1 Iosiah was eight yeere olde when hee began to reigne, and he reigned in Ierusalem one and thirtie yeere. 2 And he did vprightly in the sight of ye Lord, and walked in the wayes of Dauid his father, and bowed neither to the right hand nor to the left. 3 And in the eight yeere of his reigne (when he was yet a childe) he began to seeke after the God of Dauid his father: and in the twelft yeere he began to purge Iudah, and Ierusalem from the hie places, and the groues, and the carued images, and molten images: 4 And they brake downe in his sight the altars of Baalim, and hee caused to cut downe the images that were on hie vpon them: he brake also the groues, and the carued images, and the molten images, and stampt them to pouder, and strowed it vpon the graues of them that had sacrificed vnto them. 5 Also he burnt the bones of the Priests vpon their altars, and purged Iudah and Ierusalem. 6 And in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, euen vnto Naphtali, with their maules they brake all round about. 7 And when he had destroyed the altars and the groues, and had broken and stamped to pouder the images, and had cut downe all the idoles throughout all the land of Israel, hee returned to Ierusalem. 8 Then in the eightenth yere of his reigne, when hee had purged the lande and the Temple, he sent Shaphan the sonne of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the gouernour of the citie, and Ioah the sonne of Ioahaz the recorder, to repaire the house of the Lord his God. 9 And when they came to Hilkiah the hie Priest, they deliuered ye money that was brought into the house of God, which the Leuites that kept the doore, had gathered at the hand of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and of all the residue of Israel, and of all Iudah and Beniamin, and of the inhabitantes of Ierusalem. 10 And they put it in the hands of them that should doe the worke and had the ouersight in the house of the Lord: and they gaue it to the workemen that wrought in the house of ye Lord, to repaire and amend the house. 11 Euen to the workemen and to the builders gaue they it, to bye hewed stone and timber for couples and for beames of the houses, which the Kings of Iudah had destroyed. 12 And the men did the worke faithfully, and the ouerseers of them were Iahath and Obadiah the Leuites, of the children of Merari, and Zechariah, and Meshullam, of the children of the Kohathites to set it forward: and of the Leuites all that could skill of instruments of musike. 13 And they were ouer the bearers of burdens, and them that set forwarde all the workemen in euery worke: and of the Leuites were scribes, and officers and porters. 14 And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the Priest found the booke of the Lawe of the Lord giuen by the hand of Moses. 15 Therefore Hilkiah answered and sayde to Shaphan the chaceler, I haue found the booke of the Law in the house of the Lord: and Hilkiah gaue the booke to Shaphan. 16 And Shaphan caried the booke to the King, and brought the King worde againe, saying, All that is committed to the hand of thy seruants, that do they. 17 For they haue gathered the money that was found in the house of the Lord, and haue deliuered it into the handes of the ouerseers, and to the handes of the workemen. 18 Also Shaphan ye chanceler declared to the King, saying, Hilkiah the Priest hath giuen mee a booke, and Shaphan read it before the King. 19 And when the King had heard the wordes of the Lawe, he tare his clothes. 20 And the King commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the sonne of Shaphan, and Abdon the sonne of Micah, and Shaphan the chanceler, and Asaiah the Kings seruant, saying, 21 Goe and enquire of the Lord for me, and for the rest in Israel and Iudah, concerning the wordes of this booke that is founde: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is fallen vpon vs, because our fathers haue not kept the worde of the Lord, to doe after all that is written in this booke. 22 Then Hilkiah and they that the King had appoynted, went to Huldah the Prophetesse ye wife of Shallum, the sonne of Tokhath, the sonne of Hasrah keeper of the wardrobe (and she dwelt in Ierusalem within the colledge) and they communed hereof with her. 23 And shee answered them, Thus sayth the Lord God of Israel, Tell yee the man that sent you to me, 24 Thus saith the Lord, Beholde, I will bring euill vpon this place, and vpon the inhabitantes thereof, euen all the curses, that are written in the booke which they haue read before the King of Iudah: 25 Because they haue forsaken me, and burnt incense vnto other gods, to anger mee with al the workes of their hands, therefore shall my wrath fall vpon this place, and shall not be quenched. 26 But to the King of Iudah, who sent you to enquire of the Lord, so shall ye say vnto him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The words which thou hast heard, shall come to passe. 27 But because thine heart did melt, and thou didest humble thy selfe before God, when thou heardest his wordes against this place and against the inhabitantes thereof, and humbledst thy selfe before mee and tarest thy clothes, and weptest before mee, I haue also heard it, sayth the Lord. 28 Beholde, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt bee put in thy graue in peace, and thine eyes shall not see all the euill, which I will bring vpon this place, and vpon the inhabitants of the same. Thus they brought ye King word againe. 29 Then the King sent and gathered all the Elders of Iudah and Ierusalem. 30 And the King went vp into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Iudah, and the inhabitants of Ierusalem, and the Priests and the Leuites, and all the people from the greatest to the smallest, and hee read in their eares all the wordes of the booke of the couenant that was found in the house of the Lord. 31 And the King stood by his pillar, and made a couenant before the Lord, to walke after the Lord, and to keepe his commandements, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soule, and that he would accomplish the wordes of the couenant written in the same booke. 32 And he caused all that were found in Ierusalem, and Beniamin to stande to it: and the inhabitants of Ierusalem did according to the couenant of God, euen the God of their fathers. 33 So Iosiah tooke away al the abominations out of all the countreis that perteined to the children of Israel, and compelled all that were found in Israel, to serue the Lord their God: so all his dayes they turned not backe from the Lord God of their fathers.
