Scriptures

New Living Translation (NLT)

2 Chronicles 33
²³ But unlike his father, he did not humble himself before the LORD. Instead, Amon sinned even more.
²⁴ Then Amon’s own officials conspired against him and assassinated him in his palace.
²⁵ But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah the next king.
2 Chronicles 34
¹ Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years.
² He did what was pleasing in the LORD’s sight and followed the example of his ancestor David. He did not turn away from doing what was right.
³ During the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, Josiah began to seek the God of his ancestor David. Then in the twelfth year he began to purify Judah and Jerusalem, destroying all the pagan shrines, the Asherah poles, and the carved idols and cast images.
⁴ He ordered that the altars of Baal be demolished and that the incense altars which stood above them be broken down. He also made sure that the Asherah poles, the carved idols, and the cast images were smashed and scattered over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.
⁵ He burned the bones of the pagan priests on their own altars, and so he purified Judah and Jerusalem.
⁶ He did the same thing in the towns of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, even as far as Naphtali, and in the regions all around them.
⁷ He destroyed the pagan altars and the Asherah poles, and he crushed the idols into dust. He cut down all the incense altars throughout the land of Israel. Finally, he returned to Jerusalem.
⁸ In the eighteenth year of his reign, after he had purified the land and the Temple, Josiah appointed Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the governor of Jerusalem, and Joah son of Joahaz, the royal historian, to repair the Temple of the LORD his God.