Huldah Predicts Disaster

¹⁴ So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the prophet Huldah, the wife of Tikvah’s son Shallum, the grandson of Harhas and supervisor of the royal wardrobe, who lived in the Second Quarter in Jerusalem. They spoke with her, ¹⁵ and she told them, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me: ¹⁶ “This is what the Lord says: ‘Look! I’m bringing disaster on this place and on its inhabitants—everything written in the book that the king of Judah has read— ¹⁷ because they have abandoned me, burned incense to other gods, and they have provoked me to anger with everything that they’ve done. Therefore my anger is kindled against this place and it won’t be quenched!’” ¹⁸ Nevertheless, tell the king of Judah who sent you to ask the Lord about this,^[a] “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Now about what you’ve heard, ¹⁹ because your heart was sensitive, and you humbled yourself in the Lord’s presence when you heard what I had to say against this place and against its inhabitants—that they would become a desolation and a curse—and you have torn your clothes and cried out before me, be assured that I have truly heard you,’ declares the Lord. ²⁰ ‘Therefore, look! I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be placed in your grave in peace. Your eyes will never see all the evil that I will bring on this place.’”’”