2 Chronicles 34

1 Eight years old, was Josiah when he begun to reign, —and, thirty-one years, reigned he in Jerusalem.

Josiah was eight years old when he became the king [of Judah]. He ruled from Jerusalem for 31 years.

2 And he did that which was right, in the eyes of Yahweh, —and walked in the ways of David his father, and turned not aside, to the right hand or to the left.

He did things that were pleasing to Yahweh and conducted his life like his ancestor King David had done. He fully obeyed [IDM] all the laws of God.

3 And, in the eighth year of his reign, he, being yet a boy, he began to seek unto the God of David his father, -and, in the twelfth year, he began to purify Judah and Jerusalem, from the high places and the Sacred Stems, and the carved images and the molten images.

When he had been ruling for almost eight years, while he was still a young man, he began to worship God like his ancestor [King] David had done. Four years later, he began to get rid of all the pagan shrines on hilltops in Jerusalem and in [other places in] Judah, and the poles to [honor the goddess] Asherah, and the carved idols and statues of gods.

4 And they threw down before him, the altars of the Baalim, and, the sun-pillars which were on high above them, he hewed down, —and, the Sacred Stems and the carved images and the molten images, brake he in pieces and ground to dust, and tossed over the face of the graves, of them who had been sacrificing unto them.

While he directed them, his workers tore down the altars where people worshiped Baal. They smashed the altars that were near those altars, where people burned incense. They smashed the poles [honor the goddess] Asherah and the idols and statues. They smashed them to bits and scattered the bits over the graves of those who had offered sacrifices to them.

5 And, the bones of the priests, burned he upon their altars, —and so purified Judah and Jerusalem:

They burned the bones of the priests [who had offered sacrifices]; they burned them on their own altars. In that way Josiah caused Jerusalem and other places in Judah to be acceptable places to worship Yahweh again.

6 also throughout the cities of Manasseh and Ephraim and Simeon, even as far as Naphtali, —searched he their houses, round about.

In the towns in [the tribes of] Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far [north] as [the tribe of] Naphtali and in the ruins around all those towns,

7 And, when he had thrown down the altars and the Sacred Stems, and, the images, he had beaten to powder, and, the sun-pillars, he had hewn down throughout all the land of Israel, then returned he to Jerusalem.

Josiah’s [workers] tore down the pagan altars and the poles to [honor the goddess] Asherah, and crushed the idols to powder. They also smashed to pieces all the altars for burning incense throughout Israel. Then Josiah returned to Jerusalem.

8 And, in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purified the land and the house, he sent Shaphan son of Azaliah and Maaseiah the ruler of the city and Joah son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of Yahweh his God.

When Josiah had been ruling for almost 18 years, he [did something else to] cause the land and the temple to be acceptable places to worship Yahweh. He sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah and Maaseiah the governor of the city and Joah the son of Joahaz, who wrote on a scroll what happened in the city, to repair the temple of Yahweh.

9 So they went in unto Hilkiah the high priest, and delivered the silver that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites who kept the entrance-hall had collected from the hand of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and from all the remnant of Israel, and from all Judah and Benjamin, —and returned to Jerusalem.

They went to Hilkiah the Supreme Priest and gave him the money that had been brought to the temple. That was the money that the descendants of Levi who guarded the doors of the temple had collected from the people of [the tribes of] Manasseh and Ephraim and [other places in northern] Israel, and also from all the people in Jerusalem and other places in the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.

10 And the overseers in the house of Yahweh, delivered it into the hand of the doer of the work, —yea they delivered it to the doers of the work, because they were working in the house of Yahweh, in searching and repairing the house:

Then Hilkiah gave some of the money to the men who had been appointed to supervise the work of repairing the temple. The supervisors paid the men who did the repair work.

11 yea they delivered it to the artificers and to the builders, to buy carved stones and timbers for the joinings, —and to build up the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed.

They also gave some of the money to the carpenters and builders to buy the cut stones and the timber for the joists and the beams for the buildings that the kings of Judah had allowed to decay.

12 Now, the men, were working faithfully in the work, and over them as overseers, were—Jahath and Obadiah, Levites, of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to preside, —and Levites, all who had understanding in instruments of song;

The workers did their work faithfully. Their supervisors were Jahath and Obadiah, who were descendants of [Levi’s son] Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, who were descendants of [Levi’s son] Kohath. All the other descendants of Levi, those who played musical instruments well,

13 also over the burden-bearers, and such as took the lead, for everyone who was working in any manner of service, —and, of the Levites, were scribes and officers and doorkeepers.

supervised all the workers as they did their various jobs. Some of the descendants of Levi were secretaries and some kept records and some guarded the gates [of the temple].

14 Now, as they were taking out the silver which had been brought into the house of Yahweh, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of Yahweh, by the hand of Moses.

While they were giving to the supervisors the money that had been taken to the temple, Hilkiah the [Supreme] Priest found a scroll on which were written the laws that Yahweh had told Moses to give to the people.

15 Then spake up Hilkiah, and said unto Shaphan the scribe, The Book of the Law, have I found, in the house of Yahweh, —and Hilkiah gave the book unto Shaphan.

So Hilkiah said to Shaphan, “I have found in the temple a scroll on which are written the laws [that God gave to Moses]!” Then Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan.

16 Then Shaphan took in the book unto the king, and returned yet further unto the king a message, saying, —All that was delivered into the hand of thy servants, they are doing;

Shaphan [took the scroll] to the king and said to him, “Your officials are doing everything that you told them to do.

