2 *Chronicles 34

₁Josiah was 8 years old when he became king and he was king in Jerusalem for 31 years. ₂Josiah did what the Lord loves. He lived in the same way as his forefather David. ₃In the 8th year after Josiah had become king, he started serving the God of his forefather David. Josiah was still a young man then. In the 12th year after he had become king, he started purifying Judah and Jerusalem. He broke down the places_of_sacrifice, the sacred_pillars and the images of wood and metal. He destroyed all of them. ₄He told the people to break down the altars of Baal. He also broke down the incense-altars at the altars. He first cut down the sacred_pillars and images of wood and metal and then he told the people to break them and beat them into small pieces. Then he threw these pieces onto the graves of the people who had served the Baal idols. ₅He took the bones of the Baal priests and he burnt them on their altars. He purified Judah and Jerusalem. There were no more altars for the idols. ₆He did the same in the towns and ruins of the tribes of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon to Naphtali. ₇He told them to break down all the altars and the sacred_pillars, and to beat the images and the incense-altars into small pieces. He did this in all the places of the land_of_Israel and then he came back to Jerusalem.

₈In the 18th year after Josiah had become king and after he had purified the land and the temple, he sent Shaphan, son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah, the chief of the city, with Joah, son of Joahaz the secretary, to repair the temple of the Lord his God. ₉They gave the money that the Levites had collected to the high-priest Hilkiah. The Levites were on guard at the door of the temple. They got the money from the people of Manasseh and Ephraim and from the other tribes_of_Israel, from all the people of the land_of_Judah and Benjamin and from the people of Jerusalem. ₁₀The officials and the high-priest took the money and gave it to the managers of the workers who had to repair the temple and they paid the workers who repaired the temple. ₁₁They paid the artisans and builders and they bought stones that were cut and wood for the roofs and poles. They had to put it into the buildings because the kings_of_Judah had not looked after the buildings. They had not repaired them. ₁₂The artisans did all the work they had to do, and the Levites who had to see that they did the work right were Jahath and Obadiah, from the Merari family, and Zechariah and Meshullam, from the Kohath family. All the Levites who played the musical_instruments ₁₃also had to see that the men who had to carry the stones and wood did their work and they told the workers what to do. Some of the Levites were secretaries, managers and guards at the doors.

₁₄When they went into the temple to get the money that the people had given, the high-priest Hilkiah found the book_of_the_laws that God had given to Moses. ₁₅Hilkiah said to Shaphan: ‘I have found the book_of_the_laws in the temple.’

Then Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan. ₁₆Shaphan took the book to the king and he said to the king: ‘Your people are busy doing the work that they have to do. ₁₇They took out all the money that they could find in the temple and they gave it to the workers and their managers.’

₁₈Then the secretary Shaphan told the king about the book that the priest Hilkiah had given him and he started to read to the king what was written in the book. ₁₉When they told the king what was written in the laws, he tore his clothes ₂₀and he said to Hilkiah and Ahikam, son of Shaphan, to Abdon, son of Micah, and Shaphan, the secretary, and his chief_officer Asaiah:

₂₁‘You must ask the Lord to tell me and everyone who is still_alive in Israel and Judah what will happen. I think the Lord is very angry with us because our forefathers have not done what is written in this book. Ask God what we must do about the things that are written in this book that we have found.’

₂₂Hilkiah and the other men with him went to the prophetess Huldah and told her what the king had said. Huldah was married to the son of Shallum, son of Tokhath, son of Hasrah. Huldah's husband had to guard the clothes of the king and they lived in the new part of Jerusalem. ₂₃The prophetess said to them: ‘The Lord, the God of Israel, says you must tell the man who has sent you to Me: ₂₄The Lord says: “I will punish this place and make the people who live here suffer. I will make everything happen as it is written in the book that they have read to the king_of_Judah. ₂₅I will do it because they have turned away from Me and they have served other gods. They have made Me angry because of all the bad things that they have done. I will punish this place and I will not stop. _26-27The king_of_Judah sent you to ask what the Lord says. You must go and tell the king: I, the Lord, saw that you humbled yourself when you heard what I had said about this place. I saw when you tore your clothes and I listened to you when you cried. ₂₈That is why I will be with you. I will not punish this place while you are alive, I will wait until you have died and you are buried. You will not see how these people suffer.” ’

Hilkiah and the other men went to the king and told him what the prophetess had said.

₂₉Then the king told all the leaders_of_Judah and Jerusalem to come to him. ₃₀The king went to the temple and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem went with him, as well as the priests and Levites, all the adults and the children. Then he read to them so that they could all hear. He read what was written in the book_of_the_covenant, that they had found in the temple. ₃₁The king stood in the place where the king always stood and he made a covenant before the Lord. He promised to do what the Lord said and to obey everything in the laws of the Lord. He promised to do what the laws said with all his heart and soul, and he would do everything that was written in that book. ₃₂Then the king asked every person in Jerusalem and in the tribe of Benjamin to promise that they would also do it. And the people of Jerusalem did what the covenant of the God of their forefathers said.

₃₃Josiah took away all the things which the Lord hates. He took them away from the homes of the Israelites. He said that everyone in the land_of_Israel must serve their God, the Lord. And the people served the Lord, the God of their forefathers. They did not stop doing it as long as Josiah lived.