23King Josiah summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem,H4428H7971H622H2205H3063H3389 2and together they went to the Temple, accompanied by the priests and the prophets and all the rest of the people, rich and poor alike. Before them all the king read aloud the whole book of the covenant which had been found in the Temple.H4428H5927H1004H3068H376H3063H3427H3389H3548H5030H5971H6996H1419H7121H241H1697H5612H1285H4672H1004H3068 3He stood by the royal column and made a covenant with the LORD to obey him, to keep his laws and commands with all his heart and soul, and to put into practice the demands attached to the covenant, as written in the book. And all the people promised to keep the covenant.H4428H5975H5982H3772H1285H6440H3068H3212H310H3068H8104H4687H5715H2708H3820H5315H6965H1697H1285H3789H5612H5971H5975H1285 4Then Josiah ordered the High Priest Hilkiah, his assistant priests, and the guards on duty at the entrance to the Temple to bring out of the Temple all the objects used in the worship of Baal, of the goddess Asherah, and of the stars. The king burned all these objects outside the city near Kidron Valley and then had the ashes taken to Bethel.H4428H6680H2518H1419H3548H3548H4932H8104H5592H3318H1964H3068H3627H6213H1168H842H6635H8064H8313H2351H3389H7709H6939H5375H6083H1008 5He removed from office the priests that the kings of Judah had ordained to offer sacrifices on the pagan altars in the cities of Judah and in places near Jerusalem - all the priests who offered sacrifices to Baal, to the sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars.H7673H3649H4428H3063H5414H6999H1116H5892H3063H4524H3389H6999H1168H8121H3394H4208H6635H8064 6He removed from the Temple the symbol of the goddess Asherah, took it out of the city to Kidron Valley, burned it, pounded its ashes to dust, and scattered it over the public burying ground.H3318H842H1004H3068H2351H3389H5158H6939H8313H5158H6939H1854H6083H7993H6083H6913H1121H5971 7He destroyed the living quarters in the Temple occupied by the temple prostitutes. (It was there that women wove robes used in the worship of Asherah.)H5422H1004H6945H1004H3068H802H707H1004H842 8He brought to Jerusalem the priests who were in the cities of Judah, and throughout the whole country he desecrated the altars where they had offered sacrifices. He also tore down the altars dedicated to the goat demons near the gate built by Joshua, the city governor, which was to the left of the main gate as one enters the city.H935H3548H5892H3063H2930H1116H3548H6999H1387H884H5422H1116H8179H6607H8179H3091H8269H5892H376H8040H8179H5892 9Those priests were not allowed to serve in the Temple, but they could eat the unleavened bread provided for their fellow priests.H3548H1116H5927H4196H3068H3389H398H4682H8432H251 10King Josiah also desecrated Topheth, the pagan place of worship in Hinnom Valley, so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter as a burnt offering to the god Molech.H2930H8612H1516H1121H1121H2011H376H1121H1323H5674H784H4432 11He also removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the worship of the sun, and he burned the chariots used in this worship. (These were kept in the temple courtyard, near the gate and not far from the living quarters of Nathan Melech, a high official.)H7673H5483H4428H3063H5414H8121H935H1004H3068H3957H5419H5631H6503H8313H4818H8121H784 12The altars which the kings of Judah had built on the palace roof above King Ahaz' quarters, King Josiah tore down, along with the altars put up by King Manasseh in the two courtyards of the Temple; he smashed the altars to bits and threw them into Kidron Valley.H4196H1406H5944H271H4428H3063H6213H4196H4519H6213H8147H2691H1004H3068H4428H5422H7323H7993H6083H5158H6939 13Josiah desecrated the altars that King Solomon had built east of Jerusalem, south of the Mount of Olives, for the worship of disgusting idols - Astarte the goddess of Sidon, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Molech the god of Ammon.H1116H6440H3389H3225H2022H4889H8010H4428H3478H1129H6253H8251H6722H3645H8251H4124H4445H8441H1121H5983H4428H2930 14King Josiah broke the stone pillars to pieces, cut down the symbols of the goddess Asherah, and the ground where they had stood he covered with human bones.H7665H4676H3772H842H4390H4725H6106H120 15Josiah also tore down the place of worship in Bethel, which had been built by King Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into sin. Josiah pulled down the altar, broke its stones into pieces, and pounded them to dust; he also burned the image of Asherah.H4196H1008H1116H3379H1121H5028H3478H2398H6213H4196H1116H5422H8313H1116H1854H6083H8313H842 16Then Josiah looked around and saw some tombs there on the hill; he had the bones taken out of them and burned on the altar. In this way he desecrated the altar, doing what the prophet had predicted long before during the festival as King Jeroboam was standing