2 Kings 23:24

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

Josiah also got rid of the ritual pits used to conjure up spirits, the magicians, personal idols, disgusting images, and all the detestable idols that had appeared in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. In this way he carried out the terms of the law recorded on the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the LORD’s temple.

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • Lev 19:31 : 31 Do not turn to the spirits of the dead and do not seek familiar spirits to become unclean by them. I am the LORD your God.
  • Gen 31:19 : 19 While Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole the household idols that belonged to her father.
  • 2 Kgs 21:6 : 6 He passed his son through the fire and practiced divination and omen reading. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits, and appointed magicians to supervise it. He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger.
  • Lev 20:27 : 27 Prohibition against Spiritists and Mediums“‘A man or woman who has in them a spirit of the dead or a familiar spirit must be put to death. They must pelt them with stones; their blood guilt is on themselves.’”
  • Deut 18:10-12 : 10 There must never be found among you anyone who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, anyone who practices divination, an omen reader, a soothsayer, a sorcerer, 11 one who casts spells, one who conjures up spirits, a practitioner of the occult, or a necromancer. 12 Whoever does these things is abhorrent to the LORD and because of these detestable things the LORD your God is about to drive them out from before you.
  • Judg 17:5 : 5 Now this man Micah owned a shrine. He made an ephod and some personal idols and hired one of his sons to serve as a priest.
  • Judg 18:17-18 : 17 The five men who had gone to spy out the land broke in and stole the carved image, the ephod, the personal idols, and the metal image, while the priest was standing at the entrance to the gate with the six hundred fully armed men. 18 When these men broke into Micah’s house and stole the carved image, the ephod, the personal idols, and the metal image, the priest said to them,“What are you doing?”
  • 1 Sam 28:3-7 : 3 Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented over him and had buried him in Ramah, his hometown. In the meantime Saul had removed the mediums and magicians from the land. 4 The Philistines assembled; they came and camped at Shunem. Saul mustered all Israel and camped at Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was absolutely terrified. 6 So Saul inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him– not by dreams nor by Urim nor by the prophets. 7 So Saul instructed his servants,“Find me a woman who is a medium, so that I may go to her and inquire of her.” His servants replied to him,“There is a woman who is a medium in En Dor.”
  • 2 Kgs 21:3 : 3 He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he set up altars for Baal and made an Asherah pole just like King Ahab of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the stars in the sky and worshiped them.
  • 2 Kgs 21:11 : 11 “King Manasseh of Judah has committed horrible sins. He has sinned more than the Amorites before him and has encouraged Judah to sin by worshiping his disgusting idols.
  • 2 Kgs 21:21 : 21 He followed in the footsteps of his father and worshiped and bowed down to the disgusting idols which his father had worshiped.
  • 2 Kgs 22:8-9 : 8 Hilkiah the high priest informed Shaphan the scribe,“I found the law scroll in the LORD’s temple.” Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan and he read it. 9 Shaphan the scribe went to the king and reported,“Your servants melted down the silver in the temple and handed it over to the construction foremen assigned to the LORD’s temple.” 10 Then Shaphan the scribe told the king,“Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll.” Shaphan read it out loud before the king. 11 When the king heard the words of the law scroll, he tore his clothes. 12 The king ordered Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, 13 “Go, seek an oracle from the LORD for me and the people– for all Judah. Find out about the words of this scroll that has been discovered. For the LORD’s great fury has been ignited against us, because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this scroll by doing all that it instructs us to do.”
  • 2 Chr 34:14-19 : 14 When they took out the silver that had been brought to the LORD’s temple, Hilkiah the priest found the law scroll the LORD had given to Moses. 15 Hilkiah informed Shaphan the scribe,“I found the law scroll in the LORD’s temple.” Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan. 16 Shaphan brought the scroll to the king and reported,“Your servants are doing everything assigned to them. 17 They melted down the silver in the LORD’s temple and handed it over to the supervisors and the construction foremen.” 18 Then Shaphan the scribe told the king,“Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll.” Shaphan read it out loud before the king. 19 When the king heard the words of the law, he tore his clothes.
  • Isa 8:19-20 : 19 Darkness Turns to Light as an Ideal King Arrives They will say to you,“Seek oracles at the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, from the magicians who chirp and mutter incantations. Should people not seek oracles from their gods, by asking the dead about the destiny of the living?” 20 Then you must recall the LORD’s instructions and the prophetic testimony of what would happen. Certainly they say such things because their minds are spiritually darkened.
  • Isa 19:3 : 3 The Egyptians will panic, and I will confuse their strategy. They will seek guidance from the idols and from the spirits of the dead, from the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, and from the magicians.
  • Hos 3:4 : 4 For the Israelites must live many days without a king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred fertility pillar, without ephod or idols.
  • Acts 16:16-18 : 16 Paul and Silas Are Thrown Into Prison Now as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit that enabled her to foretell the future by supernatural means. She brought her owners a great profit by fortune-telling. 17 She followed behind Paul and us and kept crying out,“These men are servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.” 18 She continued to do this for many days. But Paul became greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit,“I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out of her at once.
  • Rom 3:20 : 20 For no one is declared righteous before him by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.
  • Jas 1:25 : 25 But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there, and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out– he will be blessed in what he does.
  • Rev 22:15 : 15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the sexually immoral, and the murderers, and the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood!

