Hilkiah Discovers the Lost Book of the Law

¹⁴ When they were bringing out the money which had been brought into the house of the Lord, ^(A)Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord given by Moses. ¹⁵ Hilkiah responded and said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan. ¹⁶ Then Shaphan brought the book to the king and ^[a]reported further word to the king, saying, “Everything that was ^[b]entrusted to your servants, they are doing. ¹⁷ They have also emptied out the money which was found in the house of the Lord, and have handed it over to the supervisors and the workmen.” ¹⁸ Moreover, Shaphan the scribe informed the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest gave me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.

¹⁹ When the king heard ^(B)the words of the Law, ^(C)he tore his clothes. ²⁰ Then the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, ^[c]Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, ²¹ “Go, inquire of the Lord for me and for those who are left in Israel and Judah, concerning the words of the book which has been found; for ^(D)the wrath of the Lord which has poured out on us is great, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to act in accordance with everything that is written in this book.”