2 Kings 23

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

The king called, and all the respected elders of Judah and Jerusalem, drawn by his command, assembled before him.

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, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.

The king, filled with reverence, ascended to the Lord's house. Accompanied by every man from Judah, every resident of Jerusalem, the priests, the prophets, and all the people - both high and low. He passionately read aloud to them the sacred words from the covenant book discovered in the Lord's house.

And the king stood by a pillar, and 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 perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.

The king, standing tall by a pillar, pledged his loyalty to God. He promised to follow God's path, to honor His commandments, and to live by His teachings with all his heart and soul. He vowed to uphold the words of the sacred covenant written in the holy book. The people, witnessing this, stood in unity, affirming their commitment to the same covenant.

And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.

The king ordered Hilkiah, the head priest, along with other priests and gatekeepers, to remove all items from God's temple that were made for Baal and other false gods. He destroyed these items outside Jerusalem in the Kidron fields and took their ashes to Bethel.

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

He ended the reign of false priests, appointed by Judah's kings to spread idolatry. They who worshipped Baal, the sun, moon, planets, and the entire celestial host in Judah's cities and around Jerusalem, were no more.

And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.

He removed the Asherah pole from God's house, outside Jerusalem, to the Kidron stream. There, he burned it, crushed it into dust, and threw the dust on the graves of the common people.

And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove.

He passionately demolished the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes, located by God's sacred dwelling, where women wove hangings for the Asherah pole.

And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and brake down 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.

He gathered all the priests from Judah's cities, tarnishing the sacred sites where they had offered incense, stretching from Geba to Beersheba. He destroyed the revered places near the city gates, specifically those on the left of the city gate, under Joshua's governance.

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

The priests of the hilltop shrines, though, didn't come up to God's altar in Jerusalem. Instead, they simply shared unleavened bread with their fellow priests.

And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.

He desecrated Topheth, in Hinnom Valley, ensuring no one would sacrifice their child to Molech in fire.

And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

He removed the horses that Judah's kings had dedicated to the sun, right at the entrance of God's house, near Nathanmelech's quarters in the temple court. He set the sun's chariots ablaze.

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

The king, filled with righteous anger, destroyed the altars that past kings of Judah and Manasseh had built on the top floor and in the courtyards of the Lord's house. He reduced them to dust and threw it into the Kidron brook.

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 builded 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.

The sacred hills near Jerusalem, to the right of the Mount of Corruption, were tainted by King Solomon. He built shrines there for the detestable gods of the Zidonians, Moabites, and Ammonites. The king desecrated these places.

And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.

He passionately shattered the idols, fiercely chopped down the sacred trees, and filled their spaces with human bones.

Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove.

He also tore down the altar and the shrine at Bethel that Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into sin, had built. Josiah destroyed both, reduced the shrine to dust, and set the sacred pole on fire.

And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.

As Josiah looked around, he noticed the tombs on the hill. He ordered the bones to be removed from the tombs and burned on the altar, defiling it. This was in accordance with God's command, as delivered by His prophet.

Then he said, What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel.

He asked, "What's that monument I see?" The locals replied, "It's the grave of the holy man from Judah who warned about your actions against Bethel's altar."

And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.

He commanded, "Leave him be, don't disturb his remains." So they respected his final resting place, alongside the prophet from Samaria.

And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel.

Josiah, deeply angered by the sacrilegious houses of worship in Samaria, built by Israel's kings to taunt God, tore them down. He treated them just as he had done in Bethel.

And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men’s bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.

He ended the lives of all the high place priests, desecrated their altars with the ashes of human bones, and then, heavy-hearted, he returned to Jerusalem.

And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the LORD your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant.

The king passionately urged everyone, "Celebrate the Passover for the Lord, just as it's outlined in our sacred covenant."

Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;

Indeed, never before, not during the times of Israel's judges or its kings, had such a significant Passover been celebrated.

But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to the LORD in Jerusalem.

In the eighteenth year of King Josiah's reign, a heartfelt Passover celebration was held in honor of 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 spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.

Josiah, deeply disturbed by the presence of sorcerers, idols, and other detestable things in Judah and Jerusalem, removed them all. He was driven by his desire to uphold the laws found in the holy book discovered by Priest Hilkiah in the Lord's house.

And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned 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 arose there any like him.

No king before or after him loved and obeyed God as deeply and passionately, following every law of Moses with his whole heart, soul, and strength.

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

Despite this, God didn't calm His intense anger towards Judah, fueled by all the wrongs Manasseh had done to upset Him.

And the LORD said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.

The LORD declared, "Just as I removed Israel, I will remove Judah from my sight too. I will reject Jerusalem, my chosen city, and the house of which I said, 'My name will be there.'"

Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

Isn't everything else Josiah did, all his deeds and actions, recorded in the history book of Judah's kings?

In his days Pharaohnechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he slew him at Megiddo, when he had seen him.

During his reign, Pharaohnechoh of Egypt challenged the king of Assyria by the Euphrates River. King Josiah bravely confronted him, but tragically lost his life in the battle at Megiddo upon their encounter.

And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s stead.

His loyal servants, hearts heavy with grief, bore his lifeless body from Megiddo in a chariot, returning him to Jerusalem. They laid him to rest in his own tomb, a solemn farewell. Then, the people, seeking leadership, turned to Jehoahaz, Josiah's son. They anointed him with sacred oils, crowning him as their new king, a successor to his father's throne.

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

At the tender age of 23, Jehoahaz ascended the throne, ruling Jerusalem for a fleeting three months. His mother, Hamutal, was the proud daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah.

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

He acted wickedly, mirroring his ancestors' sins, deeply disappointing the LORD.

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

Pharaohnechoh imprisoned him in Riblah, in the land of Hamath, to prevent him from ruling in Jerusalem. He then imposed a heavy tax on the land, demanding a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.

And Pharaohnechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away: and he came to Egypt, and died there.

Pharaohnechoh crowned Eliakim, Josiah's son, as king, replacing his father Josiah. He renamed him Jehoiakim and banished Jehoahaz. Jehoahaz was sent to Egypt, where he met his end.

And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh: he exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every one according to his taxation, to give it unto Pharaohnechoh.

Jehoiakim, burdened by Pharaoh's demands, handed over the silver and gold. Yet, it was the people who bore the weight, as he imposed heavy taxes on them. Each person, according to their means, contributed to this tribute for Pharaohnechoh.

Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.

At the tender age of 25, Jehoiakim ascended the throne, ruling Jerusalem for a challenging span of 11 years. His mother, Zebudah, a woman of strength and grace, was the proud daughter of Pedaiah from the humble town of Rumah.

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

He did what was evil in God's eyes, just as his ancestors had done before him.