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • 2 Kgs 23:19-20
    2 verses
    77%

    19Josiah also removed all the shrines on the high places in the cities of Samaria. The kings of Israel had made them and angered the LORD. He did to them what he had done to the high place in Bethel.

    20He sacrificed all the priests of the high places on the altars located there, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

  • 2 Chr 34:33
    76%

    33Josiah removed all the detestable idols from all the areas belonging to the Israelites and encouraged all who were in Israel to worship the LORD their God. Throughout the rest of his reign they did not turn aside from following the LORD God of their ancestors.

  • 2 Chr 33:15
    75%

    15He removed the foreign gods and images from the LORD’s temple and all the altars he had built on the hill of the LORD’s temple and in Jerusalem; he threw them outside the city.

  • 2 Kgs 23:12-17
    6 verses
    75%

    12The king tore down the altars the kings of Judah had set up on the roof of Ahaz’s upper room, as well as the altars Manasseh had set up in the two courtyards of the LORD’s temple. He crushed them up and threw the dust in the Kidron Valley.

    13The king ruined the high places east of Jerusalem, south of the Mount of Destruction, that King Solomon of Israel had built for the detestable Sidonian goddess Astarte, the detestable Moabite god Chemosh, and the horrible Ammonite god Milcom.

    14He smashed the sacred pillars to bits, cut down the Asherah poles, and filled those shrines with human bones.

    15He also tore down the altar in Bethel at the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who encouraged Israel to sin. He burned all the combustible items at that high place and crushed them to dust; including the Asherah pole.

    16When Josiah turned around, he saw the tombs there on the hill. So he ordered the bones from the tombs to be brought; he burned them on the altar and defiled it, just as in the LORD’s message that was announced by the prophet while Jeroboam stood by the altar during a festival. Then the king turned and saw the grave of the prophet who had foretold this.

    17He asked,“What is this grave marker I see?” The men from the city replied,“It’s the grave of the prophet who came from Judah and foretold these very things you have done to the altar of Bethel.”

  • 2 Kgs 23:4-6
    3 verses
    75%

    4The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the high-ranking priests, and the guards to bring out of the LORD’s temple all the items that were used in the worship of Baal, Asherah, and all the stars of the sky. The king burned them outside of Jerusalem in the terraces of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel.

    5He eliminated the pagan priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to offer sacrifices on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the area right around Jerusalem.(They offered sacrifices to Baal, the sun god, the moon god, the constellations, and all the stars in the sky.)

    6He removed the Asherah pole from the LORD’s temple and took it outside Jerusalem to the Kidron Valley, where he burned it. He smashed it to dust and then threw the dust in the public graveyard.

  • 2 Kgs 23:28
    72%

    28The rest of the events of Josiah’s reign and all his accomplishments are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.

  • 2 Chr 34:2-5
    4 verses
    72%

    2He did what the LORD approved and followed in his ancestor David’s footsteps; he did not deviate to the right or the left.

    3In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his ancestor David. In his twelfth year he began ridding Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, Asherah poles, idols, and images.

    4He ordered the altars of the Baals to be torn down, and broke the incense altars that were above them. He smashed the Asherah poles, idols and images, crushed them up and sprinkled the dust over the tombs of those who had sacrificed to them.

    5He burned the bones of the pagan priests on their altars; he purified Judah and Jerusalem.

  • 2 Kgs 23:23
    72%

    23But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s reign, such a Passover of the LORD was observed in Jerusalem.

  • 2 Chr 33:6
    72%

    6He passed his sons through the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and practiced divination, omen reading, and sorcery. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits and appointed magicians to supervise it. He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the LORD and angered him.

  • 2 Chr 34:7-8
    2 verses
    71%

    7he tore down the altars and Asherah poles, demolished the idols, and smashed all the incense altars throughout the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

    8In the eighteenth year of his reign, he continued his policy of purifying the land and the temple. He sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the city official, and Joah son of Joahaz the secretary to repair the temple of the LORD his God.

