2nd Kings — 23

Yusyahu’s Religious Reforms

1 Then the king summoned all the elders of Yahudah and Yahushalam. 

2 And the king went up to the Temple of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH with all the people of Yahudah and Yahushalam, along with the Kuhanym and the Nabyms, all the people from the least to the greatest. There the king read to them the entire Book of the Covenant that had been found in 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH’s Temple. 

3 The king took his place of authority beside the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH, he pledged to obey 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH by keeping all his commands, laws, and decrees with all his heart and soul. In this way, he confirmed all the terms of the covenant that were written in the scroll, and all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.

4 Then the king instructed Hilkyahu the high Kuhan and the Kuhanym of the second rank and the Temple gatekeepers to remove from 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH’s Temple all the articles that were used to worship Baal, Asharah, and all the powers of the Shamaym. The king had all these things burned outside Yahushalam on the terraces of the Kidrun Valley, and he carried the ashes away to Bathal. 

5 He did away with the idolatrous priests, who had been appointed by the previous kings of Yahudah, for they had offered sacrifices at the pagan shrines throughout Yahudah and even in the vicinity of Yahushalam. They had also offered sacrifices to Baal, and to the sun, the moon, the constellations, and to all the powers of the Shamaym. 

6 The king removed the Asharah pole from 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH’s Temple and took it outside Yahushalam to the Kidrun Valley, where he burned it. Then he ground the ashes of the pole to dust and threw the dust over the graves of the people. 

7 He also tore down the living quarters of the male and female shrine prostitutes that were inside the Temple of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH, where the women wove coverings for the Asharah pole.

8 Yusyahu brought to Yahushalam all the Kuhanym who were living in other towns of Yahudah, he also defiled the pagan shrines, where they had offered sacrifices, all the way from Gaba to Baarshaba. He destroyed the shrines at the entrance to the gate of Husha, the governor of Yahushalam. This gate was located to the left of the city gate as one enters the city. 

9 The priests who had served at the pagan shrines were not allowed to serve at 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH’s altar in Yahushalam, but they were allowed to eat unleavened bread with the other Kuhanym.

10 Then the king defiled the altar of Tuphath in the valley of Ban-Hinnum, so no one could ever again use it to sacrifice a son or daughter in the fire as an offering to Mulach.

11 He removed from the entrance of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH’s Temple the horse statues that the former kings of Yahudah had dedicated to the sun. They were near the quarters of Nathan-malach the eunuch, an officer of the court. The king also burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.

12 King Yusyahu tore down the altars that the kings of Yahudah had built on the palace roof above the upper room of Ahaz. The king destroyed the altars that Manassah had built in the two courtyards of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH’s Temple, he smashed them to bits and scattered the pieces in the Kidrun Valley. 

13 The king also desecrated the pagan shrines east of Yahushalam, to the south of the Mount of Corruption, where King Shalumah of Yashar'AL had built shrines for Ashturath, the detestable female idol of the Sidunians; and for Chamush, the detestable idol of the Muabites; and for Mulach, the vile idol of the Ammunites. 

14 He smashed the sacred pillars and cut down the Asharah poles. Then he desecrated these places by scattering the bones of men over them.

15 The king also tore down the altar at Bathal the pagan shrine that Yarubuam son of Nabat had made when he caused Yashar'AL to sin, he burned down the shrine and ground it to dust, and he burned the Asharah pole. 

16 Then King Yusyahu turned around and noticed several tombs in the side of the hill. He ordered that the bones be brought out, and he burned them on the altar at Bathal to desecrate it. (This happened just as 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH had promised through the servant of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH when Yarubuam stood beside the altar at the festival.) Then Yusyahu turned and looked up at the tomb of the servant of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH who had predicted these things. 

17 “What is that monument over there?” Yusyahu asked. And the people of the town told him, “It is the tomb of the servant of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH who came from Yahudah and predicted the very things that you have just done to the altar at Bathal!”

18 Yusyahu replied, “Leave it alone. Do not disturb his bones.” So they did not burn his bones or those of the old Nabym from Samaria.

19 Then Yusyahu demolished all the buildings at the pagan shrines in the towns of Samaria, just as he had done at Bathal. They had been built by the various kings of Yashar'AL and had made 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH very angry. 

20 He executed the priests of the pagan shrines on their own altars, and he burned the bones of men on the altars to desecrate them. Finally, he returned to Yahushalam.

Yusyahu Celebrates Passover

21 King Yusyahu then issued this order to all the people: “You must celebrate the Passover to 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH your 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH, as required in this Book of the Covenant.” 

22 There had not been a Passover celebration like that since the time when the judges ruled in Yashar'AL, nor throughout all the years of the kings of Yashar'AL and Yahudah. 

23 But in the eighteenth year of King Yusyahu’s reign, this Passover was celebrated to 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH in Yahushalam.

24 Yusyahu also got rid of the mediums and psychics, the household idols, and every other kind of detestable practice, both in Yahushalam and throughout the land of Yahudah. He did this in obedience to the laws written in the scroll that Hilkyahu the Kuhan had found in 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH’s Temple. 

25 Never before had there been a king like Yusyahu, who turned to 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH with all his heart and soul and strength, obeying all the laws of Musha. And there has never been a king like him since.

26 Even so, 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH was very angry with Yahudah because of all the wicked things Manassah had done to provoke Him. 

27 For 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH Dabar, “I will also banish Yahudah from my presence just as I have banished Yashar'AL. And I will reject my chosen city of Yahushalam and the Temple where my Name was to be honored.”

28 The rest of the events in Yusyahu’s reign and all his deeds are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Yahudah.

29 While Yusyahu was king, Phar'uh Nacu, king of Mitzraym, went to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Yusyahu and his army marched out to fight him, but King Nacu killed him when they met at Magiddu. 

30 Yusyahu’s officers took his body back in a chariot from Magiddu to Yahushalam and buried him in his own tomb. Then the people of the land anointed Yusyahu’s son Yahuahaz and made him the next king.

Yahuahaz Rules in Yahudah

31 Yahuahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Yahushalam three months. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Yarayahu from Libnah. 

32 He did what was evil in 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH’s sight, just as his ancestors had done.

33 Phar'uh Nacu put Yahuahaz in prison at Riblah in the land of Hamath to prevent him from ruling in Yahushalam, he also demanded that Yahudah pay 7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold as tribute.

Yahuiakim Rules in Yahudah

34 Pharuh Nacu then installed Aliakim, another of Yusyahu’s son, to reign in place of his father, and he changed Aliakim’s name to Yahuiakim. Yahuahaz was taken to Mitzraym as a prisoner, where he died.

35 In order to get the silver and gold demanded as tribute by Phar'uh Nacu, Yahuiakim collected a tax from the people of Yahudah, requiring them to pay in proportion to their wealth.

36 Yahuiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Yahushalam eleven years. His mother was Zabidah, the daughter of Padayahu from Rumah. 

37 He did what was evil in the sight of  𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH, just as his ancestors had done.