilke Kvinderne vævede Telte for Astarte.

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.

8 Og han lod alle Præsterne komme fra Judas Stæder og vanhelligede Højene, hvor Præsterne havde gjort Røgelse, fra Geba indtil Beersaba; og han nedbrød Højene ved Portene, den, som var ved Indgangen til Josvas, Stadsfyrstens, Port, og den, som var til venstre, naar man gaar ind ad Stadens Port.

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.

9 Dog ofrede ikke Højenes Præster paa Herrens Alter i Jerusalem, endskønt de aad usyrede Brød midt iblandt deres Brødre.

10 Og han vanhelligede Tofet, som var i Hinnoms Børns Dal, for at ikke nogen skulde lade sin Søn eller sin Datter gaa igennem Ilden til Molek.

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.

11 Og han afskaffede de Heste, som Judas Konger havde indviet til Solen, foran Indgangen til Herrens Hus, ved Hofbetjenten Nethan-Meleks Kammer, hvilket var paa Parvarim, og han opbrændte Solens Vogne med Ild.

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.

12 Og de Altre, som vare paa Akas's Sals Tag, og som Judas Konger havde opført, og de Altre, som Manasse havde opført i de to Herrens Huses Forgaarde, nedbrød Kongen, og han skyndte sig derfra og lod deres Støv kaste i Kedrons Bæk.

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.

13 Og de Høje, som vare lige for Jerusalem, som vare paa den højre Haand af Mashiths Bjerg, hvilke Salomo, Israels Konge, havde bygget for Astarte, Zidoniernes Vederstyggelighed, og for Kamos, Moabiternes Vederstyggelighed, og for Milkom, Ammons Børns Vederstyggelighed, vanhelligede Kongen.

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.

14 Og han sønderslog Støtterne og udryddede Astartebillederne og opfyldte deres Sted med Menneskeben.

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].

15 Ja ogsaa det Alter, som var i Bethel, og Højen, som Jeroboam, Nebats Søn, som kom Israel til at synde, havde gjort, ja det Alter og Højen nedbrød han, og han opbrændte Højen og gjorde den til fint Støv og opbrændte Astartebilledet.

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.

16 Og Josias vendte sig og saa de Grave, som vare der paa Bjerget, og han sendte hen og lod tage Benene af Gravene og opbrændte dem paa Alteret og vanhelligede det efter Herrens Ord, som den Guds Mand havde udraabt, han som udraabte disse Ord.

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.

17 Og han sagde: Hvad er det for et Gravmæle, som jeg ser? og Mændene i Staden sagde til ham: Det er den Guds Mands Grav, som kom fra Juda og raabte disse Ting, som du har gjort imod Alteret i Bethel.

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.”

18 Og han sagde: Lader ham hvile, ingen flytte hans Ben; og de reddede hans Ben tillige med den Profets Ben, som kom fra Samaria.

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.

19 Ja ogsaa alle Højenes Huse, som vare i Samarias Stæder, og som Israels Konger havde opført til at opirre Gud, borttog Josias og gjorde ved dem ganske paa samme Maade, som han havde gjort i Bethel.

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.

20 Og han slagtede alle Højenes Præster, som der vare, paa Altrene, og opbrændte Menneskeben paa dem; og han kom tilbage til Jerusalem.

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.

21 Og Kongen bød alt Folket og sagde: Holder Paaske for Herren eders Gud, saaledes som der er skrevet i denne Pagts Bog.

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].

22 Thi der var ikke holdt en Paaske som denne fra Dommernes Dage af, som dømte Israel, og gennem alle Israels Kongers og Judas Kongers Dage.

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.

23 Men i Kong Josias's attende Aar blev denne Paaske holdt for Herren i Jerusalem.

But now, after Josiah had been ruling for almost 18 years, to [honor] Yahweh they celebrated the Passover Festival in Jerusalem.

24 Men ogsaa Spaakvinderne og Tegnsudlæggerne og Husguderne og de stygge Afguder og alle de Vederstyggeligheder, som bleve sete i Judas Land og i Jerusalem, borttog Josias, for at holde Lovens Ord, som vare skrevne i Bogen, som Hilkia, Præsten, havde fundet i Herrens Hus.

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.

25 Og der var ingen Konge som han før ham, der omvendte sig til Herren af sit ganske Hjerte og af sin ganske Sjæl og af al sin Formue efter al Moses Lov, og der opstod ej nogen efter ham som han.

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.

26 Dog vendte Herren ikke om fra sin store Vredes Ild, hvormed hans Vrede var optændt imod Juda, for alle de Opirrelser, som Manasse havde opirret ham med.

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.

27 Og Herren sagde: Jeg vil ogsaa bortkaste Juda fra mit Ansigt, ligesom jeg bortkastede Israel, og jeg vil forkaste denne Stad, som jeg udvalgte, Jerusalem, og det Hus, om hvilket jeg sagde: Mit Navn skal være der.

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.”

28 Men det øvrige af Josias's Handeler og alt, hvad han gjorde, ere de Ting ikke skrevne i Judas Kongers Krønikers Bog?

[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’.

29 I hans Dage drog Farao Neko, Kongen af Ægypten, op imod Kongen af Assyrien til Floden Frat, og Kong Josias drog imod ham; men denne dræbte ham i Megiddo, der han havde set ham.

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.

30 Og hans Tjenere førte ham død fra Megiddo og førte ham til Jerusalem og begravede ham i hans Grav; og Folket i Landet tog Joakas, Josias's Søn, og salvede ham og gjorde ham til Konge i hans Faders Sted.

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.

31 Joakas var tre og tyve Aar gammel, der han blev Konge, og regerede tre Maaneder i Jerusalem, og hans Moders Navn var Hamutal, Jeremias's Datter fra Libna.

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].

32 Og han gjorde det, som var ondt for Herrens Øjne, efter alt det, som hans Fædre gjorde.

Joahaz did many things that Yahweh said were evil, just like many of his ancestors had done.

33 Og Farao Neko lod ham lægge i Lænker i Ribla udi Hamaths Land, at han ikke skulde regere i Jerusalem, og han lagde en Straf paa Landet, hundrede Centner Sølv og et Centner Guld.

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.

34 Og Farao Neko gjorde Eliakim, Josias's Søn, til Konge i hans Faders, Josias's Sted, og omvendte hans Navn til Jojakim; men Joakas tog han med, og denne kom til Ægypten og døde der.

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.

35 Og Jojakim gav Farao Sølvet og Guldet, men han lignede en Skat paa Landet for at kunne give Pengene efter Faraos Befaling; eftersom Skatten var lignet paa hver især, inddrev han Sølvet og Guldet af Folket i Landet for at give det til Farao Neko.

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.

36 Jojakim var fem og tyve Aar gammel, der han blev Konge, og regerede elleve Aar i Jerusalem, og hans Moders Navn var Sebuda, Pedajas Datter fra Ruma.

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].

37 Og han gjorde det, som var ondt for Herrens Øjne, efter alt det, som hans Fædre havde gjort.

He did many things that Yahweh says are evil, like his ancestors had done.