2 Kings 23:19-30

New International Version

¹⁹Just as he had done at Bethel, Josiah removed all the shrines at the high places that the kings of Israel had built in the towns of Samaria and that had aroused the Lord’s anger. ²⁰Josiah slaughtered^(A) all the priests of those high places on the altars and burned human bones^(B) on them. Then he went back to Jerusalem.

²¹The king gave this order to all the people: “Celebrate the Passover^(C) to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.”^(D) ²²Neither in the days of the judges who led Israel nor in the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah had any such Passover been observed. ²³But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.^(E)

²⁴Furthermore, Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists,^(F) the household gods,^(G) the idols and all the other detestable^(H) things seen in Judah and Jerusalem. This he did to fulfill the requirements of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the temple of the Lord. ²⁵Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned^(I) to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.^(J)

²⁶Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn away from the heat of his fierce anger,^(K) which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh^(L) had done to arouse his anger. ²⁷So the Lord said, “I will remove^(M) Judah also from my presence^(N) as I removed Israel, and I will reject^(O) Jerusalem, the city I chose, and this temple, about which I said, ‘My Name shall be there.’^[a]”

²⁸As for the other events of Josiah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?

²⁹While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Necho^(P) king of Egypt went up to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to meet him in battle, but Necho faced him and killed him at Megiddo.^(Q) ³⁰Josiah’s servants brought his body in a chariot^(R) from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.

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Footnotes

2 Kings 23:27 1 Kings 8:29

Psalm 50

New International Version

Psalm 50

A psalm of Asaph.

¹The Mighty One, God, the Lord,^(A)
    speaks and summons the earth
    from the rising of the sun to where it sets.^(B)
²From Zion,^(C) perfect in beauty,^(D)
    God shines forth.^(E)
³Our God comes^(F)
    and will not be silent;^(G)
a fire devours^(H) before him,^(I)
    and around him a tempest^(J) rages.
⁴He summons the heavens above,
    and the earth,^(K) that he may judge his people:^(L)
⁵“Gather to me this consecrated people,^(M)
    who made a covenant^(N) with me by sacrifice.”
⁶And the heavens proclaim^(O) his righteousness,
    for he is a God of justice.^[a]^[b]^(P)

⁷“Listen, my people, and I will speak;
    I will testify^(Q) against you, Israel:
    I am God, your God.^(R)
⁸I bring no charges^(S) against you concerning your sacrifices
    or concerning your burnt offerings,^(T) which are ever before me.
⁹I have no need of a bull^(U) from your stall
    or of goats^(V) from your pens,^(W)
¹⁰for every animal of the forest^(X) is mine,
    and the cattle on a thousand hills.^(Y)
¹¹I know every bird^(Z) in the mountains,
    and the insects in the fields^(AA) are mine.
¹²If I were hungry I would not tell you,
    for the world^(AB) is mine, and all that is in it.^(AC)
¹³Do I eat the flesh of bulls
    or drink the blood of goats?

¹⁴“Sacrifice thank offerings^(AD) to God,
fulfill your vows^(AE) to the Most High,^(AF)
¹⁵and call^(AG) on me in the day of trouble;^(AH)
I will deliver^(AI) you, and you will honor^(AJ) me.”

¹⁶But to the wicked person, God says:

“What right have you to recite my laws
    or take my covenant^(AK) on your lips?^(AL)
¹⁷You hate^(AM) my instruction
    and cast my words behind^(AN) you.
¹⁸When you see a thief, you join^(AO) with him;
    you throw in your lot with adulterers.^(AP)
¹⁹You use your mouth for evil
    and harness your tongue to deceit.^(AQ)
²⁰You sit and testify against your brother^(AR)
    and slander your own mother’s son.
²¹When you did these things and I kept silent,^(AS)
    you thought I was exactly^[c] like you.
But I now arraign^(AT) you
    and set my accusations^(AU) before you.

²²“Consider this, you who forget God,^(AV)
or I will tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:^(AW)
²³Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me,
and to the blameless^[d] I will show my salvation.^(AX)”

Footnotes

Psalm 50:6 With a different word division of the Hebrew; Masoretic Text for God himself is judge
Psalm 50:6 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.
Psalm 50:21 Or thought the ‘I am’ was
Psalm 50:23 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; the meaning of the Masoretic Text for this phrase is uncertain.