2 Chronicles 34

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

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

2 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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

6 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,

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

7 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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,

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 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].

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 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.

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 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.

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

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 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.”

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 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.

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

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 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:

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 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.”

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 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].

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 [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

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

24 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.

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 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.

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 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:

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 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.

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 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.

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

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

30 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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].

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.