Chapter 23

And the king sent,⁴ and they gathered⁴ unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.

And the king went up⁴ into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants⁶ of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read⁴ in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found¹² in the house of the LORD.

And the king stood⁴ by a pillar, and made⁴ a covenant before the LORD, to walk² after the LORD, and to keep² his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all [their] heart and all [their] soul, to perform⁵³ the words of this covenant that were written⁷ in this book. And all the people stood⁴ to the covenant.

And the king commanded¹⁷ Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers⁶ of the door, to bring forth⁵³ out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made⁷ for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned⁴ them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried¹ the ashes of them unto Bethel.

And he put down⁵² the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained¹ to burn incense¹⁷ in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense¹⁸ unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.

And he brought out⁵⁵ the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned⁴ it at the brook Kidron, and stamped [it] small⁵⁵ to powder, and cast⁵⁵ the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.

And he brake down⁴ the houses of the sodomites, that [were] by the house of the LORD, where the women wove⁶ hangings for the grove.

And he brought⁵⁵ all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled¹⁷ the high places where the priests had burned incense,¹⁴ from Geba to Beersheba, and brake down¹ the high places of the gates that [were] in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which [were] on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.

Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up⁴ to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they did eat¹ of the unleavened bread among their brethren.

And he defiled¹⁴ Topheth, which [is] in the valley of the children ¹¹²¹ of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass⁵³ through the fire to Molech.

And he took away⁵⁵ the horses that the kings of Judah had given¹ to the sun, at the entering in² of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain, which [was] in the suburbs, and burned¹ the chariots of the sun with fire.

And the altars that [were] on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made,¹ and the altars which Manasseh had made¹ in the two courts of the house of the LORD, did the king beat down,¹ and brake [them] down⁴ from thence, and cast⁵² the dust of them into the brook Kidron.

And the high places that [were] before Jerusalem, which [were] on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded¹ for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.¹⁴

And he brake¹⁴ in pieces the images, and cut down⁴ the groves, and filled¹⁷ their places with the bones of men.

Moreover the altar that [was] at Bethel, [and] the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin,⁵² had made,¹ both that altar and the high place he brake down,¹ and burned⁴ the high place, [and] stamped [it] small⁵² to powder, and burned¹ the grove.

And as Josiah turned⁴ himself, he spied⁴ the sepulchres that [were] there in the mount, and sent,⁴ and took⁴ the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned⁴ [them] upon the altar, and polluted¹⁷ it, according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed,¹ who proclaimed¹ these words.

Then he said,⁴ What title [is] that that I see?⁶ And the men of the city told⁴ him, [It is] the sepulchre of the man of God, which came¹ from Judah, and proclaimed⁴ these things that thou hast done¹ against the altar of Bethel.

And he said,⁴ Let him alone;⁵⁴ let no man move⁵⁵ his bones. So they let his bones alone,¹⁷ with the bones of the prophet that came¹ out of Samaria.

And all the houses also of the high places that [were] in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made¹ to provoke [the LORD] to anger,⁵³ Josiah took away,⁵² and did⁴ to them according to all the acts that he had done¹ in Bethel.

And he slew⁴ all the priests of the high places that [were] there upon the altars, and burned⁴ men's bones upon them, and returned⁴ to Jerusalem.

And the king commanded¹⁷ all the people, saying,² Keep³ the passover unto the LORD your God, as [it is] written⁷ in the book of this covenant.

Surely there was not holden⁸ such a passover from the days of the judges⁶ that judged¹ Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;

But in the eighteenth ⁶²⁴⁰ year of king Josiah, [wherein] this passover was holden⁸ to the LORD in Jerusalem.

Moreover the [workers with] familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied⁸ in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away,¹⁴ that he might perform⁵³ the words of the law which were written⁷ in the book that Hilkiah the priest found¹ in the house of the LORD.

And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned¹ to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose¹ there [any] like him.

Notwithstanding the LORD turned¹ not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled¹ against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked⁵² him withal.

And the LORD said,⁴ I will remove⁵⁵ Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed⁵² Israel, and will cast off¹ this city Jerusalem which I have chosen,¹ and the house of which I said,¹ My name shall be there.

Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did,¹ [are] they not written⁷ in the book of the chronicles ³¹¹⁷ of the kings of Judah?

In his days Pharaohnechoh king of Egypt went up¹ against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went⁴ against² him; and he slew⁵⁵ him at Megiddo, when he had seen² him.

And his servants carried⁵⁵ him in a chariot dead⁵ from Megiddo, and brought⁵⁵ him to Jerusalem, and buried⁴ him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took⁴ Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed⁴ him, and made him king⁵⁵ in his father's stead.

Jehoahaz [was] twenty and three years old when he began to reign;² and he reigned¹ three months in Jerusalem. And his mother's name [was] Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

And he did⁴ [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.¹

And Pharaohnechoh put him in bands⁴ at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign² in Jerusalem; and put⁴ the land to a tribute of an hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.

And Pharaohnechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king⁵⁵ in the room of Josiah his father, and turned⁵⁵ his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away:¹ and he came⁴ to Egypt, and died⁴ there.

And Jehoiakim gave¹ the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed⁵² the land to give² the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh: he exacted¹ the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every one according to his taxation, to give² [it] unto Pharaohnechoh.

Jehoiakim [was] twenty and five years old when he began to reign;² and he reigned¹ eleven ⁶²⁴⁰ years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name [was] Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.

And he did⁴ [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.¹