2 Chronicles 34

¹Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem.

²And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

³And in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still a youth, he began to seek the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year he began to purify Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, the Asherah poles, the idols, and the cast images.

⁴And they tore down before him the altars of the Baals, and the incense altars that were above them he cut down; and the Asherahs and the carved images and the cast idols he smashed and ground to powder, and he scattered them over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.

⁵And the bones of the priests he burned on their altars, and he cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.

⁶and in the cities of Manasseh and Ephraim and Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, in the hill country — in their ruins round about.

⁷And he tore down the altars and the Asherah poles, and the idols he beat and ground to dust; and all the incense altars he cut down throughout all the land of Israel; and he returned to Jerusalem.

⁸And in the eighteenth year of his reign, to cleanse the land and the temple, he sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God.

⁹And they came to Hilkiah the high priest and gave the silver that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the keepers of the threshold, had collected from the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim and from all the remnant of Israel and from all Judah and Benjamin, and they returned to Jerusalem.

¹⁰And they gave it into the hand of the overseers appointed in the house of the LORD, and they gave it to the workers who were doing the work in the house of the LORD, to inspect and to repair the house.

¹¹And they gave to the craftsmen and the builders to buy hewn stone and timber for the joints and to lay beams for the buildings that the kings of Judah had ruined.

¹²And the men worked faithfully in the work. Over them were appointed Jahath and Obadiah, Levites from the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam from the sons of the Kohathites, to supervise; and the Levites, all of whom were skilled with musical instruments.

¹³and over the burden-bearers and directing all the workers in every kind of work; and from the Levites were scribes and officials and gatekeepers.

¹⁴And as they were bringing out the silver that had been brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the scroll of the Torah of the LORD given through Moses.

¹⁵And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the scroll of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan.

¹⁶And Shaphan brought the scroll to the king, and also brought back a report to the king, saying, 'Everything that was entrusted into the hand of your servants, they are carrying out.'

¹⁷And they poured out the silver that had been found in the house of the LORD, and gave it into the hand of the overseers and into the hand of the workers.

¹⁸And Shaphan the scribe reported to the king, saying, 'A scroll Hilkiah the priest has given me.' And Shaphan read from it before the king.

¹⁹And when the king heard the words of the law, he tore his garments.

²⁰And the king commanded Hilkiah and Ahikam son of Shaphan and Abdon son of Micah and Shaphan the scribe and Asaiah the king's servant, saying:

²¹Go, inquire of the LORD on my behalf and on behalf of those who remain in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the scroll that was found, for great is the wrath of the LORD that has been poured out on us, because our fathers did not keep the word of the LORD to do according to all that is written in this scroll.

²²And Hilkiah and those whom the king had sent went to Huldah the prophetess, wife of Shallum son of Tokhath son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe — and she was dwelling in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter — and they spoke to her to this effect.

²³And she said to them, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Say to the man who sent you to me:

²⁴Thus says the LORD: Behold, I am bringing disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants — all the curses that are written in the scroll that has been read before the king of Judah.

²⁵Because they forsook me and burned incense to other gods, so as to provoke me to anger by all the works of their hands, my wrath will be poured out on this place, and it will not be quenched.

²⁶And to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall you say to him: Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel — the words which you have heard:

²⁷Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words concerning this place and its inhabitants, and you humbled yourself before me and tore your garments and wept before me — I also have heard, declares the LORD.

²⁸'Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your tomb in peace; and your eyes will not see all the disaster that I am bringing upon this place and upon its inhabitants.' And they brought the king back a report.

²⁹And the king sent and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.

³⁰And the king went up to the house of the LORD, along with all the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem, the priests and the Levites, and all the people from the great to the small; and he read in their hearing all the words of the scroll of the covenant that was found in the house of the LORD.

³¹And the king stood at his station and made the covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD and to keep his commandments, his testimonies, and his statutes with all his heart and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant written in this scroll.

³²And he caused all who were found in Jerusalem and in Benjamin to stand; and the inhabitants of Jerusalem acted according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

³³And Josiah removed all the abominations from all the territories that belonged to the sons of Israel, and he made all who were found in Israel serve the LORD their God. All his days they did not turn away from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.