2 Chronicles 34

1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. 2 And he did what was right before the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

3 And in the eighth year of his reign — and he was still a boy — he began to seek the Lord, the God of David his father. And in the twelfth year of his reign he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the high places and the sacred groves and the cast images. [a] 4 And he pulled down the altars of the Baals in front of him, and the high places that stood above them; and he cut down the sacred groves and the carved images, and the cast images he broke in pieces and ground fine, and he threw the dust of them on the face of the tombs of those who had sacrificed to them. 5 And the bones of the priests he burned on the altars, and he cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.

6 And in the cities of Ephraim and Manasseh and Simeon and Naphtali, and in the places around them — [b] 7 he pulled down the sacred groves and the altars, and cut the idols to pieces, and cut off all the high places from all the land of Israel; and he returned to Jerusalem.

8 And in the eighteenth year of his reign, to cleanse the land and the house, he sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the ruler of the city, and Joah son of Joahaz his recorder, to make the house of the Lord his God strong. [c] 9 And they came to Hilkiah the great priest and gave him the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites who guarded the gate had gathered from the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and from the rulers, and from all who were left in Israel, and from the sons of Judah and Benjamin, and from those living in Jerusalem. [d]

10 And they gave it into the hand of those who did the work, the men appointed in the house of the Lord; and they gave it to those who did the work, who worked in the house of the Lord, to repair and strengthen the house. 11 They gave it to the carpenters and the builders, to buy squared stones and timber for beams, to roof the houses that the kings of Judah had destroyed.

12 And the men worked faithfully at the work; and over them were overseers — Jeth and Obadiah, Levites of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam of the sons of Kohath — to oversee it; and every Levite, everyone who understood instruments of song. [e] 13 And they were over the burden-bearers, and over everyone who did the work, in one kind of labor and another; and from among the Levites there were scribes and judges and gatekeepers.

14 And as they were bringing out the money that had been brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the Lord given by the hand of Moses. 15 And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found a book of the law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan. [f]

16 And Shaphan brought the book in to the king, and he brought back word to the king as well, and said, “All the money that was given is in the hand of your servants who do the work, 17 and they have melted down the money that was found in the house of the Lord and given it into the hand of the overseers and into the hand of those who do the labor.” [g] 18 And Shaphan the scribe reported to the king and said, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.

19 And when the king heard the words of the law, he tore his clothes. 20 And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam son of Shaphan, and Abdon son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, and said, [h] 21 “Go, seek the Lord for me and for everyone left in Israel and Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that has been kindled among us, because our fathers did not listen to the words of the Lord, to do according to everything written in this book.”

22 So Hilkiah went, and those the king had told, to Huldah the prophetess, who kept the robes, the wife of Shallum son of Tokhath, son of Chelles. She was living in Jerusalem, in the Second Quarter; and they spoke to her about all this. [i]

23 And she said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Say to the man who sent you to me, 24 ‘Thus says the Lord: Look, I am bringing evils on this place — all the words that are written in the book that was read before the king of Judah; 25 because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods, so as to provoke me to anger by all the works of their hands. And my wrath has been kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched.’”

26 “And to the king of Judah, who sent you to seek the Lord — this is what you are to say to him: ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: As for the words you have heard — 27 because your heart was ashamed and you were humbled before me when you heard my words against this place and against those who live in it, and you were humbled before me and tore your clothes and wept before me — I also have heard, says the Lord. [j] 28 Look, I am adding you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your tomb in peace, and your eyes will not see any of the evils that I am bringing on this place and on those who live in it.’” And they brought back word to the king.

29 And the king sent and gathered the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 30 And the king went up to the house of the Lord, and all Judah, and those living in Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people from the greatest to the least; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord. [k] 31 And the king stood at the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord — to walk before the Lord, to keep his commands and his witnesses and his decrees with the whole heart and with the whole soul: the words of the covenant written in this book. [l]

32 And he made all who were found in Jerusalem and Benjamin stand to it; and those living in Jerusalem made a covenant in the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers. 33 And Josiah took away all the detestable things out of all the land that belonged to the sons of Israel, and made everyone who was found in Jerusalem and in Israel serve the Lord their God all his days. He did not turn aside from following the Lord, the God of his fathers. [m]