2Ki 23 | ABEn | STEP | And [ 3 sent 1 the 2 king], and brought together to him all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.

‏ 2 Kings 23

CHAPTER 23 Josiah Reads the Scroll of the Covenant

1 And [³sent ¹the ²king], and brought together to him all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 And [³ascended ¹the ²king] to the house of the lord, and all the men of Judah, and all the ones dwelling Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people from small and unto great. And he read in their ears all the words of the scroll of the covenant of the one being found in the house of the lord. 3 And [³stood ¹the ²king] near the column, and he ordained the covenant before the lord to go after the lord, and to guard his commandments, and his testimonies, and his orders, with a whole heart, and in the whole in life, to raise up the words of this covenant being written in this scroll. And he established all the people in the covenant.

Josiah Removes All Idol Worship

4 And [³gave charge ¹the ²king] to Hilkiah the [²priest ¹great], and to the priests being second, and to the ones guarding the doorpost, to bring out from the temple of the lord all the items which they made to Baal, and to the sacred grove, and all the military of the heaven. And he incinerated them outside Jerusalem in the plain of Kidron, and he took their dust into Beth-el. 5 And he incinerated the idolatrous priests, of whom [⁴appointed ¹the ²kings ³of Judah] to burn incense in the high places, and in the cities of Judah, and in the surroundings of Jerusalem, and the ones burning incense to Baal, and to the sun, and to the moon, and to the Mazuroth, and to all the military of the heaven. 6 And he brought forth the sacred grove carving from out of the house of the lord outside of Jerusalem unto the rushing stream Kidron. And he incinerated it at the rushing stream Kidron, and ground it fine as dust. And he tossed its dust into the tombs of the sons of the people. 7 And he demolished the house of the male prostitutes of the ones in the house of the lord in which the women wove apparel there for the sacred grove. 8 And he brought in all the priests from the cities of Judah, and he defiled the high places where [³were burning incense ⁴there ¹the ²priests], from Geba and unto Beer-sheba. And he demolished the high places by the door of the gate of Joshua ruler of the city, of the ones at the left sides of a man at the gate of the city. 9 Only [⁵did not ⁶ascend ¹the ²priests ³of the ⁴high places] to the altar of the lord in Jerusalem; in no way they ate unleavened breads in the midst of their brethren. 10 And he defiled Topheth, the one in the ravine of the son of Hinnom, [²to not lead ¹for a man] his son and his daughter in fire to Molech. 11 And he incinerated the horses which [³presented ¹the kings ²of Judah] to the sun, in the entrance of the house of the lord, towards the treasury room of Nathan the eunuch of the king, of the one in the compound. And the chariot of the sun he incinerated by fire. 12 And the altars, the ones upon the roof of the upper room of Ahaz, which [³made ¹the kings ²of Judah], and the altars which Manasseh made in the two courtyards of the house of the lord, [³demolished ¹the ²king], and tore down from there, and tossed their dust into the rushing stream Kidron. 13 And the house upon the face of Jerusalem, the one at the right of the mount of Mosoath, which [⁴built ¹Solomon ²king ³of Israel] to Ashtoreth the loathsome thing of the Sidonians, and to Chemosh the loathsome thing of Moab, and to Molech the abomination of the sons of Ammon, [³defiled ¹the ²king]. 14 And he broke the monuments, and cut down the sacred groves, and filled their places of bones of men. 15 And indeed the [²altar ³in ⁴Beth-el ¹high], which [⁴made ¹Jeroboam ²son ³of Nebat], who led Israel into sin, also indeed [⁴altar ²that ³high ¹he tore down], and he broke its stones, and made them fine into dust, and he incinerated the sacred grove.

