2 Kings 23:1-37 King Josiah Reads the Book of the Covenant to His People

King Josiah Reads the Book of the Covenant to His People

2 Kings 23:1-37                             2 Kings [in Smaller Chunks]

And king [Josiah] sent, & they gathered to him all the elders of Judah & Jerusalem. And king [Josiah] went up into the [Lord's] house, [with] all the men: [who inhabited] Judah & Jerusalem, the priests, prophets, & all the people, both [powerless and powerful.]

And [king Josiah] read all the Words of the Book of the Covenant in their ears, which was found in the [Lord's] house. And king [Josiah] stood by a pillar, & made a covenant, [a.k.a. contract,] before the Lord, to walk, [a.k.a. follow,] after the Lord, & to keep His commandments, His testimonies & His [mandates,] with all their heart and all their soul.

To perform, [a.k.a. carry out,] the Words of this covenant that were written in this Book. All the people stood [in agreement with] the covenant, [a.k.a. contract.]

And king [Josiah] commanded: Hilkiah, the high priest, & the priests of the 2nd order, & door keepers, to bring out of the temple of the Lord, all the vessels, [a.k.a. items,] made: for Baal, & for the grove, & for all the host, [a.k.a. stars & constellations,] of heaven.

And [king Josiah] burned them [outside of] Jerusalem in the Fields of Kidron, & carried the ashes to BethEl. And [Josiah struck] down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained, [a.k.a. appointed,] to burn incense in high places in the cities of Judah. & in the places [around] Jerusalem.

Also, [those, who] burned incense: to Baal, & to the sun, to the moon, to the planets, & all the [stars & constellations] of heaven, [were struck down.]

And [king Josiah] [had] the grove [taken away] from the [Lord's] house, & brought [outside] Jerusalem, to the Brook Kidron, & burned it [there,] & stamped it to small powder, & [threw] the powder [of it] upon the graves of the [Israelites, who sacrificed to them.]

And [king Josiah broke] down the houses of the sodomites, that were [near] the [Lord's] house, where the women wove hangings for the grove. And [king Josiah] brought all the priests out of the cities of: Judah, & defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, [all the way] from Geba to Beer Sheba.

[Josiah broke] down the high places on the left  hand [side of] the [entrance] of the Gate of Joshua, [who was] the governor of the city. [However,] the priests of the high places [weren’t allowed to] [come] up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they did eat [from] the unleavened bread, among their brethren.

And [king Josiah] defiled Topheth, [that was] in the Valley of [Ben] Hinnom, [so] that no man [could] make his son or daughter pass through the fire to Molech.

And [king Josiah] took away the horses that the kings of Judah had [dedicated] to the sun, at the [entrance] of the [Lord's] house, by the [room] of Nathan Melech, the [officer, who] was in the suburbs, & burned the chariots [dedicated] to the sun, with fire.

And king [Josiah had] them beat down, & break [down] from [there,] the altars that were on top of [Ahaz'] upper [room,] which the kings of Judah had made, & the altars [that] Manasseh had made in the 2 [courtyards] of the [Lord's] house, & cast [their ashes] into the Brook Kidron.

And the king [had these] [defiled:] the high places that were [in front of] Jerusalem, on the right [side] of the Mount of Corruption, [a.k.a. Hill of Corruption,] which Solomon, [Israel’s] king, had [built] for Ashtoreth, the abomination of the Zidonian’s.

And [also] for Chemosh, the abomination of the Moabites, & Milcom, the abomination of the children, [a.k.a. people,] of Ammon. And [king Josiah broke] in pieces the images, & cut down the groves, & filled their places with the bones of men.

[Additionally,] [king Josiah] [broke] down both the altar that was at BethEl, & the high place which Jeroboam, [Nebat's] son, had made, who [caused] Israel to sin. [Josiah broke] down both that altar, & the high place. [1 Kings 12:28-30 [Upon which] king [Jeroboam] took counsel, & made 2 calves of gold, & said to [the Israelites,] It’s too much for you to go up to Jerusalem [to sacrifice.]

[See,] your gods, O Israel, [that] brought you up out of the land of Egypt. And [Jeroboam put] one [gold calf] in BethEl, & the other he put in Dan. And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even to Dan.]

And [king Josiah had them] burned, & stamped [them] to [fine] powder, & burned the grove. And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the [tombs] that were there [on the mountain,] & took the bones out of the [tombs,] & burned [the bones] [from them] upon the altar, & [defiled] it, according to the Word of the Lord, proclaimed [by] the man of God.

