1Josiah was eight years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 31 years.2He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. He lived the way King David had lived. He didn’t turn away from it to the right or the left.3While he was still young, he began to worship the God of King David. It was the eighth year of Josiah’s rule. In his 12th year Josiah began to get rid of the high places in Judah and Jerusalem. He removed the poles used to worship the female god named Asherah. He also removed the statues of other false gods.4He ordered the altars of the gods that were named Baal to be torn down. Josiah cut to pieces the altars above them that were used for burning incense. He smashed the Asherah poles. He also smashed the statues of other false gods. Josiah broke all of them to pieces. He scattered the pieces over the graves of those who had offered sacrifices to those gods.5He burned the bones of the priests on their altars. That’s the way he made Judah and Jerusalem pure and ‘clean’.6Josiah went to the towns of Manasseh, Ephraim and Simeon. He went all the way to Naphtali. He also went to the destroyed places around all those towns.7Everywhere Josiah went he tore down the altars and the Asherah poles. He crushed the statues of gods to powder. He cut to pieces all the altars for burning incense. He destroyed all those things everywhere in Israel. Then he went back to Jerusalem.8In the 18th year of Josiah’s rule, he decided to make the land and temple pure and ‘clean’. So he sent Shaphan, Maaseiah and Joah to repair the temple of the LORD his God. Shaphan was the son of Azaliah. Maaseiah was ruler of the city. And Joah, the son of Joahaz, kept the records.9These men went to Hilkiah the high priest. They gave him the money that had been brought into God’s temple. The Levites who guarded the gates had collected it. They had received some of the money from the people of Manasseh and Ephraim. They had also received some from the other people who remained in Israel. The rest of the money came from other people. It came from all the people of Judah and Benjamin and the people living in Jerusalem.10Men were appointed to direct the work on the LORD’s temple. All the money collected was given to them. These men paid the workers who repaired the temple. They made it look like new again.11They also gave money to the builders and those who worked with wood. The workers used it to buy lumber and blocks of stone. The lumber was used for the supports and beams for the buildings. The kings of Judah had let the buildings fall down.12The workers were faithful in doing the work. Jahath and Obadiah directed them. They were Levites from the family line of Merari. Zechariah and Meshullam also directed them. They were from the family line of Kohath. The Levites were skilled in playing musical instruments.13They were in charge of the labourers. They directed all the workers from job to job. Some of the Levites were secretaries and writers. Other Levites guarded the gates.
Hilkiah finds the Book of the Law
14The money that had been taken into the LORD’s temple was being brought out. At that time Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD. It had been given through Moses.15Hilkiah spoke to Shaphan the secretary. Hilkiah said, ‘I’ve found the Book of the Law in the LORD’s temple.’ Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan.16Then Shaphan took the book to King Josiah. He told him, ‘Your officials are doing everything they’ve been asked to do.17They have paid out the money that was in the LORD’s temple. They’ve put it in the care of the directors and workers.’18Shaphan continued, ‘Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.’ Shaphan read some of it to the king.19The king heard the words of the Law. When he did, he tore his royal robes.20He gave orders to Hilkiah, Ahikam, Abdon, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah. Ahikam was the son of Shaphan. Abdon was the son of Micah. And Asaiah was the king’s attendant. Josiah commanded them,21‘Go. Ask the LORD for advice. Ask him about what is written in this book that has been found. Do it for me. Also do it for the people who remain in Israel and Judah. The LORD has been very angry with us. That’s because our people before us didn’t obey what the LORD had said. They didn’t do everything written in this book.’22Hilkiah and the people the king had sent with him went to speak to Huldah the prophet. She was the wife of Shallum. Shallum was the son of Tokhath. Tokhath was the son of Hasrah. Shallum took care of the sacred robes. Huldah lived in the New Quarter of Jerusalem.23Huldah said to them, ‘The LORD is the God of Israel. He says, “Here is what you should tell the man who sent you to me.24‘The LORD says, “I am going to bring horrible trouble on this place and its people. There are curses written down in the book that has been read to the king of Judah. All those curses will take place.25That’s because the people have deserted me. They have burned incense to other gods. They have made me very angry because of everything their hands have made. So my anger will burn like a fire against this place. And the fire of my anger will not be put out.” ’ ”26The king of Judah sent you to ask for advice. Tell him, “The LORD is the God of Israel. He has a message for you about the things you heard.27The LORD says, ‘Your heart was tender. You made yourself humble in my sight. You heard what I spoke against this place and its people. So you made yourself humble. You tore your royal robes and wept. And I have heard you,’ announces the LORD.28You will join the members of your family who have already died. You will be buried in peace. You will not see all the trouble I am going to bring. I am going to bring trouble on this place and the people who live here.” ’ Huldah’s answer was taken back to the king.29Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.30He went up to the LORD’s temple. The people of Judah and Jerusalem went with him. So did the priests and Levites. All of them went, from the least important of them to the most important. The king had all the words of the Book of the Covenant read to them. The book had been found in the LORD’s temple.31The king stood next to his pillar. He agreed to the terms of the covenant in front of the LORD. The king promised to serve the LORD and obey his commands, directions and rules. He promised to obey them with all his heart and with all his soul. So the king promised to obey the terms of the covenant that were written in that book.32Then he made everyone in Jerusalem and in Benjamin commit themselves to the covenant. The people of Jerusalem did it in keeping with the covenant of the God of Israel.33Josiah removed all the statues of false gods from the whole territory that belonged to the Israelites. The LORD hated those statues. Josiah made everyone in Israel serve the LORD their God. As long as he lived, they didn’t fail to follow the LORD, the God of their people.