Fulfillment of the Prophecy of the Man of God

16 And Josiah turned and saw the tombs of the ones being there in the mount, and he sent and took the bones from out of the tombs, and he incinerated them upon the altar, and defiled it, according to the saying of the lord which [⁴spoke ¹the ²man ³of God] when Jeroboam stood near the altar in the holiday. And turning Josiah lifted his eyes upon the burying-place of the man of God, the one speaking these words; 17 and he said, What is that high rock which I see? And [⁵said ⁶to him ¹the ²men ³of the ⁴city], The grave of the man of God, of the one coming from out of Judah, and calling these words which you did against the altar in Beth-el. 18 And he said, Allow him! no one move his bones! And he preserved his bones with the bones of the prophet having come from out of Samaria. 19 And indeed all the houses of the high places, of the ones in the cities of Samaria which [³made ¹the kings ²of Israel] to provoke the lord to anger, Josiah removed, and he did to them according to all the works which he did in Beth-el. 20 And he sacrificed all the priests of the high places being there upon the altars. And he incinerated the bones of the men upon them. And returned to Jerusalem. 21 And [³gave charge ¹the ²king] to all the people, saying, Observe the passover to the lord your God! as it is written in the scroll of this covenant. 22 For did not take place according to this passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, and in all the days of the kings of Israel, and of the kings of Judah, 23 for only in the eighteenth year of king Josiah [⁴took place ¹this passover ²to the ³ lord] in Jerusalem. 24 And indeed the soothsayers, and the diviners, and the teraphim, and the idols, and all the loathsome things taking place in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, [³removed ¹king ²Josiah], that [⁵should be established ¹the ²words ³of the ⁴law], the ones being written upon the scroll which [⁴found ¹Hilkiah ²the ³priest] in the house of the lord. 25 [⁵likened ⁶to him ¹There was no ²king ³before ⁴him], who turned towards the lord with [²entire ³heart ¹his], and with [²entire ³life ¹his], and with [²entire ³strength ¹his], according to all the law of Moses. And after him rose up not one like him. 26 Only [²did not ³turn ¹the lord] from [³rage ⁴of his anger ¹the ²great] of which [³was enraged ²anger ¹his] against Judah, against all the provocations to anger which [²provoked him to anger ¹Manasseh]. 27 And the lord said, And indeed Judah I shall remove from my face, as I removed Israel, and I will thrust away this city which I chose -- Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, [²will be ¹My name] there. 28 And the rest of the words of Josiah, and all as much as he did, are these not written upon the scroll of the words of the days of the kings of Judah?

Josiah Dies in Battle

29 In his days ascended Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt against the king of the Assyrians at the river Euphrates. And [⁴went ¹Josiah ²the ³king] for a meeting against him. And [²killed ³him ¹Necho] in Megiddo, in his seeing him. 30 And [²conducted ³him ¹his servants] dead in Megiddo. And they led him into Jerusalem, and they entombed him in his tomb in the city of David. And [⁵took ¹the ²people ³of the ⁴land] Jehoahaz son of Josiah, and anointed him and gave him reign instead of his father.

Jehoahaz Reigns in Judah

31 [²a son ³being twenty ⁴and ⁵three ⁶years old ¹Jehoahaz was] in his taking reign; and three months he reigned in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did the wicked thing in the eyes of the lord according to all as much as [²did ¹his fathers].

Pharaoh Necho Sets Jehoiakim Over Jerusalem

33 And [³moved ⁴him ¹Pharaoh ²Necho] to Riblah in the land of Hamath, so as to not reign in Jerusalem. And he put a penalty against the land -- a hundred talents of silver, and ten talents of gold. 34 And [³put to reign ¹Pharaoh ²Necho] over them Eliakim son of Josiah instead of Josiah his father, and he turned his name into Jehoiakim. And [²Jehoahaz ¹he took], and he led him away into Egypt, and he died there. 35 And the silver and the gold Jehoiakim gave to Pharaoh, but he assessed the land to give the money by the mouth of Pharaoh; from each man according to his assessed value; they gave the silver and the gold with the people of the land to give to Pharaoh Necho. 36 [²a son ³being twenty ⁴and ⁵five ⁶years old ¹Jehoiakim was] in his taking reign, and eleven years he reigned in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Zebudah, daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. 37 And he did the wicked thing in the eyes of the lord according to all as much as [²did ¹his fathers].