2Ki 23:4-28 | ESV | STEP | And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and the keepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels made for Baal , for Asherah , and for all the host of heaven . He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel .

4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests ^aof the second order and the keepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels made for ^bBaal, for ^cAsherah, and for all the host of heaven. ^dHe burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 And he deposed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and the moon and the constellations ^eand all the host of the heavens. 6 And he brought out ^fthe Asherah from the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, ^gand burned it at the brook Kidron ^hand beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves ⁱof the common people. 7 And he broke down the houses of ^jthe male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the Lord, ^kwhere the women wove hangings for ^lthe Asherah. 8 And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings, from ^mGeba to Beersheba. And he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one’s left at the gate of the city. 9 ⁿHowever, the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. 10 And he defiled ^oTopheth, which is ^pin the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, ^qthat no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to ^rMolech. ^{▼▼Hebrew might cause his son or daughter to pass through the fire for Molech} 11 And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts. ^{▼▼The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain} And he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12 And the altars ^uon the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars ^vthat Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, he pulled down and broke in pieces ^{▼▼Hebrew pieces from there} and cast the dust of them ^xinto the brook Kidron. 13 And the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of ^ythe mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for ^zAshtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for ^aaChemosh the abomination of Moab, and for ^abMilcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 14 And he broke in pieces the ^acpillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with the bones of men.

15 Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected ^adby Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^aewho made Israel to sin, ^afthat altar with the high place he pulled down and burned, ^{▼▼Septuagint broke in pieces its stones} reducing it to dust. He also burned the Asherah. 16 And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it, ^ahaccording to the word of the Lord that the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things. 17 Then he said, “What is that monument that I see?” And the men of the city told him, ^ai“It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted ^{▼▼Hebrew called} these things that you have done against the altar at Bethel.” 18 And he said, “Let him be; let no man move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones ^akof the prophet who came out of Samaria. 19 And Josiah removed all the shrines also of the high places that were ^alin the cities of Samaria, which kings of Israel had made, provoking the Lord to anger. He did to them according to all that he had done at Bethel. 20 And ^amhe sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, ^anand burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Josiah Restores the Passover

21 And the king commanded all the people, ^ao“Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, ^apas it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 ^aqFor no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem.

24 Moreover, Josiah put away ^arthe mediums and the necromancers and ^asthe household gods and ^atthe idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish ^authe words of the law that were written in the book ^avthat Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. 25 ^awBefore him there was no king like 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, nor did any like him arise after him.

26 Still the Lord did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, ^axbecause of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. 27 And the Lord said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight, ^ayas I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, ^azand the house of which I said, My name shall be there.”

Josiah’s Death in Battle

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?