2 Chronicles 34

1 Josiah [is] a son of eight years in his reigning, and he has reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem,

Josiah was eight years old when he became king; he was ruling in Jerusalem for thirty-one years.

2 and he does that which is right in the eyes of YHWH, and walks in the ways of his father David, and has not turned aside [to] the right or left.

And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, walking in the ways of his father David, without turning to the right hand or to the left.

3 And in the eighth year of his reign (and he [is] yet a youth), he has begun to seek for the God of his father David, and in the twelfth year he has begun to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the Asherim, and the carved images, and the molten images.

In the eighth year of his rule, while he was still young, his heart was first turned to the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he undertook the clearing away of all the high places and the pillars and the images of wood and metal from Judah and Jerusalem.

4 And they break down the altars of the Ba‘alim before him, and he has cut down the images that [are] on high above them, and the Asherim, and the carved images, and the molten images, he has broken and beaten small, and strews [them] on the surface of the graves of those sacrificing to them,

He had the altars of the Baals broken down, while he himself was present; and the sun-images which were placed on high over them he had cut down; and the pillars of wood and the metal images he had broken up and crushed to dust, dropping the dust over the resting-places of the dead who had made offerings to them.

5 and he has burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and cleanses Judah and Jerusalem,

And he had the bones of the priests burned on their altars, and so he made Judah and Jerusalem clean.

6 and in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even to Naphtali, with their tools, all around.

And in all the towns of Manasseh and Ephraim and Simeon as far as Naphtali, he made waste their houses round about.

7 And he breaks down the altars and the Asherim, and he has beaten down the carved images very small, and he has cut down all the images in all the land of Israel, and turns back to Jerusalem.

He had the altars and the pillars of wood pulled down and the images crushed to dust, and all the sun-images cut down, through all the land of Israel, and then he went back to Jerusalem.

8 And in the eighteenth year of his reign, to purify the land and the house, he has sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah head of the city, and Joah son of Johaz the remembrancer, to strengthen the house of his God YHWH.

Now in the eighteenth year of his rule, when the land and the house had been made clean, he sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah, the ruler of the town, and Joah, the son of Joahaz, the recorder, to make good what was damaged in the house of the Lord his God.

9 And they come to Hilkiah the high priest, and they give the money that is brought into the house of God, that the Levites, keeping the threshold, have 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 came to Hilkiah, the chief priest, and gave him all the money which had been taken into the house of God, which the Levites, the keepers of the door, had got from Manasseh and Ephraim and those of Israel who had not been taken away as prisoners, and from all Judah and Benjamin and the people of Jerusalem.

10 and they give [it] into the hand of the workmen, those appointed over the house of YHWH, and they give it [to] the workmen who are working in the house of YHWH, to repair and to strengthen the house;

And they gave it to the overseers of the work of the Lord's house, and the overseers gave it to the workmen working in the house, for building it up and making good what was damaged;

11 and they give [it] to craftsmen and to builders to buy hewn stones, and wood for couplings and for beams [for] the houses that the kings of Judah had destroyed.

Even to the woodworkers and builders to get cut stone and wood for joining the structure together and for making boards for the houses which the kings of Judah had given up to destruction.

12 And the men are working faithfully in the business, and over them are appointed Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathite, to overlook; and of the Levites, everyone understanding about instruments of song,

And the men did the work well; and those who had authority over them were Jahath and Obadiah, Levites of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, who were to be responsible for seeing that the work was done; and others of the Levites, who were expert with instruments of music,

13 and over the burden-bearers, and overseers of everyone doing work for every service; and of the Levites [are] scribes, and officers, and gatekeepers.

Had authority over the transport workers, giving directions to all who were doing any sort of work; and among the Levites there were scribes and overseers and door-keepers.

14 And in their bringing out the money that is brought into the house of YHWH, Hilkiah the priest has found the Scroll of the Law of YHWH by the hand of Moses,

Now when they were taking out the money which had come into the Lord's house, Hilkiah the priest came across the book of the law of the Lord, which he had given by the mouth of Moses.

15 and Hilkiah answers and says to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found [the] Scroll of the Law in the house of YHWH”; and Hilkiah gives the scroll to Shaphan,

Then Hilkiah said to Shaphan the scribe, I have made discovery of the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan.

16 and Shaphan brings in the scroll to the king, and brings the king back word again, saying, “All that has been given into the hand of your servants they are doing,

And Shaphan took the book to the king; and he gave him an account of what had been done, saying, Your servants are doing all they have been given to do;

17 and they pour out the money that is found in the house of YHWH, and give it into the hand of those appointed and into the hands of those doing the work.”

They have taken out all the money which was in the Lord's house and have given it to the overseers and to the workmen.

