1 Então, deu ordem o rei, e todos os anciãos de Judá e de Jerusalém se ajuntaram a ele. 2 O rei subiu à Casa do Senhor, e com ele todos os homens de Judá, todos os moradores de Jerusalém, os sacerdotes, os profetas e todo o povo, desde o menor até ao maior; e leu diante deles todas as palavras do Livro da Aliança que fora encontrado na Casa do Senhor. 3 O rei se pôs em pé junto à coluna e fez aliança ante o Senhor, para o seguirem, guardarem os seus mandamentos, os seus testemunhos e os seus estatutos, de todo o coração e de toda a alma, cumprindo as palavras desta aliança, que estavam escritas naquele livro; e todo o povo anuiu a esta aliança.

4 Então, o rei ordenou ao sumo sacerdote Hilquias, e aos sacerdotes da segunda ordem, e aos guardas da porta que tirassem do templo do Senhor todos os utensílios que se tinham feito para Baal, e para o poste-ídolo, e para todo o exército dos céus, e os queimou fora de Jerusalém, nos campos de Cedrom, e levou as cinzas deles para Betel. 5 Também destituiu os sacerdotes que os reis de Judá estabeleceram para incensarem sobre os altos nas cidades de Judá e ao redor de Jerusalém, como também os que incensavam a Baal, ao sol, e à lua, e aos mais planetas, e a todo o exército dos céus. 6 Também tirou da Casa do Senhor o poste-ídolo, que levou para fora de Jerusalém até ao vale de Cedrom, no qual o queimou e o reduziu a pó, que lançou sobre as sepulturas do povo. 7 Também derribou as casas da prostituição cultual que estavam na Casa do Senhor, onde as mulheres teciam tendas para o poste-ídolo. 8 A todos os sacerdotes trouxe das cidades de Judá e profanou os altos em que os sacerdotes incensavam, desde Geba até Berseba; e derribou os altares das portas, que estavam à entrada da porta de Josué, governador da cidade, à mão esquerda daquele que entrava por ela. 9 (Mas os sacerdotes dos altos não sacrificavam sobre o altar do Senhor, em Jerusalém; porém comiam pães asmos no meio de seus irmãos.) 10 Também profanou a Tofete, que está no vale dos filhos de Hinom, para que ninguém queimasse a seu filho ou a sua filha como sacrifício a Moloque. 11 Também tirou os cavalos que os reis de Judá tinham dedicado ao sol, à entrada da Casa do Senhor, perto da câmara de Natã-Meleque, o camareiro, a qual ficava no átrio; e os carros do sol queimou. 12 Também o rei derribou os altares que estavam sobre a sala de Acaz, sobre o terraço, altares que foram feitos pelos reis de Judá, como também os altares que fizera Manassés nos dois átrios da Casa do Senhor; e, esmigalhados, os tirou dali e lançou o pó deles no ribeiro de Cedrom. 13 O rei profanou também os altos que estavam defronte de Jerusalém, à mão direita do monte da Destruição, os quais edificara Salomão, rei de Israel, para Astarote, abominação dos sidônios, e para Quemos, abominação dos moabitas, e para Milcom, abominação dos filhos de Amom. 14 Semelhantemente, fez em pedaços as colunas e cortou os postes-ídolos; e o lugar onde estavam encheu ele de ossos humanos.

15 Também o altar que estava em Betel e o alto que fez Jeroboão, filho de Nebate, que tinha feito pecar a Israel, esse altar junto com o alto o rei derribou; destruiu o alto, reduziu a pó o seu altar e queimou o poste-ídolo. 16 Olhando Josias ao seu redor, viu as sepulturas que estavam ali no monte; mandou tirar delas os ossos, e os queimou sobre o altar, e assim o profanou, segundo a palavra do Senhor, que apregoara o homem de Deus que havia anunciado estas coisas. 17 Então, perguntou: Que monumento é este que vejo? Responderam-lhe os homens da cidade: É a sepultura do homem de Deus que veio de Judá e apregoou estas coisas que fizeste contra o altar de Betel. 18 Josias disse: Deixai-o estar; ninguém mexa nos seus ossos. Assim, deixaram estar os seus ossos com os ossos do profeta que viera de Samaria. 19 Também tirou Josias todos os santuários dos altos que havia nas cidades de Samaria e que os reis de Israel tinham feito para provocarem o Senhor à ira; e lhes fez segundo todos os atos que tinha praticado em Betel. 20 E matou todos os sacerdotes dos altos que havia ali, sobre os altares, e queimou ossos humanos sobre eles; depois, voltou para Jerusalém.

