2 Kings 23

2 Kings 23:1 So the king sent agents, and they gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to him.

2 Kings 23:2 Then the king went to Yahveh’s temple with all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as well as the priests and the prophets — all the people from the youngest to the oldest. He read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in Yahveh’s temple.

2 Kings 23:3 Next, the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant in Yahveh’s presence to follow Yahveh and keep his commands, decrees, and statutes with all his heart and with all his throat to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book; all the people agreed to the covenant.

2 Kings 23:4 Then the king commanded the high priest Hilkiah, the priests of the second rank, and the doorkeepers to bring out of Yahveh’s sanctuary all the articles made for Baal, Asherah, and all the stars in the sky. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel.

2 Kings 23:5 Then he did away with the idolatrous priests the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense at the high places in the cities of Judah and the areas surrounding Jerusalem. They had burned incense to Baal and the sun, moon, constellations, and all the stars in the sky.

2 Kings 23:6 He brought the Asherah pole from Yahveh’s temple to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem, burned it there, beat it to dust, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.

2 Kings 23:7 He also tore down the houses of the male cult prostitutes that were in Yahveh’s temple, in which the women were weaving tapestries for Asherah.

2 Kings 23:8 Then Josiah brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and he defiled the high places from Geba to Beer-sheba, where the priests had burned incense. He tore down the high places of the city gates at the entrance of the gate of Joshua, the governor of the city (on the left at the city gate).

2 Kings 23:9 The priests of the high places, however, did not come up to the altar of Yahveh in Jerusalem; instead, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.

2 Kings 23:10 He defiled Topheth, which is in Ben Himmon Valley so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech.

2 Kings 23:11 He did away with the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They had been at the entrance of Yahveh’s temple in the precincts by the chamber of Nathan-Melech, the eunuch. He also burned the chariots of the sun.

2 Kings 23:12 The king tore down the altars that the kings of Judah had made on the roof of Ahaz’s upper chamber. He also tore down the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courtyards of Yahveh’s temple. Then he smashed them there and threw their dust into the Kidron Valley.

2 Kings 23:13 The king also defiled the high places across from Jerusalem to the south of the Mount of Destruction, which King Solomon of Israel had built for Ashtoreth, the abhorrent idol of the Sidonians; Chemosh, the abhorrent idol of Moab; and Milcom, the detestable idol of the Ammonites.

2 Kings 23:14 He broke the sacred pillars into pieces, cut down the Asherah poles, and then filled their places with human bones.

2 Kings 23:15 He even tore down the altar at Bethel and the high place made by Jeroboam, son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. He burned the high place, crushed it to dust, and burned the Asherah.

2 Kings 23:16 As Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mountain. He sent someone to take the bones out of the tombs, and he burned them on the altar. He defiled it according to the word of Yahveh proclaimed by the man of God who proclaimed these things.

2 Kings 23:17 Then he said, “What is this monument I see?” The men of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things that you have done to the altar at Bethel.”

2 Kings 23:18 So he said, “Let him rest. Don’t let anyone disturb his bones.” So, they left his bones undisturbed with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria.

2 Kings 23:19 Josiah also removed all the shrines of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to anger Yahveh. Josiah did the same things to them that he had done at Bethel.

2 Kings 23:20 He slaughtered on the altars all the priests of those high places, and he burned human bones on the altars. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

2 Kings 23:21 The king commanded all the people, “Observe the Passover of Yahveh your God as written in the book of the covenant.”

2 Kings 23:22 No such Passover had ever been observed from the time of the judges who judged Israel through the entire time of the kings of Israel and Judah.

2 Kings 23:23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, Yahveh’s Passover was observed in Jerusalem.

2 Kings 23:24 In addition, Josiah eradicated the mediums, spiritists, household idols, images, and all the abhorrent things that were seen in the land of Judah and Jerusalem. He did this to carry out the words of the law written in the book that the priest Hilkiah found in Yahveh’s temple.

