2 Chronicles 34

1 Eight years old was Josiah when he became king, and thirty and one years did he reign in Jerusalem.

2 And he did what is right in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father, and turned not aside to the right or to the left.

3 And in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet a lad, he began to seek after the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year he began to purify Judah and Jerusalem from the high-places, and the Asherim, and the carved images, and the molten images.

4 And they broke down in his presence the altars of the Be'alim, and the sun-images, that were set above them, he cut down; and the Asherim, and the carved images, and the molten images, he broke in pieces, and ground down, and strewed [the same] upon the graves of those that had sacrificed unto them.

5 And the bones of priests did he burn upon their altars; and he purified Judah and Jerusalem.

6 And [so did he] in the cities of Menasseh and Ephraim and Simeon, even as far as Naphtali, with their mattocks, round about.

7 And when he had broken down the altars and had beaten the Asherim and the graven images into powder, and cut down all the sun-images throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.

8 And in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purified the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azalyahu, and Ma'asseyahu the governor of the city and Joach the son of Joachaz the recorder, to repair the house of the Lord his God.

9 And they came to Chilkiyahu the high-priest, and gave up the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites that watched at the threshold had gathered from the hand of Menasseh and Ephraim, and from all the remnant of Israel, and from all Judah and Benjamin, and were returned to Jerusalem.—

10 And they delivered it into the hand of those who overlooked the workmen that had been appointed as overseers of the house of the Lord: and those who overlooked the workmen, who did the work in the house of the Lord, gave it out, to repair and to restore the house,

11 And they gave it to the carpenters and to the builders to buy hewn stone and timber for joists, and to lay the beams in the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed.

12 And the men acted faithfully in the work: and over them were appointed Jachath and 'Obadyahu, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kehathites, to supervise; and every one of these Levites was skilful on instruments of music.

13 They were also over the bearers of burdens and supervisors over all that did the work in every manner of service: and from the Levites there were also scribes, and officers, and gatekeepers.

14 And when they took out the money that had been brought into the house of the Lord, Chilkiyahu the priest found the book of the law of the Lord through the hand of Moses.

15 Then commenced Chilkiyahu and said to Shaphan the scribe, The book of the law have I found in the house of the Lord. And Chilkiyahu gave the book to Shaphan.

16 And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king also word back again, saying, All that was put in the hand of thy servants, have they truly done.

17 And they have taken out the money that was found in the house of the Lord, and have delivered it into the hand of the appointed overseers, and into the hand of those who overlook the workmen.

18 Then told Shaphan the scribe the king, saying, A book hath Chilkiyahu the priest given me. And Shaphan read in it before the king.

19 And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes.

20 And the king commanded Chilkiyahu, and Achikam the son of Shaphan, and 'Abdon the son of Michah, and Shaphan the scribe, and 'Assayah a servant of the king's, saying,

21 Go ye, inquire of the Lord in my behalf, and in behalf of those that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that hath been found; for great is the fury of the Lord that is poured out against us, because our fathers did not keep the word of the Lord, to do in accordance with all that is written in this book.

22 Then went Chilkiyahu with those whom the king [had appointed], to Chuldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Thoknath, the son of Chassrah, the keeper of the wardrobe; —now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the suburb; —and they spoke to her in that wise.

23 And she said unto them, Thus hath said the Lord the God of Israel, Say unto the man that hath sent you to me,

24 Thus hath said the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon its inhabitants, 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 burnt incense unto other gods, in order to provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands: therefore is my fury poured out upon this place, and it shall not be quenched.

26 And with respect to the king of Judah, who sendeth you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall ye say to him, Thus hath said the Lord the God of Israel, Concerning the words which thou hast heard;

27 Because thy heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardst his words against this place, and against its inhabitants, and didst humble thyself before me, and rend thy clothes, and weep before me: I have also truly heard it, saith the Lord.

28 Behold, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy graves in peace, and thy eyes shall not look on all the evil which I am bringing over this place, and over its inhabitants. 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, with all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, from the great to the small; and he read before their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which had been found in the house of the Lord.

31 And the king stood up on his stand, and he 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 that are written in this book.

32 And he caused to accede to it every one that was present in Jerusalem and Benjamin. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem acted in accordance with the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

33 And Josiah removed all the abominations out of all the countries that belonged to the children of Israel, and caused all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the Lord their God. All his days did they not depart from following the Lord God of their fathers.