II Chronicles 34

1. Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years.

2. And he did that which 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 nor to the left.

3. For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek after the God of David his father. And in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.

4. And they broke down the altars of Baalim in his presence. And he cut down the images, which were on high above them, and the groves. And the carved images and the molten images he also broke in pieces, and made dust from them, and scattered it upon the graves of the ones who had sacrificed to them.

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

6. And so he did in the cities of Manasseh and Ephraim and Simeon, even to Naphtali, in their surrounding ruins.

7. And when he broke down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the carved images into powder, and cut down all the idols in all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.

8. And in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged 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.

9. And they came to Hilkiah the high priest, and they delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept the doors had gathered 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.

10. And they put it in the hands of the workmen who had the oversight of the house of the LORD. And they gave it to the workmen who worked in the house of the LORD to repair and restore the house.

11. They gave to the artisans and builders to buy cut stone and timber for joints, to make beams for the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed.

12. And the men did the work faithfully. And the overseers of them were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, and of the Levites, all who were skillful with instruments of music;

13. And they were over the bearers of burdens, and were overseers of all who worked in any manner of service. And of the Levites were scribes and officers and gatekeepers.

14. And when they were bringing out the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD written by the hand of Moses.

15. And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD.” And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan.

16. And Shaphan carried the book to the king and brought the king word back again, saying, “All that was given into the hands of your servants, they are doing.

17. And they have gathered together the money that was found in the house of the LORD, and delivered it into the hands of the overseers and to the hands of the workmen.”

18. And Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.

19. Now it came to pass when the king heard the words of the law, he tore his clothes.

20. And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, 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 upon us because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD to do according to all that is written in this book.”

22. Then Hilkiah, and those of the king, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, the keeper of the robes. (And she lived in Jerusalem in the second quarter.) And they spoke to her about this.

23. And she answered them, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘Tell the man who sent you to me,

24. “Thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will bring evil upon this place and upon its people, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah,

25. Because they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods, so that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. And My wrath shall be poured out upon this place and shall not be quenched.’ ” ‘

26. But as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, so shall you say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning the words you have heard,

27. “Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before your God when you heard His words against this place and against its people, and humbled yourself before Me, and tore your clothes and wept before Me, I have even heard you also,” says the LORD.

28. “Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, nor shall your eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place and upon its people.” ‘ ” And they brought the king word again.

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

30. And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah, and the people of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people from the great to the small. And he read in their ears all the words of the Book of the Covenant that was found in the house of the LORD.

31. And 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 with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book.

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

33. Then Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the territories that belonged to the children of Israel. And he made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the LORD their God. All his days they did not depart from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.