2 Kings 23:25 Before him, no king like him turned to Yahveh with all his heart and with all his throat and with all his strength according to all the law of Moses, and no one like him arose after him.

2 Kings 23:26 In spite of all that, Yahveh did not turn from the fury of his intense burning anger, which burned against Judah because of all the affronts with which Manasseh had angered him.

2 Kings 23:27 Because Yahveh had said, “I will also remove Judah from my presence just as I have removed Israel. I will reject this city Jerusalem, that I have chosen, and the temple about which I said, ‘My name will be there.'”

2 Kings 23:28 The rest of the events of Josiah’s reign, along with all his accomplishments, are written in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings.

2 Kings 23:29 During his reign, Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, marched up to help the king of Assyria at the Euphrates River. King Josiah went to confront him, and at Megiddo, when Neco saw him, he killed him.

2 Kings 23:30 His slaves carried his dead body in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. Then the common people took Jehoahaz, son of Josiah, anointed him and made him king in place of his father.

2 Kings 23:31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah.

2 Kings 23:32 He did what was evil in Yahveh’s sight just as his ancestors had done.

2 Kings 23:33 Pharaoh Neco imprisoned him at Riblah in the land of Hamath to keep him from reigning in Jerusalem, and he imposed on the land a fine of seventy-five hundred pounds of silver and seventy-five pounds of gold.

2 Kings 23:34 Then Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Jehoahaz and went to Egypt, and he died there.

2 Kings 23:35 So Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but at Pharaoh’s command, he taxed the land to provide it. He exacted the silver and the gold from the common people, each according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco.

2 Kings 23:36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah; she was from Rumah.

2 Kings 23:37 He did what was evil in Yahveh’s sight just as his ancestors had done.

links:

cleaning up
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Friday, November 1, 2024
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Monday, October 23, 2023
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Monday, October 25, 2021
the courage of Josiah – Devotions
The LORD gave, the LORD has taken away – Devotions
whatever happens

The 2 KINGS shelf in Jeff’s library

2 Kings 22

2 Kings 22:1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath.

2 Kings 22:2 He did what was right in Yahveh’s sight and walked in all the ways of his ancestor David; he did not turn to the right or the left.

2 Kings 22:3 In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent the court secretary Shaphan, son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, to Yahveh’s temple, saying,

2 Kings 22:4 “Go up to the high priest Hilkiah so that he may total up the silver brought into Yahveh’s temple — the silver the doorkeepers have collected from the people.

2 Kings 22:5 It is to be given to those doing the work—those who oversee Yahveh’s temple. They, in turn, are to give it to the workmen in Yahveh’s temple to strengthen the damaged area.

2 Kings 22:6 They are to give it to the carpenters, builders, and masons to buy timber and quarried stone to make the temple strong.

2 Kings 22:7 But no accounting is to be required from them for the silver given to them since they work with integrity.”

2 Kings 22:8 The high priest Hilkiah told the court secretary Shaphan, “I have found the book of the law in Yahveh’s temple,” and he gave the book to Shaphan, who read it.

2 Kings 22:9 Then the court secretary Shaphan went to the king and reported, “Your slaves have emptied the silver that was found in the temple and have given it to those doing the work– those who oversee Yahveh’s temple.”

2 Kings 22:10 Then the court secretary Shaphan told the king, “The priest Hilkiah has given me a book,” and Shaphan read it in the king’s presence.

2 Kings 22:11 When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes.

2 Kings 22:12 Then he commanded the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam, son of Shaphan, Achbor, son of Micaiah, the court secretary Shaphan, and the king’s slave Asaiah:

2 Kings 22:13 “Go and inquire of Yahveh for me, the people, and all Judah about the words in this book that has been found. For great is Yahveh’s wrath that is kindled against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this book in order to do everything written about us.”

2 Kings 22:14 So the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the prophetess Huldah, wife of Shallum, son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem in the Second District. They spoke with her.

