34 ¶ Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years.

² And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD and walked in the ways of David, his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left.

³ For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David, his father; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places and the groves and the graven images and the molten images.

⁴ And they broke down the altars of the Baalim in his presence; and the images of the sun, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves and the graven images and the molten images, he broke in pieces and made dust of them and scattered it upon the graves of those that had sacrificed unto them.

⁵ And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.

⁶ He did the same in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their swords round about.

⁷ And when he had broken down the altars and the groves and had beaten the graven images into powder and cut down all the idols of the sun throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.

⁸ ¶ Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the house, he sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah, the son of Joahaz, the writer of chronicles, to repair the house of the LORD his God.

⁹ And they went to Hilkiah, the high priest, and delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept the doors had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim and of all the remnant of Israel and of all Judah and Benjamin, having then returned to Jerusalem.

¹⁰ And they put it in the hand of those that did the work, that had the oversight of the house of the LORD, and they gave it to the workmen that wrought in the house of the LORD, to repair and restore the house.

¹¹ They also gave to the craftsmen and builders, to buy hewn stone, and timber for couplings, and for the woodwork of the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed.

¹² And the men did the work faithfully, and the overseers of them were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of Kohath, to set it forward; and others of the Levites, all those with understanding in instruments of music.

¹³ Also they were over the bearers of burdens and were overseers of all that wrought the work in any manner of service; and of the Levites there were scribes, and officers, and porters.

¹⁴ ¶ And when they brought out the money that had been brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah, the priest, found the book of the law of the LORD given by the hand of Moses.

¹⁵ And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan, the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan.

¹⁶ And Shaphan carried the book to the king and brought the king word back again, saying, Thy slaves have fulfilled all that was committed unto them to do.

¹⁷ And they have gathered together the money that was found in the house of the LORD and have delivered it into the hand of those who were commissioned and to the hand of the workmen.

¹⁸ Then Shaphan, the scribe, told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest, has given me a book. And Shaphan read in it before the king.

¹⁹ And when the king heard the words of the law, he rent his clothes.

²⁰ And the king commanded Hilkiah and Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Abdon, the son of Micah, and Shaphan, the scribe, and Asaiah, a slave of the king’s, saying,

²¹ Go, enquire of the LORD for me and for the remnant of Israel and of Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found, for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do according to all the things that are written in this book.

²² Then Hilkiah and those of the king went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum, the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the house of doctrine); and they spoke to her to that effect.

²³ And she answered them, The LORD God of Israel hath said thus, Tell the man that sent you to me,

²⁴ that thus hath the LORD said, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place and upon its inhabitants all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah

²⁵ because they have forsaken me and have sacrificed unto other gods, provoking me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore, my wrath shall be poured out upon this place and shall not be quenched.

²⁶ But as for the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire of the LORD, so shall ye say unto him, Thus hath the LORD God of Israel said, Because thou hast heard the words of the book,

²⁷ and thy heart became tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, hearing his words against this place and against its inhabitants and didst humble thyself before me and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me, I also have heard thee, saith the LORD.

²⁸ Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace; neither shall thy eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought the king word again.

²⁹ ¶ Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.

³⁰ And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and with him all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the Levites and all the people, great and small; and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the LORD.

³¹ And the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and that they would keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and with all their soul to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book.

³² And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

³³ And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the lands that pertained to the sons of Israel and made all that were present in Israel serve the LORD their God only. And all his days they did not depart from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.