4And King Josiah commanded Hilkiah, the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that had been made for Baal, and for the idol (for the goddess Asherah), and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside of Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them to Bethel, (where Israel’s idolatry had its start). 5And he got rid of the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and all around Jerusalem; as well as those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, moon, the planets, and to all the host of heaven. 6And Josiah brought the idol (Asherah) out of the temple of the LORD, and took it out of Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and ground it to powder, and threw the powder upon the graves of the common people. 7And he tore down the houses of the sodomites that were by the temple of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the idol. 8And Josiah removed all the idolatrous priests from the cities of Judah, and desecrated, from Geba to Beersheba (from north to south), those high places where the priests had burned incense, and broke down the towers of the gateways at the entrance of the gate of Joshua, the governor of the city, which were on one's left hand at the city gate. 9Nevertheless, the priests of the high places were not allowed to serve at the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren. 10And Josiah also desecrated and destroyed the Topheth (burning place), which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, so that no man might make his son or daughter pass through the fire to Molech. 11And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given in worship of the sun, at the entrance of the temple of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-melech, the chamberlain, which was in the annex, and he burned the chariots dedicated to the sun. 12And Josiah tore down the altars that were dedicated to the host of stars on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and smashed the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the temple of the LORD, and threw the dust of them into the brook, Kidron. 13 And Josiah also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem, which were on the right (south) side of the mount of corruption, which Solomon, had built for Ashtoreth, the abomination of the Sidonians - Chemosh, the abomination of the Moabites, and Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites. 14And he broke in pieces the cultic memorial pillars, cut down the idols, and filled their places with the bones of men.

15Moreover, the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam I had made - Jeroboam I, son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin, these Josiah broke down, and burned the high place, and ground it to powder, and burned the idol Ashtoreth. 16And as Josiah turned around, he noticed the tombs that were there in the mount, and he had them remove the bones from the tombs, and burned them upon the altar to pollute it, according to the word of the LORD which the man of God had proclaimed by naming Josiah before he was born.(1 Kings 13:2) 17Then he said, “What marker is that that I see?” And the men of the city told him, “It is the sepulcher of the man of God, who came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that you have done to the altar of Bethel”. 18And Josiah said, “Let him alone; let no man move his bones”. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria.

19And Josiah also took away all the houses of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the LORD to anger, and did to them like he had done in Bethel. 20And he killed all the priests of the high places who were there upon their own altars, and burned men's bones upon them to desecrate them, and returned to Jerusalem.

21And Josiah commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover unto the LORD your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant.” 22Surely there was not such a Passover held from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah, 23But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was held to the LORD in Jerusalem.

24Josiah also put away the mediums, wizards, images, idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might fulfill the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah, the priest, found in the temple of the LORD. 25And there no king like him before Josiah, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him.

26Yet the LORD did not turn from the heat of His great wrath, which had been kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had committed to provoke Him. 27And the LORD said, “I will also remove Judah out of My sight, as I have removed Israel, and will forsake this city Jerusalem, which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, “My name shall be there.”

28Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

29During his reign, Pharaoh-neco, king of Egypt, went up to the river Euphrates to help the king of Assyria, and King Josiah went out to oppose him; and he (Pharaoh-neco) slew him (Josiah) at Megiddo, when he (Pharaoh-neco) had met him (Josiah). 30And Josiah’s servants brought his body in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulcher. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's stead.

31Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, just as many of his forefathers had done. 33And Pharaoh-neco put Jehoahaz in chains at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, so that he could not reign in Jerusalem; and levied a tribute of a hundred talents (about 6,500 pounds) of silver, and a talent (about 66 pounds) of gold upon the land. 34And Pharaoh-neco made Eliakim, another son of Josiah, king instead of Josiah, his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away to Egypt, where he died. 35And Jehoiakim paid the silver and gold tribute to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to raise the money demanded by Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his valuation, to give it to Pharaoh-neco.

36Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zebidah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. 37And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as many of his forefathers had done.