Ii Regum 23
1 Et renuntiaverunt regi quod dixerat. Qui misit: et congregati sunt ad eum omnes senes Juda et Jerusalem.
Then the king summoned all the elders of Jerusalem and [of the other places in] Judah.
2 Ascenditque rex templum Domini, et omnes viri Juda, universique qui habitabant in Jerusalem cum eo sacerdotes et prophetæ, et omnis populus a parvo usque ad magnum: legitque, cunctis audientibus, omnia verba libri fœderis, qui inventus est in domo Domini.
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 Stetitque rex super gradum: et fœdus percussit coram Domino, ut ambularent post Dominum, et custodirent præcepta ejus, et testimonia, et cæremonias in omni corde, et in tota anima, et suscitarent verba fœderis hujus, quæ scripta erant in libro illo: acquievitque populus pacto.
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 Et præcepit rex Helciæ pontifici, et sacerdotibus secundi ordinis, et janitoribus, ut projicerent de templo Domini omnia vasa quæ facta fuerant Baal, et in luco, et universæ militiæ cæli: et combussit ea foris Jerusalem in convalle Cedron, et tulit pulverem eorum in 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 Et delevit aruspices quos posuerant reges Juda ad sacrificandum in excelsis per civitates Juda, et in circuitu Jerusalem: et eos qui adolebant incensum Baal, et soli, et lunæ, et duodecim signis, et omni militiæ cæli.
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 Et efferri fecit lucum de domo Domini foras Jerusalem in convalle Cedron, et combussit eum ibi, et redegit in pulverem, et projecit super sepulchra vulgi.
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 Destruxit quoque ædiculas effeminatorum quæ erant in domo Domini, pro quibus mulieres texebant quasi domunculas luci.
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 Congregavitque omnes sacerdotes de civitatibus Juda, et contaminavit excelsa ubi sacrificabant sacerdotes de Gabaa usque Bersabee, et destruxit aras portarum in introitu ostii Josue principis civitatis, quod erat ad sinistram portæ civitatis.
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 Verumtamen non ascendebant sacerdotes excelsorum ad altare Domini in Jerusalem: sed tantum comedebant azyma in medio fratrum suorum.
10 Contaminavit quoque Topheth, quod est in convalle filii Ennom, ut nemo consecraret filium suum aut filiam per ignem, Moloch.
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 Abstulit quoque equos quos dederant reges Juda soli in introitu templi Domini juxta exedram Nathanmelech eunuchi, qui erat in Pharurim: currus autem solis combussit igni.
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 Altaria quoque quæ erant super tecta cœnaculi Achaz, quæ fecerant reges Juda, et altaria quæ fecerat Manasses in duobus atriis templi Domini, destruxit rex, et cucurrit inde, et dispersit cinerem eorum in torrentem Cedron.
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 Excelsa quoque, quæ erant in Jerusalem ad dexteram partem montis offensionis, quæ ædificaverat Salomon rex Israël Astaroth idolo Sidoniorum, et Chamos offensioni Moab, et Melchom abominationi filiorum Ammon, polluit rex.
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 Et contrivit statuas, et succidit lucos: replevitque loca eorum ossibus mortuorum.
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 Insuper et altare quod erat in Bethel, et excelsum quod fecerat Jeroboam filius Nabat, qui peccare fecit Israël: et altare illud, et excelsum destruxit, atque combussit, et comminuit in pulverem, succenditque etiam lucum.
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 Et conversus Josias, vidit ibi sepulchra quæ erant in monte: misitque et tulit ossa de sepulchris, et combussit ea super altare, et polluit illud juxta verbum Domini quod locutus est vir Dei, qui prædixerat verba hæc.