King Josiah of Judah
(2 Kings 22.12 2)1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for thirty-one years. 2 He did what was pleasing to the Lord; he followed the example of his ancestor King David, strictly obeying all the laws of God.
Josiah Attacks Pagan Worship
3 In the eighth year that Josiah was king, while he was still very young, he began to worship the God of his ancestor King David. Four years later he began to destroy the pagan places of worship, the symbols of the goddess Asherah, and all the other idols. 4 Under his direction the altars where Baal was worshiped were smashed, and the incense altars near them were torn down. They ground to dust the images of Asherah and all the other idols and then scattered the dust on the graves of the people who had sacrificed to them. 5 He burned the bones of the pagan priests on the altars where they had worshiped. By doing all this, he made Judah and Jerusalem ritually clean again. 6 He did the same thing in the cities and the devastated areas of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far north as Naphtali. 7 Throughout the territory of the Northern Kingdom he smashed the altars and the symbols of Asherah, ground the idols to dust, and broke into bits all the incense altars. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
The Book of the Law Is Discovered
(2 Kings 22.3-20)8 In the eighteenth year of his reign, after he had purified the land and the Temple by ending pagan worship, King Josiah sent three men to repair the Temple of the Lord God: Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah, the governor of Jerusalem, and Joah son of Joahaz, a high official. 9 The money that the Levite guards had collected in the Temple was turned over to Hilkiah the High Priest. (It had been collected from the people of Ephraim and Manasseh and the rest of the Northern Kingdom, and from the people of Judah, Benjamin, and Jerusalem.) 10 This money was then handed over to the three men in charge of the Temple repairs, and they gave it to 11 the carpenters and the builders to buy the stones and the timber used to repair the buildings that the kings of Judah had allowed to decay. 12 The men who did the work were thoroughly honest. They were supervised by four Levites: Jahath and Obadiah of the clan of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam of the clan of Kohath. (The Levites were all skillful musicians.) 13 Other Levites were in charge of transporting materials and supervising the workers on various jobs, and others kept records or served as guards.
14 While the money was being taken out of the storeroom, Hilkiah found the book of the Law of the Lord, the Law that God had given to Moses. 15 He said to Shaphan, “I have found the book of the Law here in the Temple.” He gave Shaphan the book, 16 and Shaphan took it to the king. He reported, “We have done everything that you commanded. 17 We have taken the money that was kept in the Temple and handed it over to the workers and their supervisors.” 18 Then he added, “I have here a book that Hilkiah gave me.” And he read it aloud to the king.
19 When the king heard the book being read, he tore his clothes in dismay 20 and gave the following order to Hilkiah, to Ahikam son of Shaphan, to Abdon son of Micaiah, to Shaphan, the court secretary, and to Asaiah, the king's attendant: 21 “Go and consult the Lord for me and for the people who still remain in Israel and Judah. Find out about the teachings of this book. The Lord is angry with us because our ancestors have not obeyed the word of the Lord and have not done what this book says must be done.”
22 At the king's command, Hilkiah and the others went to consult a woman named Huldah, a prophet who lived in the newer part of Jerusalem. (Her husband Shallum, the son of Tikvah and grandson of Harhas, was in charge of the Temple robes.) They described to her what had happened, 23 and she told them to go back to the king and give him 24 the following message from the Lord: “I am going to punish Jerusalem and all its people with the curses written in the book that was read to the king. 25 They have rejected me and have offered sacrifices to other gods, and so have stirred up my anger by all they have done. My anger is aroused against Jerusalem, and it will not die down. 26 As for the king himself, this is what I, the Lord God of Israel, say: You listened to what is written in the book, 27 and you repented and humbled yourself before me, tearing your clothes and weeping, when you heard how I threatened to punish Jerusalem and its people. I have heard your prayer, 28 and the punishment which I am going to bring on Jerusalem will not come until after your death. I will let you die in peace.”
The men returned to King Josiah with this message.
Josiah Makes a Covenant to Obey the Lord
(2 Kings 23.1-20)29 King Josiah summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, 30 and together they went to the Temple, accompanied by the priests and the Levites and all the rest of the people, rich and poor alike. Before them all the king read aloud the whole book of the covenant, which had been found in the Temple. 31 He stood by the royal column and made a covenant with the Lord to obey him, to keep his laws and commands with all his heart and soul, and to put into practice the demands attached to the covenant, as written in the book. 32 He made the people of Benjamin and everyone else present in Jerusalem promise to keep the covenant. And so the people of Jerusalem obeyed the requirements of the covenant they had made with the God of their ancestors. 33 King Josiah destroyed all the disgusting idols that were in the territory belonging to the people of Israel, and as long as he lived, he required the people to serve the Lord, the God of their ancestors.