2 Kings 23:1-14
A Covenant before the LORD
1Then the king summoned all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.
2And he went up to the house of the LORD with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, as well as the priests and the prophets—all the people small and great—and in their hearing he read all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the LORD.
3So the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD to follow the LORD and to keep His commandments, decrees, and statutes with all his heart and all his soul, and to carry out the words of the covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant.
4Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests second in rank, and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the LORD all the articles made for Baal, Asherah, and all the host of heaven. And he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel.
5Josiah also did away with the idolatrous priests ordained by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem—those who had burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven.
6He brought the Asherah pole from the house of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem, and there he burned it, ground it to powder, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.
7He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the house of the LORD, where the women had woven tapestries for Asherah.
8Then Josiah brought all the priests from the cities of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense. He tore down the high places of the gates at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which was to the left of the city gate.
9Although the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.
10He also desecrated Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnom so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech.
11And he removed from the entrance to the house of the LORD the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court near the chamber of an official named Nathan-melech. And Josiah burned up the chariots of the sun.
12He pulled down the altars that the kings of Judah had set up on the roof near the upper chamber of Ahaz, and the altars that Manasseh had set up in the two courtyards of the house of the LORD. The king pulverized them there and threw their dust into the Kidron Valley.
13The king also desecrated the high places east of Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Corruption, which King Solomon of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
14He smashed the sacred pillars to pieces, cut down the Asherah poles, and covered the sites with human bones.
Berean Standard Bible
Josiah gathers all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem, the priests and prophets, and all the people from the least to the greatest. He goes to the temple and reads the words of the Book of the Covenant that has been found there. The whole community hears what the king has heard.
The king stands by the pillar and makes a covenant before the LORD to follow him, keep his commandments, testimonies, and statutes with all his heart and soul, and carry out the words of the covenant. The people join the covenant, so reform is not presented as a private preference of the king.
Josiah removes from the temple all the articles made for Baal, Asherah, and the whole host of heaven. He brings them outside Jerusalem and burns them. He removes the idolatrous priests, tears down the male cult quarters, and destroys the places where women made woven garments for Asherah.
The king brings out the Asherah pole and defiles Topheth, where children had been burned. He removes horses dedicated to the sun and burns the chariots of the sun. The reform is physical and public because the worship it opposes has occupied public places and shaped public life.
How We Know
The wider biblical record gives this unit a responsible setting. The events in 2 Kings 23:1-14 belong to the royal history also preserved in 2 Chronicles and interpreted by the prophets. Where the account names Assyria, Babylon, kings, cities, or temple practice, those details sit within the wider history of the ancient Near East; the parallel biblical records help us test the sequence while retaining the passage's covenant meaning.
Questions
1 Who hears the Book of the Covenant?
AnswerElders, priests, prophets, and all the people from the least to the greatest hear the book read.
2 What does Josiah promise?
AnswerHe promises before the LORD to follow him and keep the covenant's words with all his heart and soul.
3 What does Josiah remove from the temple?
AnswerHe removes articles made for Baal, Asherah, and the host of heaven and burns them outside Jerusalem.
4 What does Josiah defile?
AnswerHe defiles Topheth so no one can make a son or daughter pass through the fire there.
What This Means for Us
Josiah's reform begins with hearing and covenant before it becomes demolition. The public actions matter because the public practices have been teaching Judah whom to trust and serve.
Name the practices that shape your household's loyalties, then change what contradicts your stated worship. Genuine reform may require removing familiar things, not merely adding better words around them.
Prayer
Lord, help us hear your word together and answer it with more than promises. Give our families courage to remove practices that compete with you, protect children from harm, and make our worship visible in daily choices. Amen.