2 Kings 23:1-13 ▼

1 Then the king summoned all the elders of Judah (praised) and Jerusalem (city of peace).

2 And he went up to the house of the LORD {YHWH} with all the people of Judah (praised) and Jerusalem (city of peace), as well as the priests and the prophets—all the people small and great—and in their hearing he read all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the LORD.

3 So the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD {YHWH} to follow the LORD and to keep His commandments, decrees, and statutes with all his heart and all his soul, and to carry out the words of the covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant.

4 Then the king commanded Hilkiah (my portion is YHWH) the high priest, the priests second in rank, and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the LORD {YHWH} all the articles made for Baal (lord), Asherah (goddess), and all the host of heaven. And he burned them outside Jerusalem (city of peace) in the fields of Kidron (dark) and carried their ashes to Bethel (house of God).

5 Josiah also did away with the idolatrous priests ordained by the kings of Judah (praised) to burn incense on the high places of the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem (city of peace)—those who had burned incense to Baal (lord), to the sun and moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven.

6 He brought the Asherah pole (goddess) from the house of the LORD {YHWH} to the Kidron (dark) Valley outside Jerusalem (city of peace), and there he burned it, ground it to powder, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.

7 He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the house of the LORD {YHWH}, where the women had woven tapestries for Asherah (goddess).

8 Then Josiah brought all the priests from the cities of Judah (praised) and desecrated the high places, from Geba (hill) to Beersheba (well of seven), where the priests had burned incense. He tore down the high places of the gates at the entrance of the gate of Joshua (YHWH saves) the governor of the city, which was to the left of the city gate.

9 Although the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the LORD {YHWH} in Jerusalem (city of peace), they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.

10 He also desecrated Topheth (place of fire) in the Valley of Ben-hinnom (the Valley of the Son of Hinnom) so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire \could pass his son or daughter through the fire/ to Molech (king).

11 And he removed from the entrance to the house of the LORD {YHWH} the horses that the kings of Judah (praised) had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court {parbarim} near the chamber of an official named Nathan-melech (the gift of the king). And Josiah burned up the chariots of the sun.

12 He pulled down the altars that the kings of Judah (praised) had set up on the roof near the upper chamber of Ahaz (he has grasped), and the altars that Manasseh (causing to forget) had set up in the two courtyards of the house of the LORD {YHWH}. The king pulverized them there (quickly removed them from there) and threw their dust into the Kidron (dark) Valley.

13 The king also desecrated the high places east of Jerusalem (city of peace), to the south of the Mount of Corruption, which King Solomon (peace) of Israel (he wrestles with God) had built for Ashtoreth (star) the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh (subduer) the abomination of the Moabites (of his father), and for Milcom (Molech) the abomination of the Ammonites (tribal).