by the altar. King Josiah looked around and saw the tomb of the prophet who had made this prediction.H2977H6437H7200H6913H2022H7971H3947H6106H6913H8313H4196H2930H1697H3068H376H430H7121H7121H1697 17"Whose tomb is that?" he asked. The people of Bethel answered, "It is the tomb of the prophet who came from Judah and predicted these things that you have done to this altar."H559H6725H1975H7200H582H5892H559H6913H376H430H935H3063H7121H1697H6213H4196H1008 18"Leave it as it is," Josiah ordered. "His bones are not to be moved." So his bones were not moved, neither were those of the prophet who had come from Samaria.H559H3240H376H5128H6106H6106H4422H6106H5030H935H8111 19In every city of Israel King Josiah tore down all the pagan places of worship which had been built by the kings of Israel, who thereby aroused the LORD's anger. He did to all those altars what he had done in Bethel.H1004H1116H5892H8111H4428H3478H6213H3707H2977H5493H6213H4639H6213H1008 20He killed all the pagan priests on the altars where they served, and he burned human bones on every altar. Then he returned to Jerusalem.H2076H3548H1116H4196H8313H120H6106H7725H3389 21King Josiah ordered the people to celebrate the Passover in honor of the LORD their God, as written in the book of the covenant.H4428H6680H5971H559H6213H6453H3068H430H3789H5612H1285 22No Passover like this one had ever been celebrated by any of the kings of Israel or of Judah, since the time when judges ruled the nation.H6213H6453H3117H8199H8199H3478H3117H4428H3478H4428H3063 23Now at last, in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah, the Passover was celebrated in Jerusalem.H8083H6240H8141H4428H2977H6453H6213H3068H3389 24In order to enforce the laws written in the book that the High Priest Hilkiah had found in the Temple, King Josiah removed from Jerusalem and the rest of Judah all the mediums and fortunetellers, and all the household gods, idols, and all other pagan objects of worship.H178H3049H8655H1544H8251H7200H776H3063H3389H2977H1197H6965H1697H8451H3789H5612H2518H3548H4672H1004H3068 25There had never been a king like him before, who served the LORD with all his heart, mind, and strength, obeying all the Law of Moses; nor has there been a king like him since.H4428H6440H7725H3068H3824H5315H3966H8451H4872H310H6965 26But the LORD's fierce anger had been aroused against Judah by what King Manasseh had done, and even now it did not die down.H3068H7725H2740H1419H639H639H2734H3063H3708H4519H3707 27The LORD said, "I will do to Judah what I have done to Israel: I will banish the people of Judah from my sight, and I will reject Jerusalem, the city I chose, and the Temple, the place I said was where I should be worshiped."H3068H559H5493H3063H6440H5493H3478H3988H5892H3389H977H1004H559H8034 28Everything else that King Josiah did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah.H3499H1697H2977H6213H3789H5612H1697H3117H4428H3063 29While Josiah was king, King Neco of Egypt led an army to the Euphrates River to help the emperor of Assyria. King Josiah tried to stop the Egyptian army at Megiddo and was killed in battle.H3117H6549H4428H4714H5927H4428H804H5104H6578H4428H2977H3212H7125H4191H4023H7200 30His officials placed his body in a chariot and took it back to Jerusalem, where he was buried in the royal tombs. The people of Judah chose Josiah's son Joahaz and anointed him king.H5650H7392H4191H4023H935H3389H6912H6900H5971H776H3947H3059H1121H2977H4886H4427H1 31Joahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for three months. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from the city of Libnah.H3059H6242H7969H8141H1121H4427H4427H7969H2320H3389H517H8034H2537H1323H3414H3841 32Following the example of his ancestors, he sinned against the LORD.H6213H7451H5869H3068H1H6213 33His reign ended when King Neco of Egypt took him prisoner in Riblah, in the land of Hamath, and made Judah pay 7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold as tribute.H6549H631H7247H776H2574H4427H3389H5414H776H6066H3967H3603H3701H3603H2091 34King Neco made Josiah's son Eliakim king of Judah as successor to Josiah, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. Joahaz was taken to Egypt by King Neco, and there he died.H6549H471H1121H2977H4427H2977H1H5437H8034H3079H3947H3059H3947H935H4714H4191 35King Jehoiakim collected a tax from the people in proportion to their wealth, in order to raise the amount needed to pay the tribute demanded by the king of Egypt.H3079H5414H3701H2091H6547H6186H776H5414H3701H6310H6547H5065H3701H2091H5971H776H376H6187H5414H6549 36Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother was Zebidah, the daughter of Pedaiah from the town of Rumah.H3079H6242H2568H8141H1121H4427H4427H259H6240H8141H3389H517H8034H2080H1323H6305H7316 37Following the example of his ancestors, Jehoiakim sinned against the LORD.H6213H7451H5869H3068H1H6213
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