2Ch 34 | ABEn | STEP | [ 2 was a son 3 being 4 eight 5 years old 1 Josiah] in his taking reign, and thirty and one year he reigned in Jerusalem.

2 Chronicles 34

CHAPTER 34 Josiah Reigns in Judah

1 [²was a son ³being ⁴eight ⁵years old ¹Josiah] in his taking reign, and thirty and one year he reigned in Jerusalem. 2 And he did the upright thing before the lord, and he went in the ways of David his father, and he did not turn aside right nor left. 3 And in the eighth year of his kingdom (and he was still a boy) he began to seek the lord God of David his father. And in the twelfth year of his kingdom he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, and of the sacred groves, and of the shrines, and of the carved images, and of the molten images. 4 And he razed the things before his face -- altars, the ones to the Baals; and the high places, the ones above them. And he cut down the sacred groves, and the carved images. And the molten images he broke and ground fine, and tossed their dust upon the face of the tombs of the ones sacrificing to them. 5 And the bones of the priests he incinerated upon their altars, and he cleansed Judah and Jerusalem, 6 and among the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, and Naphtali, and the places round about them. 7 And he tore down the altars, and the sacred groves; and the idols he cut in fine pieces, and all the high places he cut in pieces from all the land of Israel, and he returned to Jerusalem. 8 And in the eighteenth year of his kingdom, when he urged [⁶to be cleansed ¹the ²land ³and ⁴the ⁵house], he sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah ruler of the city, and Joah son of Joahaz the recorder, to fortify the house of the lord his God. 9 And they came to Helkiah the [²priest ¹great], and they gave the money that was carried into the house of God, which [⁶gathered ¹the ²Levites ³guarding ⁴the ⁵gate] by the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of the rulers, and of all the rest in Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin, and of the ones living in Jerusalem. 10 And they put it into the hand of the ones doing the works, of the ones placed in the house of the lord. And they gave it to the ones doing the works in the house of the lord to repair and to strengthen the house. 11 And they gave it to the fabricators and to the builders to buy [²stones ¹quadrangular], and wood for beams to roof the houses which [³utterly destroyed ¹the kings ²of Judah]. 12 And the men were doing in trust the things over the works. And over them overseers were established -- Jahath and Obadiah the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of Kohath -- to oversee; and all other Levites, and all perceiving to play with instruments of odes, 13 and over the load carriers, and knowers concerning all of the ones doing the works in effort; and others of the Levites -- scribes and judges and gatekeepers.

Helkiah Finds a Scroll of the Law

14 And in their bringing forth the money coming in as income into the house of the lord, [⁴found ¹Helkiah ²the ³priest] the scroll of the law of the lord, the one by the hand of Moses. 15 And Helkiah responded and said to Shaphan the scribe, [²the scroll ³of the law ¹I found] in the house of the lord. And Helkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan. 16 And Shaphan carried the scroll to the king, and he gave yet to the king a word, saying, All the money was rendered into the hand of your servants of the ones doing the work. 17 And they cast in a furnace the silver found in the house of the lord, and they put it into the hand of the overseers, and into the hand of the ones doing the work. 18 And [⁴reported ¹Shaphan ²the ³scribe] to the king, saying, [⁵a scroll ⁴gave ⁶to me ¹Helkiah ²the ³priest]. And [²read ³it ¹Shaphan] before the king. 19 And it came to pass as [³heard ¹the ²king] the words of the law, that he tore his garments. 20 And [³gave charge ¹the ²king] to Helkiah, and to Ahikam son of Shaphan, and to Abdon son of Micah, and to Shaphan the scribe, and to Asaiah servant of the king, saying, 21 Go, seek the lord for me, and for all the ones left in Israel and Judah, concerning the words of the scroll of the one being found! for great is the rage of the lord which burns away against us, because [²did not ³listen ¹our fathers] concerning the word of the lord, to do according to all the things being written in this scroll.

Huldah Prophesies Calamity

22 And Helkiah went, and the ones who told the king, to Huldah the prophetess, wife of Shallum, son of Tikvath, son of Hazrah the keeper of the cloaks; and she dwelt in Jerusalem in the second section. And they spoke to her according to these things. 23 And she said to them, Thus said the lord God of Israel, Say to the man, to the one sending you to me, 24 Thus says the lord, Behold, I bring evils upon this place, and upon the ones dwelling in it, of all the words being written in the scroll being read before the king of Judah. 25 Because they abandoned me, and burnt incense [²gods ¹to alien], that they should provoke me to anger by all the works of their hands. And [²was burned ¹my rage] against this place, and it will not be extinguished. 26 And concerning the king of Judah, the one sending you to seek the lord, Thus shall you say to him, Thus says the lord God of Israel, Of the words which you heard, 27 and because [²feels shame ¹your heart], and you humbled yourself in front of me in your hearing my words against this place, and against the ones dwelling in it; and you were humbled before me, and tore your garments, and wept before me; even I heard, says the lord. 28 Behold, I add you to your fathers, and you shall be added to your grave in peace. And [²shall not see ¹your eyes] all the evils which I bring upon this place, and upon the ones dwelling it. And they brought back [²to the ³king ¹the word]. 29 And [³sent ¹the ²king] and brought together the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 30 And [³ascended ¹the ²king] into the house of the lord, and all Judah, and the ones dwelling in Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people from small unto great. And he read in their ears all the words of the scroll of the covenant being found in the house of the lord. 31 And [³stood ¹the ²king] upon the column, and he ordained a covenant before the lord, to go before the lord, to guard his commandments, and his testimonies, and his orders, with the entire heart, and with the entire soul, so as to observe the words of the covenant having been written upon this scroll. 32 And he established all the ones being found in Jerusalem, and in Judah, and Benjamin. And [⁵did ¹the ²ones dwelling ³in ⁴Jerusalem] according to the covenant of the lord God of their fathers. 33 And Josiah removed all the abominations from out of all the land, which was of the sons of Israel. And he made all the ones being found in Jerusalem and in Israel serve to the lord their God all his days. He did not turn aside from following after the lord God of his fathers.