  • 2 Chr 31:1
    71%

    1When all this was over, the Israelites who were in the cities of Judah went out and smashed the sacred pillars, cut down the Asherah poles, and demolished all the high places and altars throughout Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh. Then all the Israelites returned to their own homes in their cities.

  • 2 Chr 35:26
    71%

    26The rest of the events of Josiah’s reign, including the faithful acts he did in obedience to what is written in the law of the LORD

  • 2 Kgs 22:2-3
    2 verses
    71%

    2He did what the LORD approved and followed in his ancestor David’s footsteps; he did not deviate to the right or the left.

    3In the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s reign, the king sent the scribe Shaphan son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, to the LORD’s temple with these orders:

  • 2 Kgs 23:8
    70%

    8He brought all the priests from the cities of Judah and ruined the high places where the priests had offered sacrifices, from Geba to Beer Sheba. He tore down the high place of the goat idols situated at the entrance of the gate of Joshua, the city official, on the left side of the city gate.

  • 2 Kgs 21:6
    70%

    6He passed his son through the fire and practiced divination and omen reading. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits, and appointed magicians to supervise it. He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger.

  • 2 Chr 17:6
    70%

    6He was committed to following the LORD; he even removed the high places and Asherah poles from Judah.

  • 2 Chr 34:14-15
    2 verses
    70%

    14When they took out the silver that had been brought to the LORD’s temple, Hilkiah the priest found the law scroll the LORD had given to Moses.

    15Hilkiah informed Shaphan the scribe,“I found the law scroll in the LORD’s temple.” Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan.

  • 2 Kgs 22:12-13
    2 verses
    69%

    12The king ordered Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant,

    13“Go, seek an oracle from the LORD for me and the people– for all Judah. Find out about the words of this scroll that has been discovered. For the LORD’s great fury has been ignited against us, because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this scroll by doing all that it instructs us to do.”

  • 2 Kgs 22:8
    69%

    8Hilkiah the high priest informed Shaphan the scribe,“I found the law scroll in the LORD’s temple.” Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan and he read it.

  • 2 Kgs 23:25
    69%

    25No king before or after repented before the LORD as he did, with his whole heart, soul, and being in accordance with the whole law of Moses.

  • 2 Kgs 24:13
    69%

    13Nebuchadnezzar took from there all the riches in the treasuries of the LORD’s temple and of the royal palace. He removed all the gold items which King Solomon of Israel had made for the LORD’s temple, just as the LORD had warned.

  • 2 Kgs 23:2
    69%

    2The king went up to the LORD’s temple, accompanied by all the people of Judah, all the residents of Jerusalem, the priests, and the prophets. All the people were there, from the youngest to the oldest. He read aloud all the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been discovered in the LORD’s temple.

  • 2 Chr 35:16
    69%

    16So all the preparations for the LORD’s service were made that day, as the Passover was observed and the burnt sacrifices were offered on the altar of the LORD, as prescribed by King Josiah.

  • 2 Chr 24:7
    69%

    7(Wicked Athaliah and her sons had broken into God’s temple and used all the holy items of the LORD’s temple in their worship of the Baals.)

  • 2 Chr 14:4-5
    2 verses
    69%

    4He ordered Judah to seek the LORD God of their ancestors and to observe his law and commands.

    5He removed the high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah. The kingdom had rest under his rule.

  • 2 Chr 34:20
    68%

    20The king ordered Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant,

  • 2 Kgs 21:11
    68%

    11“King Manasseh of Judah has committed horrible sins. He has sinned more than the Amorites before him and has encouraged Judah to sin by worshiping his disgusting idols.

  • Deut 18:12
    68%

    12Whoever does these things is abhorrent to the LORD and because of these detestable things the LORD your God is about to drive them out from before you.

  • 2 Chr 36:14
    68%

    14All the leaders of the priests and people became more unfaithful and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations. They defiled the LORD’s temple which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.

  • 2 Chr 19:3
    68%

    3Nevertheless you have done some good things; you removed the Asherah poles from the land and you were determined to follow God.”

  • Jer 1:16
    68%

    16In this way I will pass sentence on the people of Jerusalem and Judah because of all their wickedness. For they rejected me and offered sacrifices to other gods, worshiping what they made with their own hands.”

  • 2 Chr 23:17
    68%

    17All the people went and demolished the temple of Baal. They smashed its altars and idols. They killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars.

  • 2 Kgs 22:16
    68%

    16“This is what the LORD has said:‘I am about to bring disaster on this place and its residents, all the things in the scroll which the king of Judah has read.

  • 2 Kgs 24:3
    67%

    3Just as the LORD had announced, he rejected Judah because of all the sins which Manasseh had committed.