2 Kings 22:15 She said to them, “This is what Yahveh God of Israel says: Say to the man who sent you to me,

2 Kings 22:16 ‘This is what Yahveh says: I am about to bring disaster on this place and its inhabitants, fulfilling all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read,

2 Kings 22:17 because they have abandoned me and burned incense to other gods to anger me with all the work of their hands. My wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched.’

2 Kings 22:18 Say this to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of Yahveh: ‘This is what Yahveh God of Israel says: As for the words that you heard,

2 Kings 22:19 because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before Yahveh when you heard what I spoke against this place and its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and because you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I have heard’ — this is Yahveh’s declaration.

2 Kings 22:20 ‘Therefore, I will indeed gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster that I am bringing on this place.'” Then, they reported to the king.

links:

“To be gathered to his people”
a right relationship with God
blaspheming heaven – Revelation 13-6
Excursus- “To Be Gathered”
gathered in peace – Devotions
Gender Equality in Ministry
The consequences of separation

The 2 KINGS shelf in Jeff’s library

2 Kings 21

2 Kings 21:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.

2 Kings 21:2 He did what was evil in Yahveh’s sight, imitating the detestable practices of the nations that Yahveh had dispossessed before the Israelites.

2 Kings 21:3 He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed and reestablished the altars for Baal. He made an Asherah, as King Ahab of Israel had done; he also bowed in worship to all the stars in the sky and slaved for them.

2 Kings 21:4 He built altars in Yahveh’s temple, where Yahveh had said, “Jerusalem is where I will put my name.”

2 Kings 21:5 He built altars to all the stars in the sky in both courtyards of Yahveh’s temple.

2 Kings 21:6 He sacrificed his son in the fire, practiced witchcraft and divination and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in Yahveh’s sight, angering him.

2 Kings 21:7 Manasseh set up the carved image of Asherah, which he made, in the temple that Yahveh had spoken about to David and his son Solomon: “I will establish my name forever in this temple and Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.

2 Kings 21:8 I will never again cause the feet of the Israelites to wander from the land I gave to their ancestors if only they will be careful to do all I have commanded them — the whole law that my slave Moses commanded them.”

2 Kings 21:9 But they did not listen; Manasseh caused them to stray so that they did worse evil than the nations Yahveh had destroyed before the Israelites.

2 Kings 21:10 Yahveh said through his slaves the prophets,

2 Kings 21:11 “Since King Manasseh of Judah has committed all these detestable acts — worse evil than the Amorites who preceded him had done — and by means of his idols has also caused Judah to sin,

2 Kings 21:12 this is what Yahveh God of Israel says: ‘I am about to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that everyone who hears about it will shudder.

2 Kings 21:13 I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line used on Samaria and the mason’s level used on the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem clean as one wipes a bowl—wiping it and turning it upside down.

2 Kings 21:14 I will abandon the remnant of my inheritance and hand them over to their enemies. They will become plunder and spoil to all their enemies,

2 Kings 21:15 because they have done what is evil in my sight and have angered me from the day their ancestors came out of Egypt until today.'”

2 Kings 21:16 Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem with it from one end to another. This was in addition to his sin that he caused Judah to commit, so that they did what was evil in Yahveh’s sight.

2 Kings 21:17 The rest of Manasseh’s reign, including all his accomplishments and sins, is written in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings.

2 Kings 21:18 Manasseh rested with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his own house, the garden of Uzza. His son Amon became king in his place.

2 Kings 21:19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth, daughter of Haruz; she was from Jotbah.

2 Kings 21:20 He did what was evil in Yahveh’s sight, just as his father Manasseh had done.

2 Kings 21:21 He walked in all the ways his father had walked; he slaved for the idols his father had slaved for, and he bowed in worship to them.

2 Kings 21:22 He abandoned Yahveh, God of his ancestors, and did not walk in the ways of Yahveh.

2 Kings 21:23 Amon’s slaves conspired against him and put the king to death in his own house.

2 Kings 21:24 The common people killed all who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah king in his place.

2 Kings 21:25 The rest of the events of Amon’s reign, along with his accomplishments, are written in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings.