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 Et ait: Quis est titulus ille, quem video? Responderuntque ei cives urbis illius: Sepulchrum est hominis Dei, qui venit de Juda, et prædixit verba hæc, quæ fecisti super altare 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 Et ait: Dimitte eum: nemo commoveat ossa ejus. Et intacta manserunt ossa illius cum ossibus prophetæ qui venerat de 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 Insuper et omnia fana excelsorum quæ erant in civitatibus Samariæ, quæ fecerant reges Israël ad irritandum Dominum, abstulit Josias: et fecit eis secundum omnia opera quæ fecerat in 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 Et occidit universos sacerdotes excelsorum qui erant ibi super altaria, et combussit ossa humana super ea: reversusque est 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 Et præcepit omni populo, dicens: Facite Phase Domino Deo vestro, secundum quod scriptum est in libro fœderis hujus.
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 Nec enim factum est Phase tale a diebus judicum qui judicaverunt Israël, et omnium dierum regum Israël et regum Juda,
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 sicut in octavodecimo anno regis Josiæ factum est Phase istud Domino in Jerusalem.
But now, after Josiah had been ruling for almost 18 years, to [honor] Yahweh they celebrated the Passover Festival in Jerusalem.
24 Sed et pythones, et ariolos, et figuras idolorum, et immunditias, et abominationes, quæ fuerant in terra Juda et Jerusalem, abstulit Josias: ut statueret verba legis quæ scripta sunt in libro quem invenit Helcias sacerdos in templo Domini.
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 Similis illi non fuit ante eum rex, qui reverteretur ad Dominum in omni corde suo, et in tota anima sua, et in universa virtute sua juxta omnem legem Moysi: neque post eum surrexit similis illi.
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 Verumtamen non est aversus Dominus ab ira furoris sui magni quo iratus est furor ejus contra Judam propter irritationes quibus provocaverat eum Manasses.
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 Dixit itaque Dominus: Etiam Judam auferam a facie mea, sicut abstuli Israël: et projiciam civitatem hanc quam elegi Jerusalem, et domum de qua dixi: Erit nomen meum ibi.
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 Reliqua autem sermonum Josiæ, et universa quæ fecit, nonne hæc scripta sunt in libro verborum dierum regum Juda?
[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 In diebus ejus ascendit Pharao Nechao rex Ægypti contra regem Assyriorum ad flumen Euphraten, et abiit Josias rex in occursum ejus: et occisus est in Mageddo cum vidisset eum.
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 Et portaverunt eum servi sui mortuum de Mageddo: et pertulerunt in Jerusalem, et sepelierunt eum in sepulchro suo. Tulitque populus terræ Joachaz filium Josiæ: et unxerunt eum, et constituerunt eum regem pro patre suo.
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 Viginti trium annorum erat Joachaz cum regnare cœpisset, et tribus mensibus regnavit in Jerusalem: nomen matris ejus Amital filia Jeremiæ de Lobna.
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 Et fecit malum coram Domino, juxta omnia quæ fecerant patres ejus.
Joahaz did many things that Yahweh said were evil, just like many of his ancestors had done.
33 Vinxitque eum Pharao Nechao in Rebla, quæ est in terra Emath, ne regnaret in Jerusalem: et imposuit mulctam terræ centum talentis argenti, et talento auri.
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 Regemque constituit Pharao Nechao Eliacim filium Josiæ pro Josia patre ejus: vertitque nomen ejus Joakim. Porro Joachaz tulit, et duxit in Ægyptum, et mortuus est ibi.
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 Argentum autem et aurum dedit Joakim Pharaoni, cum indixisset terræ per singulos, ut conferretur juxta præceptum Pharaonis: et unumquemque juxta vires suas exegit, tam argentum quam aurum, de populo terræ, ut daret Pharaoni Nechao.
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 Viginti quinque annorum erat Joakim cum regnare cœpisset, et undecim annis regnavit in Jerusalem: nomen matris ejus Zebida filia Phadaia de 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 Et fecit malum coram Domino juxta omnia quæ fecerant patres ejus.
He did many things that Yahweh says are evil, like his ancestors had done.
