1And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. 2And the king went up into 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, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.23.2 both…: Heb. from small even unto great
3¶ And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.
4And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Beth-el. 5And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.23.5 put…: Heb. caused to cease23.5 idolatrous…: Heb. Chemarim23.5 planets: or, twelve signs or, constellations 6And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people. 7And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove.23.7 hangings: Heb. houses 8And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beer-sheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man’s left hand at the gate of the city. 9Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren. 10And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech. 11And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire.23.11 chamberlain: or, eunuch, or, officer 12And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, did the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.23.12 brake…: or, ran from thence 13And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.23.13 the mount…: that is, the mount of Olives 14And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.23.14 images: Heb. statues
15¶ Moreover the altar that was at Beth-el, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove. 16And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words. 17Then he said, What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Beth-el. 18And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.23.18 bones alone: Heb. bones to escape 19And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Beth-el. 20And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men’s bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.23.20 slew: or, sacrificed
21¶ And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the LORD your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant. 22Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that 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, wherein this passover was holden to the LORD in Jerusalem.
24¶ Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.23.24 images: or, teraphim
25And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.
26¶ Notwithstanding the LORD turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal.23.26 provocations: Heb. angers 27And the LORD said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off 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?
29¶ In his days Pharaoh-nechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he slew him at Megiddo, when he had seen him. 30And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s stead.
31¶ Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.23.31 Jehoahaz: also called, Shallum 32And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done. 33And Pharaoh-nechoh put him in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to a tribute of an hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.23.33 that…: or, because he reigned23.33 put the…: Heb. set a fine upon the land 34And Pharaoh-nechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away: and he came to Egypt, and died there. 35And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh: he exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every one according to his taxation, to give it unto Pharaoh-nechoh.
36¶ Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. 37And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.
约西亚的改革
1于是，王召集犹大和耶路撒冷的所有长老， 2与祭司、先知、犹大人、耶路撒冷的居民等全体民众，不论贵贱，一同上到耶和华的殿。王把在殿中发现的约书念给他们听。 3王站在柱旁，在耶和华面前立约，要全心全意地跟随耶和华，遵从祂的一切诫命、法度和律例，履行约书上的规定。民众都答应守约。
4王吩咐大祭司希勒迦及其副手和殿门守卫清除耶和华殿里用来祭拜巴力、亚舍拉及天上万象的一切器具，将其搬到耶路撒冷城外汲沦溪旁的田野烧掉，又把灰烬带到伯特利。 5从前，犹大各王任命祭司在犹大各城和耶路撒冷周围的丘坛烧香。现在，约西亚除掉那些祭司，又除掉向巴力、日、月、星辰及天上万象烧香的祭司。 6他将亚舍拉神像从耶和华的殿里搬到耶路撒冷城外汲沦溪旁烧掉，磨成灰撒在平民的坟墓上。 7他又拆毁耶和华的殿内男庙妓的房屋，就是妇女为亚舍拉编织帐幔的地方。 8他召集犹大各城中的祭司，污渎从迦巴到别示巴的各丘坛，那些祭司曾在那里烧香。他拆毁耶路撒冷城门左边、约书亚总督门前的丘坛。 9但在丘坛烧香的祭司不能在耶路撒冷耶和华的祭坛那里事奉，只可以和其他祭司一起吃无酵饼。 10他污渎欣嫩子谷中的陀斐特，使人们不能焚烧自己的儿女献给摩洛。 11他从耶和华的殿门口除掉犹大各王献给太阳神的马匹，这些马匹在太监拿单·米勒房子旁边的院子里。他烧掉了那些献给太阳神的战车。 12他推倒犹大各王在亚哈斯楼顶上建造的祭坛，摧毁玛拿西在耶和华殿的两个院子里所筑的祭坛，把它们打碎，把灰丢进汲沦溪。 13他污渎耶路撒冷东面、败坏山南面的丘坛。这些丘坛都是以色列王所罗门为西顿人可憎的神明亚斯她录、摩押人可憎的神明基抹和亚扪人可憎的神明米勒公建造的。 14他砸碎神柱，砍倒亚舍拉神像，用死人骨头填满那些地方。
15他拆掉伯特利高岗上的祭坛，即尼八的儿子耶罗波安诱使以色列人犯罪时建造的祭坛，把祭坛烧毁，捣碎成灰，又焚烧亚舍拉神像。 16约西亚转身看见山上的坟墓，就派人取出墓中的尸骨，放在那祭坛上焚烧，污渎了那祭坛，应验了耶和华借祂的仆人所说的预言。 17约西亚问：“我看到的那墓碑是谁的？”那城里的人告诉他：“是上帝仆人的，他曾从犹大来预言你对伯特利祭坛所做的这些事。” 18他说：“不要动他，不要动他的尸骨。”于是，他们没有动那位先知和撒玛利亚来的先知的尸骨。 19他拆毁以色列各王从前建在撒玛利亚各城高岗上、惹耶和华发怒的丘坛，就像他在伯特利所做的一样。 20他在祭坛上杀死那些丘坛的祭司，又在坛上焚烧死人骨头。之后，他返回耶路撒冷。
约西亚守逾越节
21约西亚王吩咐民众：“你们应当依照约书的记载庆祝逾越节，以尊崇你们的上帝耶和华。” 22-23约西亚执政第十八年，他们在耶路撒冷庆祝逾越节，以尊崇耶和华。自士师治理以色列起，至以色列和犹大列王统治期间，都没有这样庆祝过逾越节。
24为了遵守祭司希勒迦在耶和华殿里找到的律法书上的话，约西亚彻底清除了耶路撒冷和犹大境内的灵媒、巫师、家庭神像及其他一切可憎之物。 25约西亚全心、全意、全力归向耶和华，遵行摩西的一切律法，在犹大列王中空前绝后。
26然而，玛拿西所行的一切惹怒耶和华，耶和华对犹大仍盛怒未息。 27耶和华说：“我要像驱逐以色列人一样将犹大人从我面前赶走。我要撇弃我所拣选的耶路撒冷和我名常在的殿。”
28约西亚其他的事及作为都记在犹大的列王史上。 29约西亚执政期间，埃及王尼哥前往幼发拉底河援助亚述王，约西亚出兵迎战尼哥，在米吉多被杀。 30他的臣仆用车把他的尸体从米吉多运回耶路撒冷，安葬在他的墓穴里。民众膏立他儿子约哈斯做王。
约哈斯做犹大王
31约哈斯二十三岁登基，在耶路撒冷执政三个月。他母亲叫哈慕她，是立拿人耶利米的女儿。 32约哈斯像他祖先一样做耶和华视为恶的事。 33埃及王尼哥把约哈斯囚禁在哈马的利比拉，不准他在耶路撒冷做王，又罚犹大国三点四吨银子和三十四公斤金子。
约雅敬做犹大王
34埃及王尼哥立约西亚的另一个儿子以利亚敬为王，给他改名为约雅敬。约哈斯被尼哥带到埃及，并死在那里。 35为了缴纳法老索要的金银，约雅敬向全国征税，按照民众家产的多少征收金银。 36约雅敬二十五岁登基，在耶路撒冷执政十一年。他母亲叫西布妲，是鲁玛人毗大雅的女儿。 37他像他祖先一样做耶和华视为恶的事。
