1 Josiah 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 eyes of Jehovah, 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 young, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the groves, the graven images, and the molten images.
4 They broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and the incense altars which were above them he cut down; and the groves, the graven images, and the molten images he broke in pieces, and pulverized them and scattered them on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.
5 He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem;
6 and also in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, as far as Naphtali and all around; with chopping tools.
7 When he had broken down the altars and the groves, had beaten the carved images into powder, and cut down all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.
8 In the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of Jehovah his God.
9 And when they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered 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 remnant of Israel, from all Judah and Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
10 And they gave it into the hand of the workmen who had the oversight of the house of Jehovah; and they gave it to the workmen who worked in the house of Jehovah, to repair and restore the house.
11 They gave it to the craftsmen and builders to buy hewn stone and timber for couplings, and to make beams for 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 were teaching the instruments of song,
13 were over the burden bearers, and were overseers of all who did work in any kind of service. 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 Jehovah, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of Jehovah 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 Jehovah. And Hilkiah gave the 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 gathered the money that was found in the house of Jehovah, and have given it into the hand of the overseers and the workmen.
18 Then Shaphan the scribe reported to the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest has given me a Book. And Shaphan read it before the king.
19 And it came about, when the king heard the Words of the Law, that he tore his clothes.
20 And the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying,
21 Go, inquire of Jehovah for me, and for those who are left in Israel and Judah, concerning the Words of the Book that has been found; for great is the wrath of Jehovah that has been poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the Word of Jehovah, to do according to all that is written in this Book.
22 So Hilkiah and those from the king went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe. (She was living in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter.) And they spoke to her regarding this.
23 And she answered them, Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel, Tell the man who has sent you to Me,
24 Thus says Jehovah: Behold, I am bringing 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 burned incense to other gods, to provoke 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 inquire of Jehovah, thus you shall speak to him, Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel, whose Words you have heard:
27 Because your heart has been 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 Jehovah.
28 Behold, I am gathering you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the evil which I am bringing upon this place and its inhabitants. So they brought back word to the king.
29 Then the king sent and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.
30 And the king went up to the house of Jehovah, 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 read in their ears all the Words of the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the house of Jehovah.
31 And the king stood in his place and made a covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to do the Words of the covenant that were written in this Book.
32 And he caused all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.
33 And Josiah removed all the abominations from all the land of the children of Israel, and caused all who were found in Israel to serve, being subject unto Jehovah their God. All his days they did not depart from following Jehovah the God of their fathers.