21. Then King Josiah gave a command to all the people. He said, “Celebrate the Passover for the Lord your God. Do this just as it is written in the Book of the Agreement.”
22. The people had not celebrated a Passover like this since the days when the judges ruled Israel. None of the kings of Israel or the kings of Judah ever had such a big celebration for Passover.
23. They celebrated this Passover for the Lord in Jerusalem during Josiah’s 18th year as king.
24. Josiah destroyed the mediums, wizards, the house gods, the idols, and all the horrible things people worshiped in Judah and Jerusalem. He did this to obey the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the Lord’S Temple.
25. There had never been a king like Josiah before. Josiah turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his strength. No king had followed all the Law of Moses like Josiah. And there has never been another king like Josiah since that time.
26. But the Lord did not stop being angry with the people of Judah. He was still angry with them for everything that Manasseh had done.
27. The Lord said, “I forced the Israelites to leave their land. I will do the same to Judah. I will take Judah out of my sight. I will not accept Jerusalem. Yes, I chose that city. I was talking about Jerusalem when I said, ‘My name will be there.’ But I will destroy the Temple that is in that place.”