17 and they have poured out the silver, that was found in the house of Yahweh, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and into the hand of the doers of the work.

They have taken the money that was in the temple, and they have given it to the men who will supervise the workers who will repair the temple.”

18 Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, A book, hath Hilkiah the priest given to me. And Shaphan, read therein, before the king.

Then Shaphan said to the king, “[I have brought to you] a scroll [that] Hilkiah gave to me.” And Shaphan started to read it to the king.

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

When the king heard the laws [that were written in the scroll], he tore his clothes [because he was very dismayed/worried].

20 Then did the king command Hilkiah—and Ahikam son of Shaphan—and Abdon son of Micah—and Shaphan the scribe—and Asaiah servant of the king, saying:

Then he gave these instructions to Hilkiah, to Shaphan’s son Ahikam, to Micah’s son Abdon, to Shaphan, and to Asaiah the king’s special advisor:

21 Go, enquire of Yahweh for me, and for the remnant in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book which hath been found, —for great is the wrath of Yahweh, which hath been poured out upon us, because our fathers, kept not, the word of Yahweh, to do according to all that is written in this book.

“Go and ask Yahweh for me, and for all his people who are still alive in Judah and Israel, about what is written in this scroll that has been found. Because [it is clear that] Yahweh is very angry with us because our ancestors disobeyed what Yahweh said; they did not obey the laws that are written on this scroll.”

22 So Hilkiah and they whom the king had named went into Huldah the prophetess, wife of Shallum son of Tokhath son of Hasrah keeper of the wardrobe, she, having her dwelling in Jerusalem, in the new city, —and they spake unto her accordingly.

So Hilkiah and the others went to talk with a woman whose name was Huldah, who was a prophetess who lived in the newer part of Jerusalem. Her husband Shallum who was the son of Tikvah, took care of the robes that were worn [in the temple].

23 And she said unto them, Thus, saith Yahweh God of Israel, —Say ye unto the man who hath sent you unto me:

[When they told her what the king had said, ] she said to them, “This is what Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis [worship], says: ‘Go back and tell the king who sent you

24 Thus, saith Yahweh, Behold me bringing in calamity upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, -even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah:

that this is what Yahweh says: “Listen to this carefully. I am going to cause a disaster to strike Jerusalem and all the people who live here. I will cause them to experience the curses that were written in the scroll that was read to the king of Judah.

25 Because they have forsaken me, and burned incense unto other gods, so as to provoke me to anger, with all the works of their hands, therefore hath my wrath been poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched.

I will do that because they have rejected me, and they burn incense to [honor] other gods. They have caused me to become very angry because of all the idols that they have made (OR, because of all the wicked things that they have done), [and my anger is like] a fire that will not be extinguished.

26 But, unto the king of Judah, who hath sent you to enquire of Yahweh, thus, shall ye say unto him, —Thus, saith Yahweh God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard:

The king of Judah sent you to ask what I, Yahweh, want. Go and tell him that this is what I, Yahweh, the God whom you Israelis worship, say about what you read:

27 Because tender was thy heart, and thou didst humble thyself before God when thou heardest his words against this place and against the inhabitants thereof, and didst humble thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes and weep before me, therefore, I also, have heard, is the declaration of Yahweh.

“Because you heeded [what was written in the scroll], and you humbled yourself when you heard what I said to warn [about what would happen to] this city and the people who live here, and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard you.

28 Behold me! gathering thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered unto thy sepulchres in peace, and thine eyes shall not look upon all the calamity which, I, am bringing in upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof. And they returned, unto the king, the message.

So I will allow you to die and be buried peacefully. I will cause a great disaster to strike this place and the people who live here, but you will not [be alive to] see it.”’” So they reported her reply to the king.

29 Then the king sent, —and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.

Then the king summoned all the elders of Jerusalem and [other places in] Judea.

30 And the king went up to the house of Yahweh—and all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem—and the priests and the Levites, and all the people, from the great even unto the small, —and he read in their ears, all the words of the book of the covenant, which had been found in the house of Yahweh.

They went up together to the temple with the leaders of Judah and many other people of Jerusalem and the priests and other descendants of Levi, from the least important to the most important ones. And while they listened, the king read to them everything that was in the scroll containing God’s laws that had been found in the temple.

31 And the king stood in his place, and solemnised the covenant before Yahweh, to walk after Yahweh, 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.

Then the king stood next to the pillar [at the entrance to the temple, where kings stood when they announced something important], and while Yahweh was listening, he repeated his promise to very sincerely and completely obey Yahweh and all his commands and regulations and decrees that were written on the scroll.

32 And he caused to take a stand, all that were present in Jerusalem, and Benjamin, —and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

Then the king said that everyone who lived in Jerusalem and from [the tribe of] Benjamin should promise that they also would obey those laws. And they did that, agreeing that they would keep the agreement that God, whom their ancestors had worshiped, had made with them.

33 And Josiah removed all the abominations, out of all the lands which belonged to the sons of Israel, and caused all that were present in Jerusalem to serve, yea to serve, Yahweh their God, —all his days, turned they not aside from following Yahweh, God of their fathers.

Josiah [instructed his workers to] remove all the detestable idols from everywhere in the land of the Israeli people, and he commanded that all the people from Israel who were there should worship [only] Yahweh their God. And as long as Josiah was alive, the people did what was pleasing to Yahweh, the God whom their ancestors [worshiped].