Josiah Renews the Covenant
1Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2He went up to the temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord. 3The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord—to follow the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.
4The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel. 5He did away with the idolatrous priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem—those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts. 6He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the Lord to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder and scattered the dust over the graves of the common people. 7He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the temple of the Lord, the quarters where women did weaving for Asherah.
8Josiah brought all the priests from the towns of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense. He broke down the gateway at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua, the city governor, which was on the left of the city gate. 9Although the priests of the high places did not serve at the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.
10He desecrated Topheth, which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, so no one could use it to sacrifice their son or daughter in the fire to Molek. 11He removed from the entrance to the temple of the Lord the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court23:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. near the room of an official named Nathan-Melek. Josiah then burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.
12He pulled down the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts of the temple of the Lord. He removed them from there, smashed them to pieces and threw the rubble into the Kidron Valley. 13The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the people of Ammon. 14Josiah smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones.
15Even the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin—even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also. 16Then Josiah looked around, and when he saw the tombs that were there on the hillside, he had the bones removed from them and burned on the altar to defile it, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by the man of God who foretold these things.
17The king asked, “What is that tombstone I see?”
The people of the city said, “It marks the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and pronounced against the altar of Bethel the very things you have done to it.”
18“Leave it alone,” he said. “Don’t let anyone disturb his bones.” So they spared his bones and those of the prophet who had come from Samaria.
19Just as he had done at Bethel, Josiah removed all the shrines at the high places that the kings of Israel had built in the towns of Samaria and that had aroused the Lord’s anger. 20Josiah slaughtered all the priests of those high places on the altars and burned human bones on them. Then he went back to Jerusalem.
21The king gave this order to all the people: “Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22Neither in the days of the judges who led Israel nor in the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah had any such Passover been observed. 23But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.
24Furthermore, Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists, the household gods, the idols and all the other detestable things seen in Judah and Jerusalem. This he did to fulfill the requirements of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the temple of the Lord. 25Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.
26Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn away from the heat of his fierce anger, which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh had done to arouse his anger. 27So the Lord said, “I will remove Judah also from my presence as I removed Israel, and I will reject Jerusalem, the city I chose, and this temple, about which I said, ‘My Name shall be there.’23:27 1 Kings 8:29”
28As for the other events of Josiah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?
29While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went up to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to meet him in battle, but Necho faced him and killed him at Megiddo. 30Josiah’s servants brought his body in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.
Jehoahaz King of Judah
31Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. 32He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his predecessors had done. 33Pharaoh Necho put him in chains at Riblah in the land of Hamath so that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and he imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents23:33 That is, about 3 3/4 tons or about 3.4 metric tons of silver and a talent23:33 That is, about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms of gold. 34Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt, and there he died. 35Jehoiakim paid Pharaoh Necho the silver and gold he demanded. In order to do so, he taxed the land and exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land according to their assessments.
Jehoiakim King of Judah
36Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah; she was from Rumah. 37And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his predecessors had done.
約西亞的改革
1於是，王派人召集猶大和耶路撒冷的所有長老， 2與祭司、先知、猶大人、耶路撒冷的居民等全體民眾，不論貴賤，一同上到耶和華的殿。王把在殿中發現的約書讀給他們聽。 3王站在柱旁，在耶和華面前立約，要全心全意地跟隨耶和華，遵從祂的一切誡命、法度和律例，履行約書上的規定。民眾都答應守約。
4王吩咐大祭司希勒迦及其副手和殿門守衛清除耶和華殿裡用來祭拜巴力、亞舍拉及天上萬象的一切器具，在耶路撒冷城外汲淪溪旁的田野燒掉它們，又把灰燼帶到伯特利。 5從前，猶大各王任命祭司在猶大各城和耶路撒冷周圍的邱壇燒香。現在，約西亞除掉那些祭司，又除掉向巴力、日、月、星辰及天上萬象燒香的祭司。 6他將亞舍拉神像從耶和華的殿裡搬到耶路撒冷城外汲淪溪旁燒掉，磨成灰撒在平民的墳墓上。 7他又拆毀耶和華的殿內男廟妓的房屋，就是婦女為亞舍拉編織帳幔的地方。 8他召集猶大各城中的祭司，污瀆從迦巴到別示巴的各邱壇，那些祭司曾在那裡燒香。他拆毀耶路撒冷城門左邊、約書亞總督門前的邱壇。 9然而，在邱壇燒香的祭司不能在耶路撒冷耶和華的祭壇那裡事奉，只可以和其他祭司一起吃無酵餅。 10他污瀆欣嫩子谷中的陀斐特，使人們不能焚燒自己的兒女獻給摩洛。 11他從耶和華的殿門口除掉猶大各王獻給太陽神的馬匹，這些馬匹在太監拿單·米勒房子旁邊的院子裡。他燒掉了那些獻給太陽神的戰車。 12他推倒猶大各王在亞哈斯樓頂上建造的祭壇，摧毀瑪拿西在耶和華殿的兩個院子裡所築的祭壇，把它們打碎，把灰倒進汲淪溪。 13他污瀆耶路撒冷東面、腐爛山南面的邱壇。這些邱壇都是以色列王所羅門為西頓人可憎的神明亞斯她錄、摩押人可憎的神明基抹和亞捫人可憎的神明米勒公建造的。 14他砸碎神柱，砍倒亞舍拉神像，用死人骨頭填滿那些地方。
15他拆掉伯特利高崗上的祭壇，即尼八的兒子耶羅波安誘使以色列人犯罪時建造的祭壇，把祭壇燒毀，搗碎成灰，又焚燒亞舍拉神像。 16約西亞轉身看見山上的墳墓，就派人取出墓中的屍骨，放在那祭壇上焚燒，污瀆了那祭壇，應驗了耶和華藉祂的僕人所說的預言。 17約西亞問：「我看到的那墓碑是誰的？」那城裡的人告訴他：「是上帝僕人的，他曾從猶大來預言你對伯特利祭壇所做的這些事。」 18他說：「不要動他，不要動他的屍骨。」於是，他們沒有動那位先知和撒瑪利亞來的先知的屍骨。 19他拆毀以色列各王從前建在撒瑪利亞各城高崗上、惹耶和華發怒的神廟，就像他在伯特利所做的一樣。 20他在祭壇上殺死那些邱壇的祭司，又在壇上焚燒死人骨頭。之後，他返回耶路撒冷。
約西亞守逾越節
21約西亞王吩咐民眾：「你們應當依照約書的記載慶祝逾越節，以尊崇你們的上帝耶和華。」 22-23約西亞執政第十八年，他們在耶路撒冷慶祝逾越節，以尊崇耶和華。自士師治理以色列起，至以色列和猶大列王統治期間，都沒有這樣慶祝過逾越節。
24為了遵守祭司希勒迦在耶和華殿裡找到的律法書上的話，約西亞徹底清除了耶路撒冷和猶大境內的靈媒、巫師、家庭神像及其他一切可憎之物。 25約西亞全心、全意、全力歸向耶和華，遵行摩西的一切律法，在猶大列王中空前絕後。
26然而，瑪拿西所行的一切惹怒耶和華，耶和華對猶大仍盛怒未息。 27耶和華說：「我要像驅逐以色列人一樣將猶大人從我面前趕走。我要撇棄我所揀選的耶路撒冷城和我宣告我名常在的殿。」23·27 參列王紀上8·29。
28約西亞其他的事及一切所為都記在《猶大列王史》上。 29約西亞執政期間，埃及王尼哥前往幼發拉底河援助亞述王，約西亞出兵迎戰尼哥，結果在米吉多被殺。 30他的臣僕用車把他的屍體從米吉多運回耶路撒冷，葬在他的墓穴裡。民眾膏立他兒子約哈斯接替他做王。
約哈斯做猶大王
31約哈斯二十三歲登基，在耶路撒冷執政三個月。他母親叫哈慕她，是立拿人耶利米的女兒。 32約哈斯像他祖先一樣做耶和華視為惡的事。 33埃及王尼哥把約哈斯囚禁在哈馬的利比拉，不准他在耶路撒冷做王，又罰猶大國六萬八千兩銀子和六百八十兩金子。
約雅敬做猶大王
34埃及王尼哥立約西亞的另一個兒子以利雅敬為王，給他改名為約雅敬。約哈斯被尼哥帶到埃及，並死在那裡。 35為了繳納法老索要的金銀，約雅敬向全國徵稅，按照民眾家產的多少徵收金銀。 36約雅敬二十五歲登基，在耶路撒冷執政十一年。他母親叫西布妲，是魯瑪人毗大雅的女兒。 37他像他祖先一樣做耶和華視為惡的事。
