1
And the king sent, and they gathered unto▵ him all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.
2
And the king went··up··to the house of Jehovah, and every man◦ of Judah, and all they who dwelt··in Jerusalem with◦ him, and the priests and the prophets, and all the people, from the small and even··to the great; and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant found in the house of Jehovah.
3
And the king stood by the pillar and cut the covenant before Jehovah, to walk◦ after Jehovah and to keep His commandments, and His testimonies, and His statutes, with all the heart and with all the soul, to raise··up the words of this covenant written upon this book. And all the people stood in the covenant.
4
And the king commanded Hilkiah◦ the great priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the doorway, to bring··out from the temple of Jehovah all the vessels made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the army of the heavens; and he burned· them ·up outside Jerusalem in the fields◦ of Kidron, and carried the dust of them to Bethel.
5
And he caused to cease the idolatrous··priests, whom the kings of Judah had put◦ there that they might burn··incense in the high··places, in the cities of Judah, and surrounding Jerusalem, and those who burn··incense to Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the constellations, and to all the army of the heavens.
6
And he brought··out the grove from the house of Jehovah, outside Jerusalem, unto▵ the brook Kidron, and burned· it ·up at the brook Kidron, and made· it ·thin as dust, and cast the dust of it upon the grave of the sons of the people.
7
And he tore··down the houses of the sodomites, that were in the house of Jehovah, where▵ the women wove houses for the grove.
8
And he brought··in all the priests out··of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high··places where▵ the priests had burned··incense, from Gibea even··to Beer-sheba. And he tore··down the high··places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the prince of the city, which are on the left of a man◦ at the gate of the city.
9
Surely the priests of the high··places came· not ·up to▵ the altar of Jehovah in Jerusalem, but◦ they did eat unleavened bread in the midst of their brothers.
10
And he defiled Topheth which is in the ravine of the sons of Hinnom, lest a man◦ might make his son or◦ his daughter to pass··through the fire to Molech.
11
And he made the horses to cease, which the kings of Judah had given to the sun, where one comes into the house of Jehovah, by the room of Nathan-melech the eunuch, which was in the Parvarim; and he burned··up the chariots of the sun with fire.
12
And the altars that were on the roof of the upper··room of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of Jehovah, the king tore··down, and ran thence, and cast the dust of them into▵ the brook Kidron.
13
And the high··places which were before Jerusalem, which were to the right of the mountain of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the detestable thing of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the detestable thing of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the sons of Ammon, did the king defile.
14
And he broke the statues and cut··off the groves, and filled their place with the bones of man.
15
And also the altar which was in Bethel, the high··place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat had made, who made Israel to sin, even that◦ altar and the high··place he tore··down, and he burned··up the high··place, making· it ·thin to dust, and burned··up the grove.
16
And Josiah◦ turned◦ and saw the graves which were there in the mountain, and he sent and took the bones from the graves, and burned· them ·up on the altar and defiled it, according··to the word of Jehovah which the man◦ of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things.
17
And he said, What marker◦ yonder is that which I◦ see? And the men◦ of the city said to▵ him, It is the grave of the man◦ of God who came from Judah, and proclaimed these words which thou hast done against the altar of Bethel.
18
And he said, Let· him ·stay; let no◦ man◦ move* his bones. And his bones lay▵ with◦ the bones of the prophet that came from Samaria.
19
And even all the houses of the high··places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke, Josiah◦ removed, and did to them◦ according··to all the deeds which he had done in Bethel.
20
And he sacrificed all the priests of the high··places that were there upon the altars, and burned··up the bones of man upon them; and he returned to Jerusalem.
21
And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the Passover unto Jehovah your God, as◦ is written in this book of the covenant.
22
For there was not made 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.
23
But◦ in the eighteenth year of King Josiah◦ was this Passover made to Jehovah in Jerusalem.
24
And also the mediums, and the soothsayers, and the teraphim, and the idols and all the detestable things that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah◦ sweep··away, so··that he might raise··up the words of the law written on the book, that Hilkiah◦ the priest found in the house of Jehovah.
25
And there was not a king like▵ him before him, who returned to▵ Jehovah with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his forces◦, according··to all the law of Moses; and not after him arose any like▵ him.
26
Only▵ Jehovah turned· not ·back from the fierceness of His great anger, with which His anger was··fierce against Judah, on··account··of all the provocations with which Manasseh provoked Him.
27
And Jehovah said, I will remove also Judah from My face, as◦ I removed Israel, and I will reject this city, which I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.
28
And the remaining words concerning Josiah◦, and all that he did, are they◦ not written in the book of the words concerning the days of the kings of Judah?
29
In his days Pharaoh-necoh king of Egypt went··up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates; and King Josiah◦ went to meet him; and he put· him ·to··death at Megiddo, upon his seeing him.
30
And his servants carried· him dead ·in··a··chariot from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his grave. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah◦, and anointed him, and made· him ·king instead of his father.
31
A son of twenty and three years was Jehoahaz when he became··king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah◦ of Libnah.
32
And he did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, according··to all that his fathers had done.
33
And Pharaoh-necoh bound him at Riblah in the land of Ḥamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put a fine on the land, a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.
34
And Pharaoh-necoh made· Eliakim the son of Josiah◦ ·king instead··of Josiah◦ his father, and he changed* his name to Jehoiakim; but he took Jehoahaz and came··into Egypt; and he died there.
35
And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; only▵ he set a value for the land to give the silver according to the mouth of Pharaoh; a man◦ according to his value he exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, to give it unto Pharaoh-necoh.
36
A son of twenty and five years was Jehoiakim when he became··king, and eleven years he reigned in Jerusalem; the name of his mother was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.
37
And he did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, according··to all that his fathers had done.
