Josiah Succeeds Amon

22 ^(A)Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of ^(B)Bozkath. ² He did what was right in the sight of the Lord and walked ^[a]entirely in the way of his father David, and did not ^(C)turn aside to the right or to the left.

³ Now ^(D)in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah the son of Meshullam the scribe, to the house of the Lord, saying, ⁴ “^(E)Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, and have him ^[b]count all the money brought into the house of the Lord, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people. ^5 (F)And have them hand it over to the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord, and have them give it to the workmen who are in the house of the Lord to repair the ^[c]damage to the house: ⁶ to the carpenters, the builders, the masons, and for buying timber and cut stone to repair the house. ⁷ However, ^(G)no accounting shall be made with them for the money handed over to them, because they deal honestly.”

The Lost Book

⁸ Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “^(H)I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, who read it. ⁹ Then Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought back word to the king and said, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have handed it over to the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord.” ¹⁰ Moreover, Shaphan the scribe informed the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it in the presence of the king.

¹¹ When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, ^(I)he tore his clothes. ¹² Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, ^(J)Ahikam the son of Shaphan, ^[d](K)Achbor the son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, ¹³ “Go, inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found, for ^(L)the wrath of the Lord that burns against us is great, because our fathers did not listen to the words of this book, to act in accordance with everything that is written regarding us.”

Huldah Predicts

¹⁴ So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of ^[e](M)Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (and she lived in Jerusalem in the ^(N)Second Quarter); and they spoke to her. ¹⁵ Then she said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Tell the man who sent you to Me, ¹⁶ “This is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, I am going to ^(O)bring disaster on this place and on its inhabitants, all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read. ^17 (P)Since they have abandoned Me and have burned incense to other gods so that they may provoke Me to anger with all the work of their hands, My wrath burns against this place, and it shall not be quenched.’” ¹⁸ But to ^(Q)the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord, this is what you shall say to him: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Regarding the words which you have heard, ^19 (R)since your heart was tender and ^(S)you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become ^(T)an object of horror and a ^(U)curse, and you have ^(V)torn your clothes and wept before Me, I have indeed heard you,’ declares the Lord.” ²⁰ Therefore, behold, I am going to gather you to your fathers, and ^(W)you will be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes will not look at all the devastation that I am going to bring on this place.’” So they brought back word to the king.

Josiah’s Covenant

23 ^(A)Then the king sent messengers, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. ² And the king went up to the house of the Lord and every man of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, the prophets, and all the people, from the small to the great; and ^(B)he read in their ^[a]presence all the words of the Book of the Covenant ^(C)which was found in the house of the Lord. ³ And ^(D)the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, ^(E)to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments, His provisions, and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people ^[b]entered into the covenant.

Reforms under Josiah

⁴ Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, ^(F)the priests of the second order, and the ^[c]doorkeepers ^(G)to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the utensils that had been made for Baal, for ^[d]Asherah, and for all the heavenly ^[e]lights; and ^(H)he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley, and carried their ashes to Bethel. ⁵ Then he did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem, as well as those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the remaining ^(I)heavenly ^[f]lights. ⁶ He also brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord outside Jerusalem to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and ^(J)ground it to dust, and ^(K)threw its dust on the graves of the ^[g]common people. ⁷ And he tore down the cubicles of the ^(L)male cult prostitutes which were in the house of the Lord, where ^(M)the women were weaving ^[h]hangings for the Asherah. ⁸ Then he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from ^(N)Geba to Beersheba; and he tore down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one’s left at the city gate. ⁹ Nevertheless ^(O)the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. ^10 (P)He also defiled ^[i]Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, ^(Q)so that no one would make his son or his daughter pass through the fire for ^(R)Molech. ¹¹ And he did away with the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the ^(S)sun, at the entrance of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the official, which was at the ^[j]covered courtyard; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. ¹² The king also tore down ^(T)the altars that were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and ^(U)the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courtyards of the house of the Lord; and he ^[k]smashed them there and ^(V)threw their dust into the brook Kidron. ¹³ And the king defiled the high places that were opposite Jerusalem, which were on the right of ^(W)the mount of destruction which Solomon the king of Israel had built for ^(X)Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for ^(Y)Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the sons of Ammon. ^14 (Z)He also smashed to pieces the memorial stones and cut down the ^[l]Asherim, and ^(AA)filled their places with human bones.

¹⁵ Furthermore, ^(AB)the altar that was at Bethel and the ^(AC)high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who misled Israel into sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he tore down. Then he ^(AD)burned the high place, ground the remains to dust, and burned the Asherah. ¹⁶ Now when Josiah turned, he saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent men and took the bones from the graves, and burned them on the altar and defiled it ^(AE)in accordance with the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, the one who proclaimed these things. ¹⁷ Then he said, “What is this gravestone there that I see?” And the men of the city told him, “^(AF)It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel.” ¹⁸ And he said, “Leave him alone; no one is to disturb his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed ^(AG)with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria. ¹⁹ Then Josiah also removed all the houses of the high places which were ^(AH)in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had constructed, ^[m]provoking the Lord to anger; and he did to them ^[n]just as he had done in Bethel. ²⁰ And ^(AI)he slaughtered all the priests of the high places who were there on the altars, and burned human bones on them; then he returned to Jerusalem.

