Josiah Reigns in Judah^(A)

34 Josiah ^(B)was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. ² And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

³ For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still ^(C)young, he began to ^(D)seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began ^(E)to purge Judah and Jerusalem ^(F)of the ^[a]high places, the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images. ^4 (G)They broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and the incense altars which were above them he cut down; and the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images he broke in pieces, and made dust of them ^(H)and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. ⁵ He also ^(I)burned the bones of the priests on their ^(J)altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. ⁶ And so he did in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, as far as Naphtali and all around, with ^[b]axes. ⁷ When he had broken down the altars and the wooden images, had ^(K)beaten the carved images into powder, and cut down all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.

Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law^(L)

^8 (M)In the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the ^[c]temple, he sent ^(N)Shaphan the son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the ^(O)governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the Lord his God. ⁹ When they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered ^(P)the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites who kept the doors had gathered from the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, from all the ^(Q)remnant of Israel, from all Judah and Benjamin, and which they had brought back to Jerusalem. ¹⁰ Then they put it in the hand of the foremen who had the oversight of the house of the Lord; and they gave it to the workmen who worked in the house of the Lord, to repair and restore the house. ¹¹ They gave it to the craftsmen and builders to buy hewn stone and timber for beams, and to floor the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed. ¹² And the men did the work faithfully. Their overseers were Jahath and Obadiah the Levites, of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to supervise. Others of the Levites, all of whom were skillful with instruments of music, ¹³ were ^(R)over the burden bearers and were overseers of all who did work in any kind of service. ^(S)And some of the Levites were scribes, officers, and gatekeepers.

¹⁴ Now when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest ^(T)found the Book of the Law of the Lord given by Moses. ¹⁵ Then Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the ^(U)book to Shaphan. ¹⁶ So Shaphan carried the book to the king, bringing the king word, saying, “All that was committed to your servants they are doing. ¹⁷ And they have ^[d]gathered the money that was found in the house of the Lord, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers and the workmen.” ¹⁸ Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.

¹⁹ Thus it happened, when the king heard the words of the Law, that he tore his clothes. ²⁰ Then the king commanded Hilkiah, ^(V)Ahikam the son of Shaphan, ^[e]Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, 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 that is found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not ^(W)kept the word of the Lord, to do according to all that is written in this book.”