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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>2 Kings 23 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/2_kings/23.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/2_kings/23-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</a> > 2 Kings 23</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../2_kings/22.htm" title="2 Kings 22">◄</a> 2 Kings 23 <a href="../2_kings/24.htm" title="2 Kings 24">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s1">Josiah Reads <span class="bk">The Book of God's Law</span></h3><h5 class="r">(<ref loc="2CH 34:29-33">2 Chronicles 34.29-33</ref>)</h5><p class="par"><span class="v12_23_1"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.1" class="v12_23_1">1</span>King Josiah called together the older leaders of Judah and Jerusalem. </span><span class="v12_23_2"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.2" class="v12_23_2">2</span>Then he went to the <span class="nd">Lord</span>'s temple, together with the people of Judah and Jerusalem, the priests, and the prophets. Finally, when everybody was there, he read aloud <span class="bk">The Book of God's Law</span><a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.23.2!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> that had been found in the temple.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_23_3"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.3" class="v12_23_3">3</span>After Josiah had finished reading, he stood by one of the columns. He asked the people to promise in the <span class="nd">Lord</span>'s name to faithfully obey the <span class="nd">Lord</span> and to follow his commands. The people agreed to do everything written in the book.</span></p><h3 class="s1">Josiah Follows the Teachings of God's Law</h3><h5 class="r">(<ref loc="2CH 34:3-7">2 Chronicles 34.3-7</ref>)</h5><p class="par"><span class="v12_23_4"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.4" class="v12_23_4">4</span><a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.23.4!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Josiah told Hilkiah the priest, the assistant priests, and the guards at the temple door to go into the temple and bring out the things used to worship Baal, Asherah, and the stars. Josiah had these things burned in Kidron Valley just outside Jerusalem, and he had the ashes carried away to the town of Bethel.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_23_5"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.5" class="v12_23_5">5</span>Josiah also got rid of the pagan priests at the local shrines in Judah and around Jerusalem. These were the men that the kings of Judah had appointed to offer sacrifices to Baal and to the sun, moon, and stars. </span><span class="v12_23_6"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.6" class="v12_23_6">6</span>Josiah had the sacred pole<a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.23.6!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> for Asherah brought out of the temple and taken to Kidron Valley, where it was burned. He then had its ashes ground into dust and scattered over the public cemetery there. </span><span class="v12_23_7"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.7" class="v12_23_7">7</span>He had the buildings torn down where the male prostitutes<a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.23.7!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> lived next to the temple, and where the women wove sacred robes<a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.23.7!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> for the idol of Asherah.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_23_8"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.8" class="v12_23_8">8</span>In almost every town in Judah, priests had been offering sacrifices to the <span class="nd">Lord</span> at local shrines.<a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.23.8!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> Josiah brought these priests to Jerusalem and had their shrines made unfit for worship—every shrine from Geba just north of Jerusalem to Beersheba in the south. He even tore down the shrine at Beersheba that was just to the left of Joshua Gate, which was named after the highest official of the city. </span><span class="v12_23_9"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.9" class="v12_23_9">9</span>Those local priests could not serve at the <span class="nd">Lord</span>'s altar in Jerusalem, but they were allowed to eat sacred bread,<a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.23.9!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> just like the priests from Jerusalem.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_23_10"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.10" class="v12_23_10">10</span><a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.23.10!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Josiah sent some men to Hinnom Valley just outside Jerusalem with orders to make the altar there unfit for worship. That way, people could no longer use it for sacrificing their children to the god Molech. </span><span class="v12_23_11"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.11" class="v12_23_11">11</span>He also got rid of the horses that the kings of Judah used in their ceremonies to worship the sun, and he destroyed the chariots along with them. The horses had been kept near the entrance to the <span class="nd">Lord</span>'s temple, in a courtyard<a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.23.11!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> close to where an official named Nathan-Melech lived.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_23_12"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.12" class="v12_23_12">12</span><a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.23.12!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Some of the kings of Judah, especially Manasseh, had built altars in the two courts of the temple and in the room that Ahaz had built on the palace roof. Josiah had these altars torn down and smashed to pieces, and he had the pieces thrown into Kidron Valley, just outside Jerusalem. </span><span class="v12_23_13"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.13" class="v12_23_13">13</span><a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.23.13!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> After that, he closed down the shrines that Solomon had built east of Jerusalem and south of Spoil Hill to honor Astarte the disgusting goddess of Sidon, Chemosh the disgusting god of Moab, and Milcom the disgusting god of Ammon.