2 Kings 23 - Easy To Read Version

¹ King Josiah told all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem to come and meet with him.

² Then the king went up to the Lord’s temple. All the people of Judah and the people that lived in Jerusalem went with him. The priests, the prophets, and all the people—from the least important to the most important—went with him. Then he read the book of the Agreement. This was the Book of the Law that was found in the Lord’s temple. Josiah read the book so all the people could hear it.

³ The king stood by the column and made an agreement with the Lord. He agreed to follow the Lord and to obey his commands, the Agreement, and his rules. He agreed to do this with all his heart and soul. He agreed to obey the Agreement written in this book. All the people stood to {show they supported} the {king’s} agreement.

⁴ Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the other priests, and the gatekeepers, to bring out of the Lord’s temple [277] all the dishes and things that were made to honor Baal, [278] Asherah, [279] and the stars of heaven. Then Josiah burned those things outside Jerusalem in the fields in Kidron Valley. Then they carried the ashes to Bethel.

⁵ The kings of Judah had chosen some ordinary men to serve as priests. {These men were not from the family of Aaron!} Those false priests were burning incense [280] at the high places [281] in every city of Judah and all the towns around Jerusalem. They burned incense to honor Baal, [282] the sun, the moon, the constellations (groups of stars), and all the stars in the sky. But Josiah stopped those false priests.

⁶ Josiah removed the Asherah Pole [283] from the Lord’s temple. [284] He took the Asherah pole outside the city to the Kidron Valley and burned it there. Then he beat the burnt pieces into dust and scattered the dust over the graves of the common people. [285]

^7-9 Then King Josiah broke down the houses of the male prostitutes [286] that were in the Lord’s temple. Women also used those houses and made little tent covers to honor the false goddess Asherah.

¹⁰ Topheth was a place in the Valley of Hinnom’s Son where people killed their children and burned them on an altar to honor the false god Molech. [289] Josiah defiled (ruined) that place so people could not use that place again.

¹¹ In the past, the kings of Judah had put some horses and a chariot [290] near the entrance to the Lord’s temple. This was near the room of an important official named Nathan Melech. The horses and chariot were to honor the sun god. [291] Josiah removed the horses and burned the chariot.

¹² In the past, the kings of Judah had built altars on the roof of Ahab’s building. King Manasseh had also built altars in the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple. Josiah destroyed all those altars and threw the broken pieces into Kidron Valley.

¹³ In the past, King Solomon built some high places [292] on Destroyer Hill near Jerusalem. The high places were on the south side of that hill. King Solomon built one of those places of worship to honor Ashtoreth, that horrible thing the people of Sidon worship. King Solomon also built one to honor Chemosh, that horrible thing the people of Moab worship. And King Solomon built one high place to honor Milcom, that horrible thing the Ammonite people worship. But King Josiah defiled (ruined) all those places of worship.

¹⁴ King Josiah broke all the memorial stones [293] and Asherah poles. [294] Then he scattered dead men’s bones over that place. [295]

¹⁵ Josiah also broke down the altar and high place [296] at Bethel. Jeroboam son of Nebat had made this altar. Jeroboam caused Israel to sin. [297] Josiah broke down both that altar and the high place. Josiah broke the stones of the altar to pieces. Then he beat it into dust. And he burned the Asherah pole.

¹⁶ Josiah looked around and saw graves on the mountain. He sent men, and they took the bones from those graves. Then he burned the bones on the altar. In this way, Josiah defiled (ruined) the altar. This happened according to the message from the Lord that the man of God [298] announced. [299] The man of God announced these things when Jeroboam stood beside the altar.

¹⁷ Josiah said, “What is that monument I see?”

¹⁸ Josiah said, “Leave the man of God [302] alone. Don’t move his bones.” So they left his bones and the bones of the man of God from Samaria.

¹⁹ Josiah also destroyed all the temples at the high places [303] in the cities of Samaria. The kings of Israel had built those temples. And that made the Lord very angry. Josiah destroyed those temples, just like he destroyed the place of worship at Bethel.

²⁰ Josiah killed all the priests of the high places that were in Samaria. He killed the priests on those altars. He burned men’s bones on the altars. {In this way he ruined those places of worship.} Then he went back to Jerusalem.

²¹ Then King Josiah gave a command to all the people. He said, “Celebrate Passover for the Lord your God. Do this just like it is written in the book of the Agreement.”

²² The people had not celebrated a Passover like this since the days that the judges ruled Israel. None of the kings of Israel or the Kings of Judah ever had such a big celebration for Passover.

²³ They celebrated this Passover for the Lord in Jerusalem during Josiah’s 18th year as king.

²⁴ Josiah destroyed the mediums, [304] wizards, [305] the house gods, the idols, [306] and all the horrible things people worshiped in Judah and Jerusalem. Josiah did this to obey the Law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the Lord’s temple. [307]

²⁵ There had never been a king like Josiah before. Josiah turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his strength. [308] No king had followed all the Law of Moses like Josiah. And there has never been another king like Josiah since that time.

²⁶ But the Lord did not stop being angry at the people of Judah. The Lord was still angry at them for all the things that Manasseh had done.

²⁷ The Lord said, “I forced the people of Israel to leave their land. I will do the same to Judah. I will take Judah out of my sight. I will not accept Jerusalem. Yes, I chose that city. I was talking about Jerusalem when I said, ‘My name will be there.’ But I will destroy the temple [309] that is in that place.”

²⁸ All the other things that Josiah did are written in the book The History of the Kings of Judah.

²⁹ During Josiah’s time, Pharaoh Neco, the king of Egypt went to fight against the king of Assyria at the Euphrates River. Josiah went out to meet Neco at Megiddo. Pharaoh saw Josiah and killed him.

³⁰ Josiah’s officers put his body in a chariot [310] and carried him from Megiddo to Jerusalem. They buried Josiah in his own grave.

³¹ Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king. He ruled three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah.

³² Jehoahaz did the things that the Lord said were wrong. Jehoahaz did all the same things that his ancestors [312] had done.

³³ Pharaoh Neco put Jehoahaz in prison at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Jehoahaz could not rule in Jerusalem. Pharaoh Neco forced Judah to pay 7,500 pounds [313] of silver and 75 pounds [314] of gold.

³⁴ Pharaoh Neco made Josiah’s son Eliakim the new king. Eliakim took the place of Josiah his father. Pharaoh Neco changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. And Pharaoh Neco took Jehoahaz away to Egypt. Jehoahaz died in Egypt.

³⁵ Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh. But Jehoiakim made the common people pay taxes and used that money to give to Pharaoh Neco. So each person paid his share of silver and gold. And King Jehoiakim gave the money to Pharaoh Neco.

³⁶ Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king. He ruled eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah from Rumah.

³⁷ Jehoiakim did the things that the Lord said were wrong. Jehoiakim did all the same things his ancestors [315] had done.