Passover Reinstituted

²¹ Then the king commanded all the people, saying, “^(AJ)Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God ^(AK)as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” ^22 (AL)Truly such a Passover had not been celebrated since the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. ²³ But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.

²⁴ Moreover, Josiah removed ^(AM)the mediums, the spiritists, the ^[o](AN)household idols, ^(AO)the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, ^(AP)so that he might ^[p]fulfill the words of the Law which were written ^(AQ)in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. ²⁵ Before him there was no king ^(AR)like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart, all his soul, and all his might, in conformity to all the Law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.

²⁶ Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath with which His anger burned against Judah, ^(AS)because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. ²⁷ And the Lord said, “I will also remove Judah from My sight, ^(AT)just as I have removed Israel. And ^(AU)I will reject this city which I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the ^[q]temple of which I said, ‘My name shall be there!’”

Jehoahaz Succeeds Josiah

²⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ^29 (AV)In his days ^(AW)Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria at the river Euphrates. And King Josiah went to meet him, and when Pharaoh Neco saw him he killed him at ^(AX)Megiddo. ^30 (AY)His servants carried ^[r]his body in a chariot from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. ^(AZ)Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.

^31 (BA)Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was ^(BB)Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ³² He did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(BC)in accordance with all that his forefathers had done. ³³ And ^(BD)Pharaoh Neco imprisoned him at ^(BE)Riblah in the land of ^(BF)Hamath, so that he would not reign in Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a fine of ^[s]a hundred talents of silver and ^[t]a talent of gold.

Jehoiakim Made King by Pharaoh

³⁴ Then Pharaoh Neco made ^(BG)Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of his father Josiah, and he ^(BH)changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz and ^[u](BI)brought him to Egypt, and he died there. ³⁵ So Jehoiakim ^(BJ)gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh, but he assessed the land in order to give the money at the ^[v]command of Pharaoh. He collected the silver and gold from the people of the land, each according to his assessment, to give to Pharaoh Neco.

^36 (BK)Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. ³⁷ He did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(BL)in accordance with all that his forefathers had done.

Josiah Succeeds Amon in Judah

34 ^(A)Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. ^2 (B)He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of his father David and did not turn aside to the right or the left. ³ For in the eighth year of his reign while he was still a youth, he began to ^(C)seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began ^(D)to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the ^[a]Asherim, the carved images, and the cast metal images. ⁴ They tore down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and he chopped down ^(E)the incense altars that were high above them; also he broke in pieces the Asherim, the carved images, and the cast metal images, and ^(F)ground them to powder, and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. ⁵ Then ^(G)he burned the bones of the priests on their altars and purged Judah and Jerusalem. ^6 (H)In the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, in their surrounding spaces, ⁷ he also tore down the altars and ^(I)crushed the ^[b]Asherim and the carved images into powder, and chopped down all the incense altars throughout the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Josiah Repairs the Temple

^8 (J)Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, Maaseiah ^(K)an official of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the secretary, to repair the house of the Lord his God. ⁹ They came to ^(L)Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the ^[c]doorkeepers, had collected ^[d]from ^(M)Manasseh and Ephraim, and from all the remnant of Israel, from all Judah and Benjamin and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ Then they handed it over to the workmen who had the oversight of the house of the Lord, and the workmen who were working in the house of the Lord ^[e]used it to restore and repair the house. ¹¹ They in turn gave it to the carpenters and the builders to buy quarried stone and timber for couplings, and to make beams for the houses ^(N)which the kings of Judah had let go to ruin. ^12 (O)The men did the work faithfully with foremen over them to supervise: Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites of the sons of Merari, Zechariah and Meshullam of the sons of the Kohathites, and ^(P)the Levites, all who were skillful with musical instruments. ¹³ They were also in charge of ^(Q)the burden bearers, and supervised all the workmen from job to job; and some of the Levites were scribes, and officials, and gatekeepers.

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, ^(R)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 ^[f]reported further word to the king, saying, “Everything that was ^[g]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 ^(S)the words of the Law, ^(T)he tore his clothes. ²⁰ Then the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, ^[h]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 ^(U)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.”

Huldah, the Prophetess, Speaks

²² So Hilkiah and those ^[i]whom the king had told went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of ^[j]Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, the keeper of the wardrobe (she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter); and they spoke to her regarding this. ²³ Then she said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Tell the man who sent you to Me, ²⁴ this is what the Lord says: “Behold, ^(V)I am bringing ^[k]evil on this place and on its inhabitants, all ^(W)the curses written in the book which they have read in the presence of the king of Judah. ^25 (X)Since they have abandoned Me and have burned incense to other gods, so that they may provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands, My wrath will be poured out on this place and it will not be quenched.”’ ²⁶ But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord, this is what you shall say to him: ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: In regard to the words which you have heard, ²⁷ “^(Y)Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and its inhabitants, and because you humbled yourself before Me, tore your clothes, and wept before Me, I have indeed heard you,” declares the Lord. ²⁸ “Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace, so your eyes will not see all the evil which I am bringing on this place and its inhabitants.”’” And they brought back word to the king.