Then, [king Josiah] said, [Whose gravestone] is [this] that I see? And the men of the city told [king Josiah,] It's the [tomb] of the man of God, [who] came from Judah, & proclaimed these things you [have] done against the altar of BethEl.

And [king Josiah] said, Let him alone. [Don't] let [any] man move his bones. So, they [left the] bones of the prophet, [who] came out of Samaria, alone. And [king Josiah,] also took away: all the houses of the high places in [Samaria's] cities, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord [God] to anger.

And [king Josiah] took [them] away, & did to them [like] all the [actions] he had done in BethEl. And [king Josiah killed] all the priests of the high places that were there, & burned [the] men's bones upon the altars, & [king Josiah] returned to Jerusalem.

And king [Josiah] commanded all the people, saying, Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, [like] it is written in the Book of this Covenant. Surely, there wasn't a Passover [held] [like this one since] the days of the judges [who] judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor the kings of Judah.

But in the 18th year king Josiah [ruled,] this Passover was [held] to the Lord in Jerusalem. [Additionally,] Josiah [removed] the: workers with familiar spirits [a.k.a. mediums,] wizards, images, idols, & all abominations that were [seen] in the land of Judah & Jerusalem.

Josiah [took] [them] away, so] that he might perform, [a.k.a. carry out,] the Words of the Law [that] were written in the Book that Hilkiah, the priest, found in the [Lord's] house. There [wasn't any] king before or after [Josiah, who] turned to the Lord [God] with all his heart, all his soul, & all his might, according to all the Law of Moses. Neither [did] any like him [arise] [after] [Josiah.]

[Still,] the Lord [didn't] turn from the fierceness of His great [anger that grew] against Judah, because of all that [king] Manasseh had [done to] provoke Him.   [2 Kings 21:3-7 For [Manasseh] again built up the high places [that] Hezekiah, his father, had destroyed.

And he [put] up altars for Baal, & made a grove, [like] Ahab, [Israel’s] king, did. And he built altars in the [Lord’s] house, of which the Lord said, I will put My Name in Jerusalem. And he built altars for all the host, [a.k.a. stars & constellations,] of heaven in the 2 [courtyards] of the [Lord’s] house.

And he made his son pass through the fire, & observed times, used enchantments, & dealt with familiar spirits. He [did] much wickedness in the sight of the Lord to provoke Him to anger.

And [Manasseh put a carved] image, [from] the grove that he had made, in the house, of which the Lord said to David, & Solomon, his son, In this house & in Jerusalem, [that] I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My Name forever.]

And the Lord said, I will also remove Judah out of My sight, [like] I removed Israel, & will [reject:] Jerusalem, this city [that] I have chosen, & the [Lord's] house, that I said, My Name shall be there.

Now, aren't the rest of the [actions] of Josiah, & all that he did, written in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? In [king Josiah's] days, Pharaoh Nechoh [a.k.a. Necho, & Neko, Egypt's] king, went up against [Assyria’s] king, [all the way] to the Euphrates River.

And [prior to his death,] king Josiah went against him, [in battle & was] [killed] at Megiddo, [by] [Pharaoh Nechoh,] when [king Josiah confronted] him. And [king Josiah's] servants carried him dead in a chariot from Megiddo, [a.k.a. Megiddon,] & brought him to Jerusalem, & buried [king Josiah] in his own [tomb.]

And the people of the land took [Josiah's] son, Jehoahaz, anointed him, & made him king in his father's [place.] Jehoahaz, was 23 years old when he began to [rule,] & he [ruled] 3 months in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, [Jeremiah's] daughter, [from] Libnah.

And [king Jehoahaz] did [what] was evil in the sight of the Lord [God,] according to all his [forefathers] had done. And Pharaoh Nechoh put [Jehoahaz] in [chains,] [into prison] at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, [so] he [didn't] [continue to] [rule] in Jerusalem; & [Pharaoh Nechoh] [imposed a levy] [on]  e land of: 100 talents of silver & 1 talent of gold.

And Pharaoh Nechoh made Eliakim, [Josiah's] son, king in the [place] of Josiah, his father, & [changed Eliakim's] name to Jehoiakim, & took Jehoahaz away to Egypt, [where he] died.

And Jehoiakim [paid] the silver & gold, [required by the] Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to [Pharaoh's command.] [Jehoiakim [accomplished this by taxing] the people of the land, [so] everyone [paid the silver & gold] according to his [assessed] taxation, to give it to Pharaoh Nechoh.

Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he began to [rule,] & he [ruled] 11 years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Zebudah, [Pedaiah's] daughter, [from] Rumah. And [Jehoiakim] did [what] was evil in the sight of the Lord [God,] according to all his [forefathers] had done.