Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law

⁸ And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found ^(A)the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. ⁹ And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord.” ¹⁰ Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.

¹¹ When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, ^(B)he tore his clothes. ¹² And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and ^(C)Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and ^(D)Achbor the son of ^(E)Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying, ¹³ “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is ^(F)the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

¹⁴ So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of ^(G)Tikvah, son of ^(H)Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in ^(I)the Second Quarter), and they talked with her. ¹⁵ And she said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, ¹⁶ Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. ^17 (J)Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore ^(K)my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. ¹⁸ But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, ^19 (L)because your heart was penitent, and you ^(M)humbled yourself before the Lord, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become ^(N)a desolation and ^(O)a curse, and you ^(P)have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. ²⁰ Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and ^(Q)you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.’” And they brought back word to the king.

Josiah's Reforms

23 ^(R)Then the king sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him. ² And the king went up to the house of the Lord, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And ^(S)he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant ^(T)that had been found in the house of the Lord. ³ And the king stood ^(U)by the pillar and ^(V)made a covenant before the Lord, ^(W)to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant.

⁴ And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests ^(X)of the second order and the keepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels made for ^(Y)Baal, for ^(Z)Asherah, and for all the host of heaven. ^(AA)He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. ⁵ And he deposed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and the moon and the constellations ^(AB)and all the host of the heavens. ⁶ And he brought out ^(AC)the Asherah from the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, ^(AD)and burned it at the brook Kidron ^(AE)and beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves ^(AF)of the common people. ⁷ And he broke down the houses of ^(AG)the male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the Lord, ^(AH)where the women wove hangings for ^(AI)the Asherah. ⁸ And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings, from ^(AJ)Geba to Beersheba. And he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one's left at the gate of the city. ^9 (AK)However, the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. ¹⁰ And he defiled ^(AL)Topheth, which is ^(AM)in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, ^(AN)that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to ^(AO)Molech.^{[a] 11} And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts.^[b] And he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. ¹² And the altars ^(AP)on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars ^(AQ)that Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, he pulled down and broke in pieces^[c] and cast the dust of them ^(AR)into the brook Kidron. ¹³ And the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of ^(AS)the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for ^(AT)Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for ^(AU)Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for ^(AV)Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. ¹⁴ And he broke in pieces the ^(AW)pillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with the bones of men.

¹⁵ Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected ^(AX)by Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^(AY)who made Israel to sin, ^(AZ)that altar with the high place he pulled down and burned,^[d] reducing it to dust. He also burned the Asherah. ¹⁶ And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it, ^(BA)according to the word of the Lord that the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things. ¹⁷ Then he said, “What is that monument that I see?” And the men of the city told him, ^(BB)“It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted^[e] these things that you have done against the altar at Bethel.” ¹⁸ And he said, “Let him be; let no man move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones ^(BC)of the prophet who came out of Samaria. ¹⁹ And Josiah removed all the shrines also of the high places that were ^(BD)in the cities of Samaria, which kings of Israel had made, provoking the Lord to anger. He did to them according to all that he had done at Bethel. ²⁰ And ^(BE)he sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, ^(BF)and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Josiah Restores the Passover

²¹ And the king commanded all the people, ^(BG)“Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, ^(BH)as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” ^22 (BI)For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. ²³ But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem.

²⁴ Moreover, Josiah put away ^(BJ)the mediums and the necromancers and ^(BK)the household gods and ^(BL)the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish ^(BM)the words of the law that were written in the book ^(BN)that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. ^25 (BO)Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.

²⁶ Still the Lord did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, ^(BP)because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. ²⁷ And the Lord said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight, ^(BQ)as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, ^(BR)and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.”

