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.”

²² So Hilkiah and those the king had appointed went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of ^[f]Tokhath, the son of ^[g]Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe. (She dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter.) And they spoke to her to that effect.

²³ Then she answered them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Tell the man who sent you to Me, ²⁴ “Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will ^(X)bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the ^(Y)book which they have read before the king of Judah, ²⁵ because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore My wrath will be poured out on this place, and not be quenched.’ ” ’ ²⁶ But as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, in this manner you shall speak to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Concerning the words which you have heard— ²⁷ because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and you humbled yourself before Me, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you,” says the ^(Z)Lord. ²⁸ “Surely I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place and its inhabitants.” ’ ” So they brought back word to the king.

Josiah Restores True Worship^(AA)

^29 (AB)Then the king sent and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. ³⁰ The king went up to the house of the Lord, with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem—the priests and the Levites, and all the people, great and small. And he ^(AC)read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the house of the Lord. ³¹ Then the king ^(AD)stood in ^(AE)his place and made a ^(AF)covenant before the Lord, to follow 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 the covenant that were written in this book. ³² And he made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin take a stand. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. ³³ Thus Josiah removed all the ^(AG)abominations from all the country that belonged to the children of Israel, and made all who were present in Israel ^[h]diligently serve the Lord their God. ^(AH)All his days they did not depart from following the Lord God of their fathers.

Josiah Keeps the Passover^(AI)

35 Now ^(AJ)Josiah kept a Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem, and they slaughtered the Passover lambs on the ^(AK)fourteenth day of the first month. ² And he set the priests in their ^(AL)duties and ^(AM)encouraged them for the service of the house of the Lord. ³ Then he said to the Levites ^(AN)who taught all Israel, who were holy to the Lord: ^(AO)“Put the holy ark ^(AP)in the house which Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built. ^(AQ)It shall no longer be a burden on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and His people Israel. ⁴ Prepare yourselves ^(AR)according to your fathers’ ^[i]houses, according to your divisions, following the ^(AS)written instruction of David king of Israel and the ^(AT)written instruction of Solomon his son. ⁵ And ^(AU)stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the fathers’ houses of your brethren the lay people, and according to the division of the father’s house of the Levites. ⁶ So slaughter the Passover offerings, ^(AV)consecrate yourselves, and prepare them for your brethren, that they may do according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.”

⁷ Then Josiah ^(AW)gave the lay people lambs and young goats from the flock, all for Passover offerings for all who were present, to the number of thirty thousand, as well as three thousand cattle; these were from the king’s ^(AX)possessions. ⁸ And his ^(AY)leaders gave willingly to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings two thousand six hundred from the flock, and three hundred cattle. ⁹ Also ^(AZ)Conaniah, his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave to the Levites for Passover offerings five thousand from the flock and five hundred cattle.

¹⁰ So the service was prepared, and the priests ^(BA)stood in their places, and the ^(BB)Levites in their divisions, according to the king’s command. ¹¹ And they slaughtered the Passover offerings; and the priests ^(BC)sprinkled the blood with their hands, while the Levites ^(BD)skinned the animals. ¹² Then they removed the burnt offerings that they might give them to the divisions of the fathers’ houses of the lay people, to offer to the Lord, as it is written ^(BE)in the Book of Moses. And so they did with the cattle. ¹³ Also they ^(BF)roasted the Passover offerings with fire according to the ordinance; but the other holy offerings they ^(BG)boiled in pots, in caldrons, and in pans, and divided them quickly among all the lay people. ¹⁴ Then afterward they prepared portions for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron, were busy in offering burnt offerings and fat until night; therefore the Levites prepared portions for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron. ¹⁵ And the singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their places, according to the ^(BH)command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer. Also the gatekeepers ^(BI)were at each gate; they did not have to leave their position, because their brethren the Levites prepared portions for them.

¹⁶ So all the service of the Lord was prepared the same day, to keep the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, according to the command of King Josiah. ¹⁷ And the children of Israel who were present kept the Passover at that time, and the Feast of ^(BJ)Unleavened Bread for seven days. ^18 (BK)There had been no Passover kept in Israel like that since the days of Samuel the prophet; and none of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as Josiah kept, with the priests and the Levites, all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁹ In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah this Passover was kept.

Josiah Dies in Battle^(BL)

^20 (BM)After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against ^(BN)Carchemish by the Euphrates; and Josiah went out against him. ²¹ But he sent messengers to him, saying, “What have I to do with you, king of Judah? I have not come against you this day, but against the house with which I have war; for God commanded me to make haste. Refrain from meddling with God, who is with me, lest He destroy you.” ²² Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but ^(BO)disguised himself so that he might fight with him, and did not heed the words of Necho from the mouth of God. So he came to fight in the Valley of Megiddo.

²³ And the archers shot King Josiah; and the king said to his servants, “Take me away, for I am severely wounded.” ^24 (BP)His servants therefore took him out of that chariot and put him in the second chariot that he had, and they brought him to Jerusalem. So he died, and was buried in one of the tombs of his fathers. And ^(BQ)all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

²⁵ Jeremiah also ^(BR)lamented for ^(BS)Josiah. And to this day ^(BT)all the singing men and the singing women speak of Josiah in their lamentations. ^(BU)They made it a custom in Israel; and indeed they are written in the Laments.

²⁶ Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his goodness, according to what was written in the Law of the Lord, ²⁷ and his deeds from first to last, indeed they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.