2 KINGS 23

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Josiah’s Covenant  23:1 Then the king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. 2 The king went up to the house of the LORD and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD. 3 The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant.
Reforms under Josiah    4 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 He did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem, also those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the constellations and to all the host of heaven. 6 He brought out the Asherah from the house of the LORD outside Jerusalem to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and ground it to dust, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people. 7 He also broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes which were in the house of the LORD, where the women were weaving hangings for the Asherah. 8 Then he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; and he broke down the high places of the gates which were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one’s left at the city gate. 9 Nevertheless the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. 10 He also defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire for Molech. 11 He did away with the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the official, which was in the precincts; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12 The altars which were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, the king broke down; and he smashed them there and threw their dust into the brook Kidron. 13 The high places which were before Jerusalem, which were on the right of the mount of destruction which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the sons of Ammon, the king defiled. 14 He broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with human bones.
    15 Furthermore, the altar that was at Bethel and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he broke down. Then he demolished its stones, ground them to dust, and burned the Asherah. 16 Now when Josiah turned, he saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent and took the bones from the graves and burned them on the altar and defiled it according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things. 17 Then he said, “What is this monument that I see?” And the men of the city told him, “It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel.” 18 He said, “Let him alone; let no one disturb his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria. 19 Josiah also removed all the houses of the high places which were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made provoking the LORD; and he did to them just as he had done in Bethel. 20 All the priests of the high places who were there he slaughtered on the altars and burned human bones on them; then he returned to Jerusalem.
Passover Reinstituted    21 Then the king commanded all the people saying, “Celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God as it is written in this book of the covenant.” 22 Surely such a Passover had not been celebrated from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and of the kings of Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was observed to the LORD in Jerusalem.
    24 Moreover, Josiah removed the mediums and the spiritists and the teraphim and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might confirm the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD. 25 Before him there was no king like him who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.
    26 However, the LORD did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath with which His anger burned against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. 27 The LORD said, “I will remove Judah also from My sight, as I have removed Israel. And I will cast off Jerusalem, this city which I have chosen, and the temple of which I said, ‘My name shall be there.’”
Jehoahaz Succeeds Josiah    28 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 29 In his days Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. And King Josiah went to meet him, and when Pharaoh Neco saw him he killed him at Megiddo. 30 His servants drove his body in a chariot from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.
    31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 He did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 Pharaoh Neco imprisoned him at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a fine of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
Jehoiakim Made King by Pharaoh34 Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away and brought him to Egypt, and he died there. 35 So Jehoiakim gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land in order to give the money at the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land, each according to his valuation, to give it to Pharaoh Neco.
    36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. 37 He did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.

PSALM 140

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Prayer for Protection against the Wicked.For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
140:1 Rescue me, O LORD, from evil men;

Preserve me from violent men

2 Who devise evil things in their hearts;

They continually stir up wars.

3 They sharpen their tongues as a serpent;

Poison of a viper is under their lips. Selah.

4 Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked;

Preserve me from violent men

Who have purposed to trip up my feet.

5 The proud have hidden a trap for me, and cords;

They have spread a net by the wayside;

They have set snares for me. Selah.

6 I said to the LORD, “You are my God;

Give ear, O LORD, to the voice of my supplications.

7 “O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation,

You have covered my head in the day of battle.

8 “Do not grant, O LORD, the desires of the wicked;

Do not promote his evil device, that they not be exalted. Selah.

9 “As for the head of those who surround me,

May the mischief of their lips cover them.

10 “May burning coals fall upon them;

May they be cast into the fire,

Into deep pits from which they cannot rise.

11 “May a slanderer not be established in the earth;

May evil hunt the violent man speedily.”

12 I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted

And justice for the poor.

13 Surely the righteous will give thanks to Your name;

The upright will dwell in Your presence.

PSALM 141

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An Evening Prayer for Sanctification and Protection.A Psalm of David.
141:1 O LORD, I call upon You; hasten to me!

Give ear to my voice when I call to You!

2 May my prayer be counted as incense before You;

The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering.

3 Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth;

Keep watch over the door of my lips.

4 Do not incline my heart to any evil thing,

To practice deeds of wickedness

With men who do iniquity;

And do not let me eat of their delicacies.

5 Let the righteous smite me in kindness and reprove me;

It is oil upon the head;

Do not let my head refuse it,

For still my prayer is against their wicked deeds.

6 Their judges are thrown down by the sides of the rock,

And they hear my words, for they are pleasant.

7 As when one plows and breaks open the earth,

Our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol.

8 For my eyes are toward You, O GOD, the Lord;

In You I take refuge; do not leave me defenseless.

9 Keep me from the jaws of the trap which they have set for me,

And from the snares of those who do iniquity.

10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets,

While I pass by safely.

PROVERBS 4

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A Father’s Instruction4:1 Hear, O sons, the instruction of a father,

And give attention that you may gain understanding,

2 For I give you sound teaching;

Do not abandon my instruction.

3 When I was a son to my father,

Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother,

4 Then he taught me and said to me,

“Let your heart hold fast my words;

Keep my commandments and live;

5 Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding!

Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.

6 “Do not forsake her, and she will guard you;

Love her, and she will watch over you.

7 “The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom;

And with all your acquiring, get understanding.

8 “Prize her, and she will exalt you;

She will honor you if you embrace her.

9 “She will place on your head a garland of grace;

She will present you with a crown of beauty.”

10 Hear, my son, and accept my sayings

And the years of your life will be many.

11 I have directed you in the way of wisdom;

I have led you in upright paths.

12 When you walk, your steps will not be impeded;

And if you run, you will not stumble.

13 Take hold of instruction; do not let go.

Guard her, for she is your life.

14 Do not enter the path of the wicked

And do not proceed in the way of evil men.

15 Avoid it, do not pass by it;

Turn away from it and pass on.

16 For they cannot sleep unless they do evil;

And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.

17 For they eat the bread of wickedness

And drink the wine of violence.

18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,

That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.

19 The way of the wicked is like darkness;

They do not know over what they stumble.

20 My son, give attention to my words;

Incline your ear to my sayings.

21 Do not let them depart from your sight;

Keep them in the midst of your heart.

22 For they are life to those who find them

And health to all their body.

23 Watch over your heart with all diligence,

For from it flow the springs of life.

24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth

And put devious speech far from you.

25 Let your eyes look directly ahead

And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.

26 Watch the path of your feet

And all your ways will be established.

27 Do not turn to the right nor to the left;

Turn your foot from evil.