⁴ “Go up to Hilkiah^(A) the high priest and have him get ready the money that has been brought into the temple of the Lord, which the doorkeepers have collected^(B) from the people. ⁵ Have them entrust it to the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple. And have these men pay the workers who repair^(C) the temple of the Lord— ⁶ the carpenters, the builders and the masons. Also have them purchase timber and dressed stone to repair the temple.^{(D) 7} But they need not account for the money entrusted to them, because they are honest in their dealings.”^(E)

⁸ Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law^(F) in the temple of the Lord.” He gave it to Shaphan, who read it. ⁹ Then Shaphan the secretary went to the king and reported to him: “Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the Lord and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple.” ¹⁰ Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.^(G)

¹¹ When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law,^(H) he tore his robes. ¹² He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam^(I) son of Shaphan, Akbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant:^{(J) 13} “Go and inquire^(K) of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger^(L) that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.”

¹⁴ Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Akbor, Shaphan and Asaiah went to speak to the prophet^(M) Huldah, who was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the New Quarter.

⁴ The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers^(A) to remove^(B) from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel.

²⁴ Furthermore, Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists,^(A) the household gods,^(B) the idols and all the other detestable^(C) things seen in Judah and Jerusalem. This he did to fulfill the requirements of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the temple of the Lord.