Josiah Reigns in Judah
Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem.
And he did the upright in the eyes of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father; and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.
Josiah Destroys Idolatry
And in the eighth year of his reign — while he was still a boy — 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, and the Asherah poles, and the carved images, and the cast images.
And they tore down before him the altars of the Baals; and the incense altars that were above them he cut down; and the Asherah poles, and the carved images, and the cast images he shattered and ground fine, and threw over the face of the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.
And the bones of priests he burned on their altars; and he purified Judah and Jerusalem.
And in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, in their ruins all around,
he tore down the altars; and the Asherah poles and the carved images he beat to dust; and all the incense altars he cut down, in all the land of Israel. And he returned to Jerusalem.
Josiah Repairs the Temple
And in the eighteenth year of his reign, in purifying 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 strengthen the house of the LORD his God.
And they came to Hilkiah the high priest, and gave the silver brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the keepers of the threshold, had gathered from the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and from all the remnant of Israel, and from all Judah and Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And they gave it into the hand of the doers of the work who were appointed over the house of the LORD; and the doers of the work who were working in the house of the LORD gave it out, to repair and to strengthen the house.
And they gave it to the craftsmen and to the builders, to buy quarried stone, and timber for the couplings and for beaming the houses that the kings of Judah had let go to ruin.
And the men were working in faithfulness at the work; and appointed over them were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to direct — and the Levites, everyone skilled with instruments of song.
And they were over the burden-bearers, and directing all the doers of the work, service by service; and some of the Levites were scribes, and officers, and gatekeepers.
Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law
And as they were bringing out the silver that had been brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the book of the instruction of the LORD, by the hand of Moses.
And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the book of the instruction in the house of the LORD.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan.
And Shaphan brought the book to the king, and returned word further to the king, saying: “All that was given into the hand of your servants — they are doing it.
And they have poured out the silver found in the house of the LORD, and have given it into the hand of the appointed men and into the hand of the doers of the work.”
And Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it before the king.
And it was, when the king heard the words of the instruction, that he tore his garments.
And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah, the servant of the king, saying:
“Go, seek the LORD for me, and for those left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been found. For great is the fury 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 book.”
Huldah’s Prophecy
And Hilkiah, and those the king had named, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the garments — and she was living in Jerusalem, in the Second Quarter — and they spoke to her accordingly.
And she said to them: “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Say to the man who sent you to me:
Thus says the LORD: Look — I am bringing evil on this place and on its inhabitants — all the curses written in the book that they read before the king of Judah —
because they have abandoned me and burned incense to other gods, so as to provoke me with all the works of their hands. And my fury will be poured out on this place, and it will not be quenched.
But to the king of Judah, who sent you to seek the LORD — thus you shall say to him: Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: As for the words that you have heard —
because your heart was soft, and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and against its inhabitants, and you humbled yourself before me, and tore your garments, and wept before me — I also have heard, an utterance of the LORD.
Look — I am gathering you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes will not see all the evil that I am bringing on this place and on its inhabitants.” And they returned word to the king.
Josiah Renews the Covenant
And the king sent and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.
And the king went up to the house of the LORD — and every man of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests and the Levites, and all the people, from great to small; and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in the house of the LORD.
And the king stood in his place and cut the 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 with all his soul, to do the words of the covenant written in this book.
And he made everyone present in Jerusalem and Benjamin take their stand in it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.
And Josiah removed all the abominations from all the lands that belonged to the sons of Israel; and he made everyone present in Israel serve — to serve the LORD their God. All his days, they did not turn aside from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.