^29 (Z)Then the king sent word and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. ³⁰ The king went up to the house of the Lord ^[l]with ^(AA)all the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests, the Levites, and all the people, from the greatest to the least; and he read in their ^[m]presence all the words of the Book of the Covenant which was found in the house of the Lord.

Josiah’s Good Reign

³¹ Then the king ^(AB)stood ^[n]in his place and ^(AC)made a covenant before the Lord to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments, His testimonies, and His statutes with all his heart and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that are written in this book. ³² Furthermore, he made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin stand with him. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem acted in accordance with the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. ³³ Josiah ^(AD)removed all the abominations from all the lands belonging to the sons of Israel, and made all who were present in Israel serve the Lord their God. Throughout his ^[o]lifetime they did not turn from following the Lord God of their fathers.

The Passover Held Again

35 Then Josiah ^(A)celebrated the Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem, and ^(B)they slaughtered the Passover animals on the fourteenth day of the first month. ² He appointed the priests to their offices and ^(C)encouraged them in the service of the house of the Lord. ³ He also said to ^(D)the Levites who taught all Israel and who were holy to the Lord, “Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built; ^(E)it will not be a burden on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and His people Israel. ^4 (F)Prepare yourselves by your fathers’ households in your divisions, according to the writing of David king of Israel and ^(G)according to the writing of his son Solomon. ⁵ Furthermore, ^(H)stand in the holy place according to the sections of the fathers’ households of your countrymen, the ^[a]lay people, and according to the Levites, by division of a father’s household. ⁶ Now ^(I)slaughter the Passover animals, ^(J)keep one another consecrated, and prepare for your countrymen to act in accordance with the word of the Lord by Moses.”

⁷ Josiah contributed to the lay people, to all who were present, flocks of lambs and young goats, all for the Passover offerings, numbering thirty thousand, plus three thousand bulls; these were from the king’s property. ⁸ His officers also contributed a ^[b]voluntary offering to the people, the priests, and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, ^(K)the officials of the house of God, gave the priests 2,600 from the flocks and three hundred bulls, for the Passover offerings. ^9 (L)Conaniah also, and his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, the officers of the Levites, contributed five thousand from the flocks and five hundred bulls to the Levites for the Passover offerings.

¹⁰ So the service was prepared, and ^(M)the priests stood at their positions and the Levites by their divisions according to the king’s command. ^11 [c](N)They slaughtered the Passover animals, and while ^(O)the priests ^[d]sprinkled the blood received from their hand, ^(P)the Levites skinned the animals. ¹² Then they removed the burnt offerings so that they might give them to the sections of the fathers’ households of the lay people to present to the Lord, as it is written in the Book of Moses. They did this with the bulls as well. ¹³ So ^(Q)they roasted the Passover animals on the fire according to the ordinance, and they boiled ^(R)the holy things in pots, in kettles, and in pans and carried them quickly to all the lay people. ¹⁴ Afterward they prepared for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron, were offering the burnt offerings and the fat until night; so the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron. ¹⁵ The singers, the sons of Asaph, were also at their positions ^(S)according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer; and ^(T)the gatekeepers at each gate did not have to leave their service, because their kinsmen the Levites prepared for them.

¹⁶ So all the service of the Lord was prepared on that day to celebrate the Passover, and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord according to the command of King Josiah. ¹⁷ And ^(U)the sons of Israel who were present celebrated the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days. ^18 (V)There had not been a Passover celebrated like it in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet; nor had any of the kings of Israel celebrated such a Passover as Josiah did with the priests, the Levites, all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁹ In the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign this Passover was celebrated.

Josiah Dies in Battle

^20 (W)After all this, when Josiah had set the ^[e]temple in order, Neco king of Egypt came up to wage war at ^(X)Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to engage him. ²¹ But ^[f]Neco sent messengers to him, saying, “^[g](Y)What business do you have with me, King of Judah? I am not coming against you today, but against the house with which I am at war, and God has told me to hurry. For your own sake, stop interfering with God who is with me, so that He does not destroy you.” ²² However, Josiah would not turn ^[h]away from him, but ^(Z)disguised himself in order to fight against him; nor did he listen to the words of Neco ^(AA)from the mouth of God, but he came to wage war on the plain of ^(AB)Megiddo. ²³ The archers shot King Josiah, and the king said to his servants, “Take me away, for I am badly wounded.” ²⁴ So his servants took him out of the chariot and carried him on the second chariot which he had, and brought him to Jerusalem ^[i]where he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. ^(AC)All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. ²⁵ Then ^(AD)Jeremiah chanted a song of mourning for Josiah. And all the male and female singers speak about Josiah in their songs of mourning to this day. And they made them an ordinance in Israel; behold, they are also written in the Lamentations. ²⁶ Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his deeds of devotion as written in the Law of the Lord, ²⁷ and his acts, the first to the last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.