2Kings:23-24

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* And the king sent . And they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem . * And the king went up into the house of the LORD . And all the men of Judah and all the people of Jerusalem with him , and the priests and the prophets , and all the people , from the small even to the great . And he read all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD in their ears . * 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 [his ] heart and all [his soul , to perform the words of this covenant which was written in this Book . And all the people stood to the covenant . * And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest , and the priests of the second order , and the doorkeepers , to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels which were made for Baal , and for the Asherah , and for all the host of heaven . And he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron , and carried the ashes of them to Bethel . * And he put down the idol-worshiping priests , whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn [incense ] in the high places in the cities of Judah , and in the places around Jerusalem . He also put down those who burned incense to Baal , to the sun , and to the moon , and to the planets , and to all the host of the heavens . * And he brought out the Asherah from the house of the LORD outside Jerusalem , to the torrent Kidron , and burned it at the torrent Kidron , and stamped [it ] to powder , and threw the powder of it on the graves of the sons of the people . * And he broke down the houses of the sodomites , which [were ] by the house of the LORD , where the women wove coverings for the Asherah . * And 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 he broke down the high places of the gates which [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 . * But the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem , but they ate of the unleavened [bread ] among their brothers . * And he defiled Topheth , in the valley of the sons of Hinnom , so that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech . * And he took away the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the sun , at the entering in of the house of the LORD , by the room of Nathan-melech the eunuch , which [was ] in the suburbs . And he burned the chariots of the sun with fire . * And the altars which [were ] on the top of the upper room of Ahaz , which the kings of Judah had made , and the altars which Manasseh had made , and the two courts of the house of the LORD , the king beat them down , and broke them down from there . And he threw the dust of them into the torrent Kidron . * And the high places which [were ] before Jerusalem on the right hand of the Mount of Corruption , which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians , and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites , and for Milcom the abomination of the sons of Ammon , the king defiled . * And he broke the images in pieces , and cut down the Asherahs , and filled their places with the bones of men . * And also the altar which [was ] at Bethel , [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 broke down , and burned the high place ; he stamped it to powder , and burned the Asherah . * And as Josiah turned , he spied the tombs which [were ] there in the mountain . And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs , and burned [them ] on the altar and defiled it , according to the word of the LORD which the man of God had proclaimed , who spoke these words . * And he said , What monument [is ] that which I see ? And the men of the city told him , [It is ] the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel . * And he said , Let him alone ; let no one move his bones . And they let his bones alone , with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria . * And also all the houses of the high places 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 which he had done in Bethel . * And he killed all the priests of the high places [which were ] there on the altars , and burned men 's bones on them , and returned to Jerusalem . * And the king commanded all the people saying , Prepare the Passover to the LORD your God , as [it is ] written in the Book of the Covenant . * Surely there was not held such a Passover 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 , * but in the eighteenth year of king Josiah , this Passover was held to the LORD in Jerusalem . * And also Josiah put away the mediums , and the soothsayers , and the family gods , and the idols , and all the abominations which were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem , so that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book which Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD . * And there was no king like him before him , who 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 . And after him none rose up like him . * But the Lord did not turn from the heat of His great wrath , with which His anger was kindled against Judah , because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him . * And the LORD said , I will also remove Judah 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 . * And the rest of the acts of Josiah , and all that he did , [are ] they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Judah ? * In his days Pharaoh-necho king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates . And King Josiah went against him . And he killed him at Megiddo , when he saw him . * And his servants made him ride dead in a chariot from Megiddo , and brought him to Jerusalem , and buried him in his own tomb . And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah , and anointed him , and made him king in his father 's place . * Jehoahaz [was ] twenty-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 . * And he did the evil in the sight of the LORD , according to all that his fathers had done . * And Pharaoh-necho put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath , so that he might not reign in Jerusalem . And he put the land to a tax of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold . * And Pharaoh-necho made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in place of Josiah his father . And he changed his name to Jehoiakim , and took Jehoahaz away . And he came to Egypt and died there . * And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh . But he taxed the land to give the silver according to Pharaoh 's command . He exacted the silver and the gold from the people of the land , from each one according to his worth , to give it to Pharaoh-necho . * Jehoiakim [was ] twenty-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 . * And he did the evil in the sight of the LORD , according to all that his fathers had done . * In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up , and Jehoiakim became his servant three years . Then he turned and rebelled against him . * And the LORD sent against him troops of the Chaldees , and bands of the Syrians , and troops of the Moabites , and troops of the Ammonites . And He sent them against Judah to destroy it , according to the word of the LORD which He spoke by His servants the prophets . * Surely at the commandment of the Lord [this ] came on Judah , to remove [them ] out of His sight , for the sins of Manasseh , according to all that he did ; * and also for the innocent blood which he shed , for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood , which the LORD would not pardon . * And the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim , and all that he did , [are ] they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Judah ? * And Jehoiakim slept with his fathers . And Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place . * And the king of Egypt did not come again out of his land any more . For the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates all that [belonged to ] the king of Egypt . * Jehoiachin [was ] eighteen years old when he began to reign , and he reigned in Jerusalem three months . And his mother 's name [was ] Nehushta , the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem . * And he did the evil in the sight of the LORD , according to all that his father had done . * At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem , and the city was besieged . * And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city , and his servants besieged it . * And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon , he and his mother , and his servants , and his leaders , and his eunuchs . And the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign . * And [he ] carried out from there all the treasures of the house of the LORD , and the treasures of the king 's house , and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD , as the LORD had said . * And he carried away all Jerusalem , and all the leaders , and all the mighty men of war , ten thousand captives , and all the craftsmen and smiths . None remained except the poorest sort of the people of the land . * And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon , and the king 's mother , and the king 's wives , and his eunuchs . And the mighty of the land he carried into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon . * And the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of might , seven thousand of them , and a thousand craftsmen and smiths , all who were strong and able for war . * And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah , his father 's brother , king in his place . And he changed his name to Zedekiah . * Zedekiah [was ] twenty-one years old when he began to reign , and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem . And his mother 's name [was ] Hamutal , the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah . * And he did the evil in the sight of the LORD , according to all that Jehoiakim had done . * For it was through the anger of the LORD that Zedekiah happened to rebel against the king of Babylon in Jerusalem and in Judah , until [God ] had put them out of His presence . * And it happened in the ninth year of his reign , in the tenth month , in the tenth day of the month , Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came . He and all his army came against Jerusalem and pitched against it , and built a siege-mound all around it .

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