2 Kings 23

1 And they reported to the king what she had said. And he sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him.

And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.

2 And the king ascended to the temple of the Lord. And with him were all the men of Judah and all who were living in Jerusalem: the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, from the small to the great. And in the hearing of everyone, he read all the words of the book of the covenant, which was found in the house of the Lord.

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 And the king stood upon the step. And he struck a covenant before the Lord, so that they would walk after the Lord, and keep his precepts and testimonies and ceremonies, with all their heart and with all their soul, and so that they would carry out the words of this covenant, which had been written in that book. And the people agreed to the covenant.

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 And the king instructed Hilkiah, the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, so that they would cast out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels which had been made for Baal, and for the sacred grove, and for the entire army of heaven. And he burned them outside of Jerusalem, in the steep valley of Kidron. And he carried their dust into Bethel.

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 And he destroyed the soothsayers, whom the kings of Judah had appointed to sacrifice in the high places throughout the cities of Judah, and all around Jerusalem, along with those who were burning incense to Baal, and to the Sun, and to the Moon, and to the twelve signs, and to the entire army of heaven.

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 And he caused the sacred grove to be carried away from the house of the Lord, outside of Jerusalem, to the steep valley of Kidron. And he burned it there, and reduced it to dust. And he cast the dust over the graves of the common people.

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 Also, he destroyed the small places of the effeminate, which were in the house of the Lord, for which the women were weaving something like little houses in the sacred grove.

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 And he gathered together all the priests from the cities of Judah. And he defiled the high places, where the priests were sacrificing, from Geba as far as Beersheba. And he tore down the altars of the gates at the entrance to the gate of Joshua, the leader of the city, which was to the left of the gate of 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.

9 Yet truly, the priests of the high places did not ascend to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem. For they would only eat from the unleavened bread in the midst of their brothers.

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 Also, he defiled Topheth, which is in the steep valley of the son of Hinnom, so that no one would consecrate his son or his daughter, through fire, to 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 Also, he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the Sun, at the entrance to the temple of the Lord, beside the hallway of Nathan-melech, the eunuch, who was in Pharurim. And he burned the chariots of the Sun with fire.

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 Also, the altars which were upon the roof of the upper room of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the temple of the Lord, the king destroyed. And he hurried from there, and he scattered their ashes into the torrent Kidron.

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 Also, the high places which were in Jerusalem, to the right side of the Mount of Offense, which Solomon, the king of Israel, had built to Ashtoreth, the idol of the Sidonians, and to Chemosh, the offense of Moab, and to Milcom, the abomination of the sons of Ammon, the king defiled.

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 And he crushed the statues, and he cut down the sacred groves. And he filled their places with the bones of the dead.

And he broke in pieces the standing images, and cut down the Asherah-groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.

15 Then too, the altar which was in Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin, had made: both that altar and the high place he tore down, and burned, and reduced to dust. And then he also set fire to the sacred grove.

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 And in that place Josiah, turning, saw the sepulchers which were on the mount. And he sent and took the bones from the sepulchers. And he burned them upon the altar, and he defiled it in accord with the word of the Lord, which was spoken by the man of God, who had predicted these events.

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 And he said, “What is that monument that I see?” And the citizens of that city responded to him: “It is the sepulcher of the man of God, who came from Judah, and who predicted these events, which you have carried out concerning the altar of Bethel.”

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 And he said: “Permit him. Let no one move his bones.” And his bones have remained untouched, with the bones of the prophet who had arrived 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 Then too, all the shrines of the high places, which were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord, Josiah took away. And he acted toward them according to all the works that he had done in 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 And all the priests of the high places, who were in that place, he killed upon the altars. And he burned the bones of the men upon them. And 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 And he instructed all the people, saying: “Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, according to what has been written in the book of this covenant.”

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 Now no similar Passover was kept, from the days of the judges, who judged Israel, and from all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah,

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 as this Passover, which was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem, in the eighteenth year of king Josiah.

But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah was this passover holden to the Lord in Jerusalem.

24 Then too, Josiah took away those who divined by spirits, and the soothsayers, and the images of the idols, and the defilements, and the abominations, which had been in the land of Judah and Jerusalem, so that he might establish the words of the law, which were written in the book, which Hilkiah, the priest, found in the temple of the Lord.

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 There was no king before him similar to him, who returned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his strength, in accord with the entire law of Moses. And after him, there rose up no one similar to him.

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 Yet truly, the Lord did not turn away from the wrath of his great fury, his fury which was enraged against Judah because of the provocations by which Manasseh had provoked him.

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 And so the Lord said: “And now I will remove Judah from my face, just as I removed Israel. And I will cast aside this city, Jerusalem, which I have chosen, and the house, about which I said: My name shall be there.”

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 Now the rest of the words of Josiah, and all that he did, have these not been written in the book of the words of the days 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 During his days, Pharaoh Neco, the king of Egypt, ascended against the king of the Assyrians to the river Euphrates. And king Josiah went out to meet him. And when he had seen him, he was killed at Megiddo.

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 And his servants carried him dead from Megiddo. And they took him to Jerusalem, and they buried him in his own sepulcher. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah. And they anointed him, and made him king in place of his father.

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 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he had begun to reign, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah.

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 And he did evil before the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.

And he did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, all just as his fathers had done.

33 And Pharaoh Neco bound him at Riblah, which is in the land of Hamath, so that he would not reign in Jerusalem. And he imposed a penalty on the land: one hundred talents of silver, and one talent 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 And Pharaoh Neco appointed Eliakim, the son of Josiah, as king in place of Josiah his father. And he changed his name to Jehoiakim. Then he took Jehoahaz away, and he brought him into Egypt, and there he died.

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 Now Jehoiakim gave silver and gold to Pharaoh, when he had taxed the land, according to each one who would contribute by the command of Pharaoh. And he exacted both silver and gold from the people of the land, from each one according to his ability, so that he would give to Pharaoh Neco.

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 had begun to reign, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Zebidah, the daughter of Pedaiah, from Rumah.

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 And he did evil before the Lord, in accord with all that his fathers had done.

And he did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, all just as his fathers had done.