2 Kings 23:3-5
New English Translation
3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed[a] the covenant before the Lord, agreeing to follow[b] the Lord and to obey his commandments, laws, and rules with all his heart and being,[c] by carrying out the terms[d] of this covenant recorded on this scroll. All the people agreed to keep the covenant.[e]
4 The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the high-ranking priests,[f] and the guards[g] to bring out of the Lord’s temple all the items that were used in the worship of[h] Baal, Asherah, and all the stars of the sky.[i] The king[j] burned them outside of Jerusalem in the terraces[k] of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 He eliminated[l] the pagan priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to offer sacrifices[m] on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the area right around Jerusalem. (They offered sacrifices[n] to Baal, the sun god, the moon god, the constellations, and all the stars in the sky.)
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 2 Kings 23:3 tn Heb “cut,” that is, “made, agreed to.”
- 2 Kings 23:3 tn Heb “walk after.”
- 2 Kings 23:3 tn Or “soul.”
- 2 Kings 23:3 tn Heb “words.”
- 2 Kings 23:3 tn Heb “stood in the covenant.”
- 2 Kings 23:4 tn Heb “the priests of the second [rank],” that is, those ranked just beneath Hilkiah.
- 2 Kings 23:4 tn Or “doorkeepers.”
- 2 Kings 23:4 tn Heb “for.”
- 2 Kings 23:4 tn Heb “all the host of heaven” (also in v. 5).
- 2 Kings 23:4 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- 2 Kings 23:4 tn Or “fields.” For a defense of the translation “terraces,” see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 285.
- 2 Kings 23:5 tn Perhaps, “destroyed.”
- 2 Kings 23:5 tn Or “burn incense.”
- 2 Kings 23:5 tn Or “burned incense.”
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