2 Chronicles 34
English Standard Version
Josiah Reigns in Judah
1Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. (2Ki 22:1)2And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father; and he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.3For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, and the carved and the metal images. (2Ch 14:3)4And they chopped down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and he cut down the incense altars that stood above them. And he broke in pieces the Asherim and the carved and the metal images, and he made dust of them and scattered it over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. (2Ki 23:6; 2Ch 34:3)5He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. (1Ki 13:2; 2Ki 23:20)6And in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, in their ruins[1] all around, (2Ki 23:15; 2Ki 23:19)7he broke down the altars and beat the Asherim and the images into powder and cut down all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem. (De 9:21; 2Ch 34:3)
The Book of the Law Found
8Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had cleansed the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the house of the Lord his God. (2Sa 8:16; 2Ki 22:3; 2Ch 18:25)9They came to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the keepers of the threshold, had collected from Manasseh and Ephraim and from all the remnant of Israel and from all Judah and Benjamin and from the inhabitants of Jerusalem. (2Ch 34:6; 2Ch 35:8)10And they gave it to the workmen who were working in the house of the Lord. And the workmen who were working in the house of the Lord gave it for repairing and restoring the house.11They gave it to the carpenters and the builders to buy quarried stone, and timber for binders and beams for the buildings that the kings of Judah had let go to ruin. (Ne 2:8)12And the men did the work faithfully. Over them were set Jahath and Obadiah the Levites, of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to have oversight. The Levites, all who were skillful with instruments of music, (1Ch 23:5)13were over the burden-bearers and directed all who did work in every kind of service, and some of the Levites were scribes and officials and gatekeepers. (2Ch 2:2; 2Ch 2:18; Ne 4:10)14While they were bringing out the money that had been brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord given through[2] Moses. (2Ch 34:9)15Then Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan.16Shaphan brought the book to the king, and further reported to the king, “All that was committed to your servants they are doing.17They have emptied out the money that was found in the house of the Lord and have given it into the hand of the overseers and the workmen.”18Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it before the king.19And when the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes. (Jos 7:6)20And the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying,21“Go, inquire of the Lord for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do according to all that is written in this book.” (2Ch 12:7)
Huldah Prophesies Disaster
22So Hilkiah and those whom the king had sent[3] went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter) and spoke to her to that effect.23And she said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me,24Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book that was read before the king of Judah.25Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands, therefore my wrath will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched. (2Ch 28:3; 2Ch 28:25; 2Ch 34:21)26But 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: Regarding the words that you have heard,27because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord.28Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place and its inhabitants.’” And they brought back word to the king.29Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. (2Ki 23:1)30And the king went up to the house of the Lord, with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the Levites, all the people both great and small. 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.31And the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book. (2Ki 11:14; 2Ch 6:13; 2Ch 15:12; 2Ch 30:16)32Then he made all who were present in Jerusalem and in Benjamin join in it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.33And Josiah took away all the abominations from all the territory that belonged to the people of Israel and made all who were present in Israel serve the Lord their God. All his days they did not turn away from following the Lord, the God of their fathers. (2Ch 28:3; 2Ch 33:2)