<a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.23.13!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span><span class="v12_23_14"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.14" class="v12_23_14">14</span>He tore down the stone images of foreign gods and cut down the sacred pole used in the worship of Asherah. Then he had the whole area covered with human bones.<a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.23.14!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_23_15"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.15" class="v12_23_15">15</span><a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.23.15!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> But Josiah was not finished yet. At Bethel he destroyed the shrine and the altar that Jeroboam son of Nebat had built and that had caused the Israelites to sin. Josiah had the shrine and the Asherah pole burned and ground into dust. </span><span class="v12_23_16"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.16" class="v12_23_16">16</span><a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.23.16!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> As he looked around, he saw graves on the hillside. He had the bones in them dug up and burned on the altar, so that it could no longer be used. This happened just as God's prophet had said when Jeroboam was standing at the altar, celebrating a festival.<a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.23.16!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_23_16">Then Josiah saw the grave of the prophet who had said this would happen </span><span class="v12_23_17"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.17" class="v12_23_17">17</span><a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.23.17!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> and he asked,<a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.23.17!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> “Whose grave is that?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_23_17">Some people who lived nearby answered, “It belongs to the prophet from Judah who told what would happen to this altar.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_23_18"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.18" class="v12_23_18">18</span>Josiah replied, “Then leave it alone. Don't dig up his bones.” So they did not disturb his bones or the bones of the old prophet from Israel who had also been buried there.<a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.23.18!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_23_19"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.19" class="v12_23_19">19</span>Some of the Israelite kings had made the <span class="nd">Lord</span> angry by building pagan shrines all over Israel. So Josiah sent troops to destroy these shrines just as he had done to the one in Bethel. </span><span class="v12_23_20"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.20" class="v12_23_20">20</span>He killed the priests who served at them and burned their bones on the altars.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_23_20">After all that, Josiah went back to Jerusalem.</span></p><h3 class="s1">Josiah and the People of Judah Celebrate Passover</h3><h5 class="r">(<ref loc="2CH 35:1-19">2 Chronicles 35.1-19</ref>)</h5><p class="par"><span class="v12_23_21"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.21" class="v12_23_21">21</span>Josiah told the people of Judah, “Celebrate Passover in honor of the <span class="nd">Lord</span> your God, just as it says in <span class="bk">The Book of God's Law</span>.”<a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.23.21!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_23_22"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.22" class="v12_23_22">22</span>This festival had not been celebrated in this way since the time that tribal leaders ruled Israel or the kings ruled Israel and Judah. </span><span class="v12_23_23"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.23" class="v12_23_23">23</span>But in Josiah's eighteenth year as king of Judah, everyone came to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover.</span></p><h3 class="s1">The <span class="nd">Lord</span> Is Still Angry with the People of Judah</h3><p class="par"><span class="v12_23_24"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.24" class="v12_23_24">24</span>Josiah got rid of every disgusting person and thing in Judah and Jerusalem—including magicians, fortunetellers, and idols. He did his best to obey every law written in the book that the priest Hilkiah found in the <span class="nd">Lord</span>'s temple. </span><span class="v12_23_25"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.25" class="v12_23_25">25</span>No other king before or after Josiah tried as hard as he did to obey the Law of Moses.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_23_26"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.26" class="v12_23_26">26</span>But the <span class="nd">Lord</span> was still furious with the people of Judah because Manasseh had done so many things to make him angry. </span><span class="v12_23_27"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.27" class="v12_23_27">27</span>The <span class="nd">Lord</span> said, “I will desert the people of Judah, just as I deserted the people of Israel. I will reject Jerusalem, even though I chose it to be mine. And I will abandon this temple built to honor me.”</span></p><h3 class="s1">Josiah Dies in Battle</h3><h5 class="r">(<ref loc="2CH 35:20-36:1">2 Chronicles 35.20—36.1</ref>)</h5><p class="par"><span class="v12_23_28"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.28" class="v12_23_28">28</span>Everything else Josiah did while he was king is written in <span class="bk">The History of the Kings of Judah</span>. </span><span class="v12_23_29"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.29" class="v12_23_29">29</span>During Josiah's rule, King Neco of Egypt led his army north to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. Josiah led his troops north to fight Neco, but when they met in battle at Megiddo, Josiah was killed.<a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.23.29!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span><span class="v12_23_30"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.30" class="v12_23_30">30</span>A few of Josiah's servants put his body in a chariot and took it back to Jerusalem, where they buried it in his own tomb. Then the people of Judah found his son Jehoahaz and poured olive oil on his head to show that he was their new king.