21 Deu ordem o rei a todo o povo, dizendo: Celebrai a Páscoa ao Senhor, vosso Deus, como está escrito neste Livro da Aliança. 22 Porque nunca se celebrou tal Páscoa como esta desde os dias dos juízes que julgaram Israel, nem durante os dias dos reis de Israel, nem nos dias dos reis de Judá. 23 Corria o ano décimo oitavo do rei Josias, quando esta Páscoa se celebrou ao Senhor, em Jerusalém.

24 Aboliu também Josias os médiuns, os feiticeiros, os ídolos do lar, os ídolos e todas as abominações que se viam na terra de Judá e em Jerusalém, para cumprir as palavras da lei, que estavam escritas no livro que o sacerdote Hilquias achara na Casa do Senhor. 25 Antes dele, não houve rei que lhe fosse semelhante, que se convertesse ao Senhor de todo o seu coração, e de toda a sua alma, e de todas as suas forças, segundo toda a Lei de Moisés; e, depois dele, nunca se levantou outro igual. 26 Nada obstante, o Senhor não desistiu do furor da sua grande ira, ira com que ardia contra Judá, por todas as provocações com que Manassés o tinha irritado. 27 Disse o Senhor: Também a Judá removerei de diante de mim, como removi Israel, e rejeitarei esta cidade de Jerusalém, que escolhi, e a casa da qual eu dissera: Estará ali o meu nome.

28 Quanto aos mais atos de Josias e a tudo quanto fez, porventura, não estão escritos no Livro da História dos Reis de Judá? 29 Nos dias de Josias, subiu Faraó-Neco, rei do Egito, contra o rei da Assíria, ao rio Eufrates; e, tendo saído contra ele o rei Josias, Neco o matou, em Megido, no primeiro encontro. 30 De Megido, os seus servos o levaram morto e, num carro, o transportaram para Jerusalém, onde o sepultaram no seu jazigo. O povo da terra tomou a Joacaz, filho de Josias, e o ungiu, e o fez rei em lugar de seu pai.

31 Tinha Joacaz vinte e três anos de idade quando começou a reinar e reinou três meses em Jerusalém. Sua mãe chamava-se Hamutal e era filha de Jeremias, de Libna. 32 Fez ele o que era mau perante o Senhor, segundo tudo que fizeram seus pais. 33 Porém Faraó-Neco o mandou prender em Ribla, na terra de Hamate, para que não reinasse em Jerusalém; e impôs à terra a pena de cem talentos de prata e um de ouro. 34 Faraó-Neco também constituiu rei a Eliaquim, filho de Josias, em lugar de Josias, seu pai, e lhe mudou o nome para Jeoaquim; porém levou consigo para o Egito a Joacaz, que ali morreu. 35 Jeoaquim deu aquela prata e aquele ouro a Faraó; porém estabeleceu imposto sobre a terra, para dar esse dinheiro segundo o mandado de Faraó; do povo da terra exigiu prata e ouro, de cada um segundo a sua avaliação, para o dar a Faraó-Neco.

36 Tinha Jeoaquim a idade de vinte e cinco anos quando começou a reinar e reinou onze anos em Jerusalém. Sua mãe se chamava Zebida e era filha de Pedaías, de Ruma. 37 Fez ele o que era mau perante o Senhor, segundo tudo quanto fizeram seus pais.

1 And the king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.

2 And 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.

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.

4 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 to Bethel.

5 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 to Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.

6 And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof on the graves of the children of the people.

7 And he broke down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove.

8 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 Beersheba, and broke 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' left hand at the gate of the city.

9 Nevertheless 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 brothers.

10 And 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.

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.

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 broke them down from there, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.

13 And 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 built 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.

14 And he broke in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.

15 Moreover the altar that 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, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove.

16 And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchers that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchers, and burned them on the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.

17 Then he said, What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulcher of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that you have done against the altar of Bethel.

18 And 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.

19 And 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 Bethel.

20 And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there on the altars, and burned men' bones on them, and returned to Jerusalem.

21 And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant.

22 Surely there was not held 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;

23 But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was held 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.

25 And like to 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, with which his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him with.

27 And 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.

28 Now 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 Pharaohnechoh 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.

30 And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulcher. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father' stead.

31 Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his mother' name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

32 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.

33 And Pharaohnechoh 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.

34 And Pharaohnechoh 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.

35 And 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 to Pharaohnechoh.

36 Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother' name was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.

37 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.