Pe

Greeting

1 Paul, ^(A)an apostle of Christ Jesus ^(B)by the will of God according to ^(C)the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus,

² To Timothy, ^(D)my beloved child:

^(E)Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Guard the Deposit Entrusted to You

^3 (F)I thank God ^(G)whom I serve, as did my ancestors, ^(H)with a clear conscience, as I remember you ^(I)constantly in my prayers night and day. ^4 (J)As I remember your tears, ^(K)I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. ⁵ I am reminded of ^(L)your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and ^(M)your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. ⁶ For this reason I remind you ^(N)to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, ⁷ for God gave us ^(O)a spirit not of fear but ^(P)of power and love and self-control.

⁸ Therefore ^(Q)do not be ashamed of ^(R)the testimony about our Lord, nor of ^(S)me his prisoner, but ^(T)share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, ^9 (U)who saved us and ^(V)called us to^[a] a holy calling, ^(W)not because of our works but because of ^(X)his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus ^(Y)before the ages began,^{[b] 10} and which now has ^(Z)been manifested through ^(AA)the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, ^(AB)who abolished death and ^(AC)brought life and ^(AD)immortality to light through the gospel, ^11 (AE)for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, ^12 (AF)which is why I suffer as I do. But ^(AG)I am not ashamed, for ^(AH)I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until ^(AI)that day ^(AJ)what has been entrusted to me.^{[c] 13 (AK)}Follow ^(AL)the pattern of ^(AM)the sound^[d] words ^(AN)that you have heard from me, in ^(AO)the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴ By the Holy Spirit ^(AP)who dwells within us, guard ^(AQ)the good deposit entrusted to you.

¹⁵ You are aware that ^(AR)all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. ¹⁶ May the Lord grant mercy to ^(AS)the household of Onesiphorus, for he often ^(AT)refreshed me and was not ashamed of ^(AU)my chains, ¹⁷ but when he arrived in Rome ^(AV)he searched for me earnestly and found me— ¹⁸ may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on ^(AW)that day!—and you well know all the service he ^(AX)rendered at Ephesus.

A Good Soldier of Christ Jesus

2 You then, ^(AY)my child, ^(AZ)be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, ² and ^(BA)what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses ^(BB)entrust to faithful men,^{[e] (BC)}who will be able to teach others also. ^3 (BD)Share in suffering as ^(BE)a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴ No soldier ^(BF)gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. ^5 (BG)An athlete is not ^(BH)crowned unless he competes according to the rules. ⁶ It is ^(BI)the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. ⁷ Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

⁸ Remember Jesus Christ, ^(BJ)risen from the dead, the ^(BK)offspring of David, ^(BL)as preached in my gospel, ^9 (BM)for which I am suffering, ^(BN)bound with chains as a criminal. But ^(BO)the word of God is not bound! ¹⁰ Therefore ^(BP)I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain ^(BQ)the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with ^(BR)eternal glory. ¹¹ The saying is ^(BS)trustworthy, for:

for ^(BZ)he cannot deny himself.

A Worker Approved by God

¹⁴ Remind them of these things, and ^(CA)charge them before God^{[f] (CB)}not to quarrel about words, ^(CC)which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. ¹⁵ Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,^[g] a worker ^(CD)who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. ¹⁶ But ^(CE)avoid ^(CF)irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, ¹⁷ and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are ^(CG)Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸ who have swerved from the truth, ^(CH)saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. ¹⁹ But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: ^(CI)“The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone ^(CJ)who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

²⁰ Now in ^(CK)a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, ^(CL)some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. ²¹ Therefore, ^(CM)if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable,^[h] he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ^(CN)ready for every good work.

²² So ^(CO)flee ^(CP)youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with ^(CQ)those who call on the Lord ^(CR)from a pure heart. ²³ Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant ^(CS)controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. ²⁴ And ^(CT)the Lord's servant^[i] must not be quarrelsome but ^(CU)kind to everyone, ^(CV)able to teach, patiently enduring evil, ²⁵ correcting his opponents ^(CW)with gentleness. God ^(CX)may perhaps grant them repentance ^(CY)leading to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶ and they may come to their senses and escape from ^(CZ)the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.