2 Kings 22:8-20

Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law

8And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found athe Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. 9And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord.” 10Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.

11When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, bhe tore his clothes. 12And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and cAhikam the son of Shaphan, and dAchbor the son of eMicaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, 13Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is fthe wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

14So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of gTikvah, son of hHarhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in ithe Second Quarter), and they talked with her. 15And she said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, 16Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. 17 jBecause they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore kmy wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. 18But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, 19 lbecause your heart was penitent, and you mhumbled yourself before the Lord, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become na desolation and oa curse, and you phave torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. 20Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and qyou shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.’” And they brought back word to the king.

2 Kings 23:1-25

Josiah’s Reforms

1 rThen the king sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him. 2And the king went up to the house of the Lord, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And she read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant tthat had been found in the house of the Lord. 3And the king stood uby the pillar and vmade a covenant before the Lord, wto walk after 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 this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant.

4And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests xof the second order and the keepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels made for yBaal, for zAsherah, and for all the host of heaven. aaHe burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5And he deposed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and the moon and the constellations aband all the host of the heavens. 6And he brought out acthe Asherah from the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, adand burned it at the brook Kidron aeand beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves afof the common people. 7And he broke down the houses of agthe male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the Lord, ahwhere the women wove hangings for aithe Asherah. 8And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings, from ajGeba to Beersheba. And he broke 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 gate of the city. 9 akHowever, the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. 10And he defiled alTopheth, which is amin the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, anthat no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to aoMolech.
Hebrew might cause his son or daughter to pass through the fire for Molech
11And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts.
The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
And he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.
12And the altars aron the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars asthat Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, he pulled down and broke in pieces
Hebrew  pieces from there
and cast the dust of them auinto the brook Kidron.
13And the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of avthe mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for awAshtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for axChemosh the abomination of Moab, and for ayMilcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 14And he broke in pieces the azpillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with the bones of men.

15Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected baby Jeroboam the son of Nebat, bbwho made Israel to sin, bcthat altar with the high place he pulled down and burned,
Septuagint broke in pieces its stones
reducing it to dust. He also burned the Asherah.
16And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it, beaccording to the word of the Lord that the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things. 17Then he said, “What is that monument that I see?” And the men of the city told him, bf“It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted
Hebrew called
these things that you have done against the altar at Bethel.”
18And he said, “Let him be; let no man move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones bhof the prophet who came out of Samaria. 19And Josiah removed all the shrines also of the high places that were biin the cities of Samaria, which kings of Israel had made, provoking the Lord to anger. He did to them according to all that he had done at Bethel. 20And bjhe sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, bkand burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Josiah Restores the Passover

21And the king commanded all the people, blKeep the Passover to the Lord your God, bmas it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 bnFor no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. 23But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem.

24Moreover, Josiah put away bothe mediums and the necromancers and bpthe household gods and bqthe idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish brthe words of the law that were written in the book bsthat Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. 25 btBefore him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.

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