</span></p><h3 class="s1">King Jehoahaz of Judah</h3><h5 class="r">(<ref loc="2CH 36:2-4">2 Chronicles 36.2-4</ref>)</h5><p class="par"><span class="v12_23_31"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.31" class="v12_23_31">31</span>Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled from Jerusalem only 3 months. His mother Hamutal was the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. </span><span class="v12_23_32"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.32" class="v12_23_32">32</span>Jehoahaz disobeyed the <span class="nd">Lord</span>, just as some of his ancestors had done.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_23_33"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.33" class="v12_23_33">33</span>King Neco of Egypt had Jehoahaz arrested and put in prison at Riblah<a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.23.33!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> near Hamath. Then he forced the people of Judah to pay him 3.4 tons of silver and 34 kilograms of gold as taxes. </span><span class="v12_23_34"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.34" class="v12_23_34">34</span><a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.23.34!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Neco appointed Josiah's son Eliakim king of Judah, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. He took Jehoahaz as a prisoner to Egypt, where he died.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_23_35"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.35" class="v12_23_35">35</span>Jehoiakim forced the people of Judah to pay higher taxes, so he could give Neco the silver and gold he demanded.</span></p><h3 class="s1">King Jehoiakim of Judah</h3><h5 class="r">(<ref loc="2CH 36:5-8">2 Chronicles 36.5-8</ref>)</h5><p class="par"><span class="v12_23_36"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.36" class="v12_23_36">36</span><a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.23.36!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he was appointed king, and he ruled 11 years from Jerusalem. His mother Zebidah was the daughter of Pedaiah from Rumah. </span><span class="v12_23_37"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.23.37" class="v12_23_37">37</span>Jehoiakim disobeyed the <span class="nd">Lord</span> by following the example of his ancestors.</span></p></div> </div> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">23.2 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">The Book of God's Law: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">The Hebrew text has “The Book of God's Agreement,” which is the same as “The Book of God's Law” in 22.8,11. In traditional translations this is called “The Book of the Covenant.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">23.6 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">sacred pole: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">See the note at 13.6,7.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">23.7 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">male prostitutes: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Young men or boys sometimes served as prostitutes in the worship of Canaanite gods, but the <char style="nd">Lord</char> had forbidden the people of Israel and Judah to worship in this way (see Deuteronomy 23.17,18).</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">23.7 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">sacred robes: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “coverings.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">23.8 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">local shrines: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">See the note at 12.3.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">23.9 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">sacred bread: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">The Hebrew text has “thin bread,” which may be either the pieces of thin bread made without yeast to be eaten during the Passover Festival (see verses 21-23) or the baked flour used in sacrifices to give thanks to the <char style="nd">Lord</char> (see Leviticus 2.4,5).</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">23.11 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">in a courtyard: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">23.13 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">the shrines … Ammon: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">See 1 Kings 11.5-7.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">23.14 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Then he … human bones: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">This made the whole area unfit for the worship of any god.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">23.16 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">just … festival: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">See 1 Kings 13.1,2.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">23.16,17 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">said when Jeroboam … asked: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">One ancient translation; Hebrew “said. <char style="fv">17</char> Then Josiah asked.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">23.18 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">old prophet … there: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">See 1 Kings 13.11-32.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">23.21 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">The Book of God's Law: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">See the note at 23.2.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">23.29 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">killed: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">At this time, King Neco of Egypt (609–595 <char style="sc">b.c.</char>) was fighting on the side of the Assyrians. He marched north to fight the Babylonian army and help Assyria keep control of its land. Since Josiah considered Assyria an enemy, he set out to stop Neco and the Egyptian troops.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">23.33 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Riblah: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">An important town in Syria on the Orontes River.</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. 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