This page gives you ready-to-use study questions for 2 Kings 23, the chapter where King Josiah reads the newly found book of the covenant and leads Judah through a sweeping religious reform. The questions are written for a small group, a Sunday school class, or personal study. Each section includes a note on how to guide the discussion, so you can lead without preparing a separate summary.
2 Kings 23 at a Glance
The chapter moves in a clear sequence. Josiah gathers the elders and the people, reads the covenant book aloud, and renews the nation’s commitment to the LORD. He then removes idols, pagan altars, and corrupt priests from the temple, Jerusalem, Judah, and even the old northern territories. The turning point comes with a Passover kept as it had not been kept in generations.
Toward the end the mood shifts. Despite Josiah’s wholehearted devotion, the narrator notes that the LORD’s anger over Manasseh’s long wickedness had not fully cooled, and the chapter closes with Josiah’s death at Megiddo and the rapid decline of his successors. Keep this arc in view as you discuss the questions.
Observation Questions
Use these questions first, before anyone offers an interpretation. Ask the group to point to the text and stay close to what it literally says. Give people a minute of silence to look at the verses before inviting answers.
2 Kings 23:1-3
1 The king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. 2 The king went up to the LORD’s house, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, with the priests, 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 LORD’s house. 3 The king stood by the pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and all his soul, to confirm the words of this covenant that were written in this book; and all the people agreed to the covenant.
(WEB)
Reading this opening passage aloud sets the scene and shows the whole assembly gathering around the words of the covenant. It works well as the first reading of the session because it places the reform in a communal act of listening.
2 Kings 23:4
The king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring out of the LORD’s temple all the vessels that were made for Baal, for the Asherah, and for all the army of the sky, and he burned them outside of Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel.
(WEB)
This verse lists the vessels and objects removed from the temple, giving the group a concrete picture of what the reform cleared away. Reading it slowly helps members notice how specific the cleansing was.
2 Kings 23:21
The king commanded all the people, saying, “Keep the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this book of the covenant.”
(WEB)
The king’s command to keep the Passover is the call to action that follows the reading of the covenant. Hearing it aloud helps the group connect the renewal of the covenant with the practice of remembering God’s deliverance.
2 Kings 23:25
There was no king like him before 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; and there was none like him who arose after him.
(WEB)
This verse gives the narrator’s strongest praise of Josiah, describing him as turning to the LORD with all his heart, soul, and might. Reading it early in the discussion sets a standard that the rest of the chapter then complicates.
2 Kings 23:26-27
26 Notwithstanding, the LORD didn’t turn from the fierceness of his great wrath, with which his anger burned against Judah, because of all the provocation with which Manasseh had provoked him. 27 The LORD said, “I will also remove Judah out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city which I have chosen, even Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, ‘My name shall be there.’”
(WEB)
Reading the LORD’s response after the reform brings the chapter’s tension into focus. Hearing these words aloud prompts careful discussion about how past sin can shape a nation’s future despite present faithfulness.
Memory Verse for 2 Kings 23
A Closing Prayer for the Group
Father, we thank you that you speak to your people through your word, just as you spoke to Josiah and the assembly in Jerusalem. Help us to listen closely, to clear out whatever competes with you in our lives, and to keep the covenant we have made with you. Where our faithfulness feels small or fragile, remind us that you hold the whole story and that you are faithful to your promises. Shape our hearts to turn to you with all that we are, and let what we learn here go with us into the coming week. Amen.
