The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers(A) to remove(B) 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. He 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(C) to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts.(D) He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the Lord to the Kidron Valley(E) outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder(F) and scattered the dust over the graves(G) of the common people.(H) He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes(I) that were in the temple of the Lord, the quarters where women did weaving for Asherah.

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And 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 Bethel.

And 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.

And 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.

And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove.

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And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the (A)priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring (B)out of the temple of the Lord all the articles that were made for Baal, for [a]Asherah, and for all [b]the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. Then he removed the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem, and those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the [c]constellations, and to (C)all the host of heaven. And he brought out the (D)wooden[d] image from the house of the Lord, to the Brook Kidron outside Jerusalem, burned it at the Brook Kidron and ground it to (E)ashes, and threw its ashes on (F)the graves of the common people. Then he tore down the ritual [e]booths (G)of the [f]perverted persons that were in the house of the Lord, (H)where the (I)women wove hangings for the wooden image.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 23:4 A Canaanite goddess
  2. 2 Kings 23:4 The gods of the Assyrians
  3. 2 Kings 23:5 Of the Zodiac
  4. 2 Kings 23:6 Heb. Asherah, a Canaanite goddess
  5. 2 Kings 23:7 Lit. houses
  6. 2 Kings 23:7 Heb. qedeshim, those practicing sodomy and prostitution in religious rituals

11 He removed from the entrance to the temple of the Lord the horses that the kings of Judah(A) had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court[a] near the room of an official named Nathan-Melek. Josiah then burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 23:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.

11 And 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 Nathanmelech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

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11 Then he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had [a]dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-Melech, the officer who was in the court; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 23:11 given

12 He pulled down(A) the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof(B) near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts(C) of the temple of the Lord. He removed them from there, smashed them to pieces and threw the rubble into the Kidron Valley.(D)

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12 And 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.

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12 The altars that were (A)on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which (B)Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, the king broke down and pulverized there, and threw their dust into the Brook Kidron.

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