2
The kingwent up to 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, bothsmall and great; and he read in their hearingall the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.
3
The kingstood by the pillar and made a covenantbefore the LORD, to walkafter the LORD, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to carry out the words of thiscovenant that were written in thisbook. And all the peopleentered into the covenant.
4
Then the kingcommandedHilkiah the highpriest and the priests of the second order and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the LORDall the vessels that were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside*Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel
5
He didaway with the idolatrouspriestswhom the kings of Judah had appointed to burnincense in the highplaces in the cities of Judah and in the surroundingarea of Jerusalem, also those who burnedincense to Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the constellations and to all the host of heaven.
6
He brought out the Asherah from the house of the LORDoutside*Jerusalem to the brookKidron, and burned it at the brookKidron, and ground it to dust, and threw its dust on the graves of the commonpeople.
8
Then he broughtall the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the highplaceswhere* the priests had burnedincense, from Geba to Beersheba; and he brokedown the highplaces of the gateswhich were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one'sleft at the citygate.
11
He didaway with the horseswhich the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the official, which was in the precincts; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.
12
The altarswhich were on the roof, the upperchamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altarswhichManasseh had made in the twocourts of the house of the LORD, the kingbrokedown; and he smashed them there and threw their dust into the brookKidron.
13
The highplaceswhich were before*Jerusalem, which were on the right of the mount of destructionwhichSolomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the sons of Ammon, the kingdefiled.
15
Furthermore, the altar that was at Bethel and the highplacewhichJeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israelsin, had made, even that altar and the highplace he brokedown. Then he demolished its stones, ground them to dust, and burned the Asherah.
16
Now when Josiahturned, he saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent and took the bones from the graves and burned them on the altar and defiled it according to the word of the LORDwhich the man of Godproclaimed, whoproclaimedthesethings.
17
Then he said, "What is thismonument that I see?" And the men of the citytold him, "It is the grave of the man of Godwhocame from Judah and proclaimedthesethingswhich you have doneagainst the altar of Bethel."
19
Josiahalsoremovedall the houses of the highplaceswhich were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had madeprovoking the LORD; and he did to them just* as he had done in Bethel
22
Surelysuch a Passover had not been celebrated from the days of the judgeswhojudgedIsrael, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and of the kings of Judah.
24
Moreover, Josiahremoved the mediums and the spiritists and the teraphim and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might confirm the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priestfound in the house of the LORD.
25
Before him there was nokinglike him whoturned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him ariseafter him.
26
However, the LORD did not turn from the fierceness of His greatwrath with which His angerburned against Judah, because of all the provocations with whichManasseh had provoked Him.
27
The LORDsaid, "I will removeJudahalso from My sight, as I have removedIsrael. And I will castoffJerusalem, thiscitywhich I have chosen, and the temple of which I said, 'My name shall be there.' "
29
In his daysPharaohNecoking of Egyptwent up to the king of Assyria to the riverEuphrates. And KingJosiahwent to meet him, and when Pharaoh Neco saw him he killed him at Megiddo.
30
His servantsdrove his body in a chariot from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. Then the people of the landtookJehoahaz the son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.