2 Kings 21:26 He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah became king in his place.

links:

business as usual
normal can be deadly – Devotions

The 2 KINGS shelf in Jeff’s library

2 Kings 20

2 Kings 20:1 In those days, Hezekiah became terminally ill. The prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, came and said to him, “This is what Yahveh says: ‘Set your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.'”

2 Kings 20:2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to Yahveh,

2 Kings 20:3 “Please, Lord, remember how I have walked before you faithfully and wholeheartedly and have done what pleases you.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

2 Kings 20:4 Isaiah had not yet gone out of the inner courtyard when the word of Yahveh came to him:

2 Kings 20:5 “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, ‘This is what Yahveh God of your ancestor David says: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I will heal you. On the third day from now, you will go up to Yahveh’s temple.

2 Kings 20:6 I will add fifteen years to your life. I will rescue you and this city from the grasp of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and the sake of my slave David.'”

2 Kings 20:7 Then Isaiah said, “Bring a lump of pressed figs.” So, they brought it and applied it to his infected skin, and he recovered.

2 Kings 20:8 Hezekiah asked Isaiah, “What is the sign that Yahveh will heal me and that I will go up to Yahveh’s temple on the third day?”

2 Kings 20:9 Isaiah said, “This is the sign to you from Yahveh that he will do what he has promised: Should the shadow go ahead ten steps or go back ten steps?”

2 Kings 20:10 Then Hezekiah answered, “It’s easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps. No, let the shadow go back ten steps.”

2 Kings 20:11 So the prophet Isaiah called out to Yahveh, and he brought the shadow back the ten steps it had descended on the stairway of Ahaz.

2 Kings 20:12 At that time, Merodach-baladan, son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah since he heard that he had been sick.

2 Kings 20:13 Hezekiah listened to the letters and showed the envoys his whole treasure house—the silver, gold, spices, and precious oil—his armory, and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his palace and in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.

2 Kings 20:14 Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and asked him, “Where did these men come from, and what did they say to you?” Hezekiah replied, “They came from a distant country, from Babylon.”

2 Kings 20:15 Isaiah asked, “What have they seen in your palace?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything in my palace. There isn’t anything in my treasuries that I didn’t show them.”

2 Kings 20:16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of Yahveh:

2 Kings 20:17 ‘Look, the days are coming when everything in your palace and all that your fathers have stored up until today will be carried off to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says Yahveh.

2 Kings 20:18 ‘Some of your descendants — who come from you, whom you father — will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.'”

2 Kings 20:19 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of Yahveh that you have spoken is good,” for he thought: Why not if there will be peace and security during my lifetime?

2 Kings 20:20 The rest of the events of Hezekiah’s reign, along with all his might and how he made the pool and the tunnel and brought water into the city, are written in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings.

2 Kings 20:21 Hezekiah rested with his fathers, and his son Manasseh became king in his place.

links:

caring about the future – Devotions
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Friday, October 20, 2023
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Friday, October 22, 2021
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, October 22, 2019
thinking about the future
WORSHIP CORRUPTED

The 2 KINGS shelf in Jeff’s library

2 Kings 19

2 Kings 19:1 When King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into Yahveh’s temple.

2 Kings 19:2 He sent Eliakim, who oversaw the palace, Shebna, the court secretary, and the leading priests, who were wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz.

2 Kings 19:3 They said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: ‘Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace, for children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver them.

2 Kings 19:4 Perhaps Yahveh your God will hear all the words of the royal spokesman, whom his lord king of Assyria sent to mock the living God and will rebuke him for the words that Yahveh your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for the surviving remnant.'”

2 Kings 19:5 So the slaves of King Hezekiah went to Isaiah,

2 Kings 19:6 who said to them, “Tell your lord, ‘Yahveh says this: Don’t be afraid because of the words you have heard, with which the king of Assyria’s boys have blasphemed me.