18 And Shaphan the scribe declares [it] to the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given a scroll to me”; and Shaphan reads in it before the king.

Then Shaphan the scribe said to the king, Hilkiah the priest has given me a book; and he made a start at reading some of it to the king.

19 And it comes to pass, at the king’s hearing the words of the Law, that he tears his garments,

And the king, hearing the words of the law, took his robe in his hands, violently parting it as a sign of his grief.

20 and the king commands Hilkiah, and Ahikam son of Shaphan, and Abdon son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah, servant of the king, saying,

And he gave orders to Hilkiah and to Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Abdon, the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe and Asaiah, the king's servant, saying,

21 “Go, seek YHWH for me, and for him who is left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the scroll that is found, for great [is] the fury of YHWH that is poured on us, because that our fathers did not keep the word of YHWH to do according to all that is written on this scroll.”

Go and get directions from the Lord for me and for those who are still in Israel and for Judah, about the words of this book which has come to light; for great is the wrath of the Lord which has been let loose on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord or done what is recorded in this book.

22 And Hilkiah goes, and they of the king, to Huldah the prophetess, wife of Shallum son of Tikvath, son of Hasrah, keeper of the garments, and she is dwelling in Jerusalem in the Second [Quarter], and they speak to her thus.

So Hilkiah, and those whom the king sent, went to Huldah the woman prophet, the wife of Shallum, the son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, the keeper of the robes (now she was living in Jerusalem, in the second part of the town); and they had talk with her about this thing.

23 And she says to them, “Thus said YHWH, God of Israel: Say to the man who has sent you to me,

And she said to them, The Lord, the God of Israel, has said, Say to the man who sent you to me,

24 Thus said YHWH: Behold, I am bringing in calamity on this place and on its inhabitants, all the execrations that are written on the scroll that they read before the king of Judah,

These are the words of the Lord: See, I will send evil on this place and on its people, even all the curses in the book which they have been reading before the king of Judah;

25 because that they have forsaken Me, and make incense to other gods, so as to provoke Me with all the works of their hands, and My fury is poured out on this place, and it is not quenched.

Because they have given me up, burning offerings to other gods and moving me to wrath by all the works of their hands; so my wrath is let loose on this place and will not be put out.

26 And to the king of Judah who is sending you to inquire of YHWH, thus you say to him, Thus said YHWH God of Israel, whose words you have heard:

But to the king of Judah who sent you to get directions from the Lord, say, This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, has said: Because you have given ear to my words,

27 Because your heart [is] tender, and you are humbled before God in your hearing His words concerning this place and concerning its inhabitants, and are humbled before Me, and tear your garments, and weep before Me, indeed, I have also heard [you]—a declaration of YHWH.

And your heart was soft, and you made yourself low before God, on hearing his words about this place and its people, and with weeping and signs of grief have made yourself low before me, I have given ear to you, says the Lord God.

28 Behold, I am gathering you to your fathers, and you have been gathered to your graves in peace, and your eyes do not look on all the calamity that I am bringing on this place and on its inhabitants”; and they bring the king back word.

See, I will let you go to your fathers, and be put in your last resting-place in peace, and your eyes will not see all the evil which I will send on this place and on its people. So they took this news back to the king.

29 And the king sends and gathers all the elderly of Judah and Jerusalem,

Then the king sent and got together all the responsible men of Judah and of Jerusalem.

30 and the king goes up to the house of YHWH, and [to] every man of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, even all the people, from great even to small, and he reads in their ears all the words of the scroll of the covenant that is found in the house of YHWH.

And the king went up to the house of the Lord, with all the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem, and the priests and the Levites and all the people, small and great; and they were present at his reading of the book of the law which had come to light in the house of the Lord.

31 And the king stands on his station, and makes the covenant before YHWH to walk after YHWH, and to keep His commands, and His testimonies, and His statutes, with all his heart and with all his soul, to do the words of the covenant that are written on this scroll.

Then the king, taking his place by the pillar, made an agreement before the Lord, to go in the way of the Lord, and to keep his orders and his decisions and his rules with all his heart and with all his soul, and to keep the words of the agreement recorded in this book.

32 And he presents everyone who is found in Jerusalem and Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem do according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

And he made all the people in Jerusalem and Benjamin give their word to keep it. And the people of Jerusalem kept the agreement of God, the God of their fathers.

33 And Josiah turns aside all the abominations out of all the lands that the sons of Israel have, and causes everyone who is found in Israel to serve, to serve their God YHWH; all his days they did not turn aside from after YHWH, God of their fathers.

Josiah took away all the disgusting things out of all the lands of the children of Israel, and made all who were in Israel servants of the Lord their God. And as long as he was living they were true to the Lord, the God of their fathers.