2 Chronicles 34
Josiah becomes king, follows God
Josiah was 8 years old when he took the throne, and he reigned for 31 years from Jerusalem. He did what was right in the Existing One’s sight, and followed in his ancestor David’s footsteps, not wavering to the right or left. In the eighth year of his reign while he was still a just a boy, he started seeking his ancestor David’s God, and in the twelfth year he started purging Judah and Jerusalem of its shrines, Asherim, and idol statues. They tore down Baals’ altars while he watched, and he tore down the incense altars above them. He shattered the Asherim and idol statues into pieces, turning them into dust and scattering them over the graves of the people who had sacrificed to them. He also burned the bones of their priests on their altars and purified Judah and Jerusalem. He tore down the altars, turned the Asherim and statues into powder, and destroyed the incense altars all throughout Israel including the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon and as far as Naphtali. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
Josiah repairs God’s temple
In the 18th year of his reign, when he had purified the land and house, he sent Shaphan (Azaliah’s son), Maaseiah (the city’s governor), and Joah (Joahaz’s son, the recorder) to repair his God the Existing One’s house. They went to Hilkiah (the high priest) and gave him the money that had been given to God’s house. (This money was collected by the Levites who stood at the doorway collecting from Manasseh, Ephraim, Israel’s remnant, Judah, Benjamin, and Jerusalem.) They gave it to the people worked in the Existing One’s house and paid the contractors who were repairing and restoring the temple. They gave it to the carpenters and builders to buy quarried stone, timber for binders, and timber for the beams that had gone to ruin under the management of Judah’s former kings. The men worked on it faithfully. The people who oversaw the construction were
Jahath and Obadiah (Levites descended from Merari)
Zechariah and Meshullam (descendants from the Kohathites)
The Levite musicians oversaw the movers and directed everyone who worked there in any capacity, while other Levites served as recorders, officials, or gatekeepers.
Priest discovers Law of Moses
As they were bringing out the money that had been given to the Existing One’s house, Priest Hilkiah found the Book of the Law which the Existing One had given to Moses. He told Shaphan (the secretary), “I found the Book of the Law in the Existing One’s house,” and then gave the book to him. Shaphan brought the book to the king, reporting, “Your servants are following all your orders. They have emptied out the money that was in the Existing One’s house and gave it to the overseers and contractors.” Then Shaphan added, “Also, Priest Hilkiah has given me a book.” Then Shaphan read some it to the king.
When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes and gave an order to Hilkiah, Ahikam (Shaphan’s son), Abdon (Micah’s son), Shaphan (the secretary) and Asaiah (the king’s servant). He told them, “Go ask the Existing One on behalf of me and his people about the things written in this book. The Existing One must be very mad at us because our fathers haven’t kept his orders or followed everything that’s written in this book.”
Prophetess declares ruin
So Hilkiah and the others went to the prophetess Huldah in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter. She was married to Shallum who was Tokhath’s son and Hasrah’s grandson (Hasrah was the wardrobe manager). She told them, “Israel’s God the Existing One says: ‘I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, including all the curses that are written in the book that was read to Judah’s king. That’s because they have forgotten me and have made offerings to other gods, making me angry with their actions. Now my anger will be poured out all over this place and it will not be quenched. But tell Judah’s king that the Existing One says: because you heard my words with a tender heart, humbled yourself before God, tore your clothes, and cried before me, I have also heard you. I’ll reunite you with your forefathers and bring you to your grave peacefully so that you won’t have to witness the disaster that I’ll bring on this place and its inhabitants.’” So they brought the message back to the king.
God honors Josiah
Then the king gathered all of the elders in Judah and Jerusalem and brought them to the Existing One’s house with the priests, Levites, and all the people both great and small. Then he read the Book of the Covenant that had been discovered so everyone could hear it. The king stood in his place and made a pact with the Existing One to follow him, his orders, and his decrees with his entire heart and soul and to carry out the words that were written in that book. Then he made everyone there join in on the pact. So Jerusalem’s inhabitants lived according to the pact of their forefathers’ God. Then Josiah removed all the abominations from the entire Israelite kingdom and made everyone in his kingdom serve the Existing One their God. They never turned away from following the Existing One, the God of their forefathers for as long as Josiah was king.