2 Kings 19:7 I am about to put a breath in him, and he will hear a rumor and return to his land, where I will cause him to fall by the sword.'”

2 Kings 19:8 When the royal spokesman heard that the king of Assyria had pulled out of Lachish, he left and found him fighting against Libnah.

2 Kings 19:9 The king had heard concerning King Tirhakah of Cush, “Look, he has set out to fight against you.” So, he again sent agents to Hezekiah, saying,

2 Kings 19:10 “Say this to King Hezekiah of Judah: ‘Don’t let your God, on whom you rely, deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.

2 Kings 19:11 Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries: They destroyed them. Will you be rescued?

2 Kings 19:12 Did the gods of the nations that my predecessors destroyed rescue them– nations such as Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the Edenites in Telassar?

2 Kings 19:13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, or Ivvah? ‘”

2 Kings 19:14 Hezekiah took the letter from the agents’ hands, read it, then went up to Yahveh’s temple and spread it out before Yahveh.

2 Kings 19:15 Then Hezekiah prayed before Yahveh: Yahveh, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you are God—you alone—of all the kingdoms of the land. You made the heavens and the land.

2 Kings 19:16 Listen closely, Yahveh, and hear; open your eyes, Yahveh, and see. Hear the words that Sennacherib has sent to mock the living God.

2 Kings 19:17 Yahveh, it is true that the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands.

2 Kings 19:18 They have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but made by human hands—wood and stone. So, they have destroyed them.

2 Kings 19:19 Now, Yahveh our God, please save us from his power so that all the kingdoms of the land may know that you, Lord, are God– you alone.

2 Kings 19:20 Then Isaiah, son of Amoz, sent a message to Hezekiah: ” Yahveh, the God of Israel says, ‘I have heard your prayer to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria.’

2 Kings 19:21 This is the word Yahveh has spoken against him: Virgin Daughter Zion despises you and scorns you; Daughter Jerusalem shakes her head behind your back.

2 Kings 19:22 Who is it you mocked and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!

2 Kings 19:23 You have mocked Yahveh through your agents. You have said, ‘With my many chariots, I have gone up to the heights of the mountains, to the far recesses of Lebanon. I cut down its tallest cedars, its choice cypress trees. I came to its farthest outpost, its densest forest.

2 Kings 19:24 I dug wells and drank water in foreign lands. I dried up all the streams of Egypt with the soles of my feet.’

2 Kings 19:25 Have you not heard? I designed it long ago; I planned it in days gone by. I have now brought it to pass, and you have crushed fortified cities into piles of rubble.

2 Kings 19:26 Their inhabitants have become powerless, dismayed, and ashamed. They are wild plants, tender grass, and grass on the rooftops, blasted by the east wind.

2 Kings 19:27 But I know your sitting down, your going out and your coming in, and your raging against me.

2 Kings 19:28 Because your raging against me and your arrogance have reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth; I will make you go back the way you came.

2 Kings 19:29 “This will be the sign for you: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what grows from that. But in the third year, sow and reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.

2 Kings 19:30 The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward.

2 Kings 19:31 Because a remnant will go out from Jerusalem, and survivors, from Mount Zion. The zeal of Yahveh of Armies will accomplish this.

2 Kings 19:32 Therefore, Yahveh says about the king of Assyria: He will not enter this city, shoot an arrow here, come before it with a shield, or build a siege ramp against it.

2 Kings 19:33 He will go back the way he came, and he will not enter this city. This is Yahveh’s declaration.

2 Kings 19:34 I will defend this city and rescue it for my sake and the sake of my slave David.”

2 Kings 19:35 That night, the agent of Yahveh went out and struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the following day — there were all the dead bodies!

2 Kings 19:36 So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and left. He returned home and lived in Nineveh.

2 Kings 19:37 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat. Then, his son Esar-haddon became king in his place.

links:

death while worshipping
God alone is Immortal
God is Different
Sennacherib’s fate
Sennacherib’s fate – Devotions

The 2 KINGS shelf in Jeff’s library