2 Kings 23

New King James Version

Josiah Restores True Worship^(A)

23 Now^(B)the king sent them to gather all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to him.² The king went up to the house of theLordwith all the men of Judah, and with him all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great. And he^(C)read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant^(D)which had been found in the house of theLord.

³ Then the king^(E)stood by a pillar and made a^(F)covenant before theLord, to follow theLordand to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes, with allhisheart and allhissoul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand for the covenant.⁴ And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the^(G)priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring^(H)out of the temple of theLordall the articles that were made for Baal, for^[a]Asherah, and for all^[b]the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel.⁵ Then he removed the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem, and those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the^[c]constellations, and to^(I)all the host of heaven.⁶ And he brought out the^(J)wooden^[d]image from the house of theLord, to the Brook Kidron outside Jerusalem, burned it at the Brook Kidron and grounditto^(K)ashes, and threw its ashes on^(L)the graves of the common people.⁷ Then he tore down theritual^[e]booths^(M)of the^[f]perverted persons thatwerein the house of theLord,^(N)where the^(O)women wove hangings for the wooden image.⁸ And he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from^(P)Geba to Beersheba; also he broke down the high places at the gates whichwereat the entrance of the Gate of Joshua the governor of the city, whichwereto the left of the city gate.^9 (Q)Nevertheless the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of theLordin Jerusalem,^(R)but they ate unleavened bread among their brethren.

¹⁰ And he defiled^(S)Topheth, whichisin^(T)the Valley of the^[g]Son of Hinnom,^(U)that no man might make his son or his daughter^(V)pass through the fire to Molech.¹¹ Then he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had^[h]dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of theLord, by the chamber of Nathan-Melech, the officer whowasin the court; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.¹² The altars thatwere^(W)on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which^(X)Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of theLord, the king broke down and pulverized there, and threw their dust into the Brook Kidron.¹³ Then the king defiled the^[i]high places thatwereeast of Jerusalem, whichwereon the^[j]south of^[k]the Mount of Corruption, which^(Y)Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the people of Ammon.¹⁴ And he^(Z)broke in pieces thesacredpillars and cut down the wooden images, and filled their places with the bones of men.

¹⁵ Moreover the altar thatwasat Bethel,andthe^[l]high place^(AA)which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he broke down; and he burned the high placeandcrusheditto powder, and burned the wooden image.¹⁶ As Josiah turned, he saw the tombs thatwerethere on the mountain. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burnedthemon the altar, and defiled it according to the^(AB)word of theLordwhich the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.¹⁷ Then he said, “What gravestoneisthis that I see?”

So the men of the city told him, “It is^(AC)the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel.”

¹⁸ And he said, “Let him alone; let no one move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones of^(AD)the prophet who came from Samaria.

¹⁹ Now Josiah also took away all the^[m]shrines of the^[n]high places thatwere^(AE)in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke^[o]theLordto anger; and he did to them according to all the deeds he had done in Bethel.^20 (AF)He^(AG)executed all the priests of the^[p]high places whowerethere, on the altars, and^(AH)burned men’s bones on them; and he returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ Then the king commanded all the people, saying,^(AI)“Keep the Passover to theLordyour God,^(AJ)asit iswritten in this Book of the Covenant.”^22 (AK)Such a Passover surely had never been held since the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah.²³ But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was held before theLordin Jerusalem.²⁴ Moreover Josiah put away those who consulted mediums and spiritists, the household gods and idols, all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might perform the words of^(AL)the law which were written in the book^(AM)that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of theLord.^25 (AN)Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to theLordwith all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him didanyarise like him.

Impending Judgment on Judah

²⁶ Nevertheless theLorddid not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath, with which His anger was aroused against Judah,^(AO)because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him.²⁷ And theLordsaid, “I will also remove Judah from My sight, as^(AP)I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said,^(AQ)‘My name shall be there.’ ”

Josiah Dies in Battle^(AR)

²⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did,arethey not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?^29 (AS)In his days Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went^[q]to the aid of the king of Assyria, to the River Euphrates; and King Josiah went against him. AndPharaoh Nechokilled him at^(AT)Megiddo when he^(AU)confronted him.^30 (AV)Then his servants moved his body in a chariot from Megiddo, brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. And^(AW)the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, anointed him, and made him king in his father’s place.

The Reign and Captivity of Jehoahaz^(AX)

^31 (AY)Jehoahazwastwenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s namewas^(AZ)Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.³² And he did evil in the sight of theLord, according to all that his fathers had done.³³ Now Pharaoh Necho put him in prison^(BA)at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a tribute of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.³⁴ Then^(BB)Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah, and^(BC)changed his name to^(BD)Jehoiakim. AndPharaohtook Jehoahaz^(BE)and went to Egypt, and^[r]he died there.

Jehoiakim Reigns in Judah^(BF)

³⁵ So Jehoiakim gave^(BG)the silver and gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give money according to the command of Pharaoh; he exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land, from every one according to his assessment, to giveitto Pharaoh Necho.^36 (BH)Jehoiakimwastwenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s namewasZebudah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.³⁷ And he did evil in the sight of theLord, according to all that his fathers had done.