³ And in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still a young boy, he began to seek out the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem from high places, Asherah poles, idols, and carved and cast images. ⁴ So they tore down the altars for the Baals, and he cut down the incense altars that were above them and smashed the Asherah poles and carved and cast images. And he crushed them to dust and scattered them before the graves of those who sacrificed to them. ⁵ Then he burned the bones of the priests on their altars and so cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. ⁶ In the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, in their ruins all around, ⁷ he broke down the altars, beat Asherah poles and the images into powder, and cut down all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel. Then 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 the Lord his God.

⁹ When they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the keepers of the door, had collected from the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and from all the remnant of Israel, and from all Judah and Benjamin, and from the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ And they gave it to those appointed to do the work in the house of the Lord. And those who were doing the work on the house gave it to repair and restore the house. ¹¹ And they gave it to the craftsmen and builders to acquire quarried stones and timber for joists and beams for the buildings that the kings of Judah had ruined.

¹² So 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, as supervisors. And other Levites, all skillful with musical instruments, ¹³ were over those laborers and supervised all those doing the work in every type of service, and other Levites were scribes, officials, and gatekeepers.

The Book of the Law Found^(A)

¹⁴ When they brought out the money that had been given to the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord from Moses. ¹⁵ Then Hilkiah said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan.

¹⁶ Shaphan brought the book to the king and reported, “Everything that has been designated to your servants, they are doing. ¹⁷ They have given out the money that was in the house of the Lord and have allocated to those who are supervisors and those who are doing the work.” ¹⁸ Then Shaphan the scribe also declared to the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it to the king.

¹⁹ And it happened that when the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his garments. ²⁰ Then the king ordered Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the attendant of the king: ²¹ “Go and seek the Lord on my behalf and on the behalf of the remnant in Israel and Judah concerning what is written in the book that was found, for the wrath of the Lord that is poured out on us is great because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do everything that is written in this book.”

²² So Hilkiah and those with the king went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, son of Hasrah, who kept the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter, and they spoke to her about this.

²³ And she said to them, “So says the Lord God of Israel: Speak to the man who sent you all to Me, ²⁴ Thus says the Lord: I am bringing disaster on this place and all who dwell in it, even all the curses that are written in the book that they read before the king of Judah. ²⁵ Because they have abandoned Me and offered sacrifices to other gods in order to provoke Me with everything they have made with their hands, so My rage will be poured out on this place, and it will not be quenched. ²⁶ And the king of Judah who sent you all to seek out the Lord, so you will speak to him: So says the Lord God of Israel: The words that you have heard, ²⁷ because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and those who dwell here, and you have brought yourself low before Me and torn your clothes and wept before Me, I have heard you, declares the Lord. ²⁸ I am bringing you to be with your fathers, and you will be brought to your grave in peace, and your eyes will not see all the disaster that I am bringing on this place and on those who dwell here.”

So they returned this word to the king.

Josiah Restores True Worship

²⁹ Then the king sent for all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. ³⁰ Then the king went up to the house of the Lord with men from Judah and those living in Jerusalem, even the priests and Levites and all the people from the greatest to the least, and he read within their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that was found in the house of the Lord. ³¹ Then the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant written in this book.

³² Then he appointed all who were in Jerusalem and Benjamin to carry this out, and those living in Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

³³ So Josiah took away all the detestable things from the lands that belonged to the people of Israel and caused all who were found in Israel to serve their Lord God. And all his days they did not turn away from the Lord God of their fathers.

Josiah Celebrates the Passover^(A)

35 Josiah kept a Passover for the Lord in Jerusalem; they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month. ² He appointed priests for their duties and encouraged them in their service to the house of the Lord. ³ And he said to the Levites who gave insight to all Israel and were consecrated to the Lord, “Set the holy ark in the house that Solomon, the son of David and king of Israel, built. You should not carry it on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and His people Israel. ⁴ Prepare yourselves according to your fathers’ houses by your divisions, as instructed in the writing of David, king of Israel, and the document of Solomon his son.

⁵ “And stand in the Holy Place according to the divisions of the fathers’ households of your brothers, the laypeople, and according to the Levites, by division of a father’s household. ⁶ Then slaughter the Passover lamb and consecrate yourselves and prepare for your brothers to do according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.”

⁷ Josiah contributed to the laypeople, as Passover offerings for all who were present, lambs and young goats from the flock to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bulls; these were from the king’s possession.

⁸ His officials contributed willingly to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the chief officers of the house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings two thousand six hundred lambs and three hundred bulls. ⁹ Konaniah, his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad, officers of the Levites, gave to the Levites for the Passover offerings five thousand lambs and five hundred bulls.

¹⁰ When the service was prepared, the priests stood in their places and the Levites in their divisions, according to the king’s command. ¹¹ And they slaughtered the Passover offerings, and the priests sprinkled the blood given to them while the Levites skinned animals. ¹² And they set aside the burnt offering to distribute according to each house of the fathers for the people to bring near to the Lord, as written in the Book of Moses. And they did the same with the bulls. ¹³ And they cooked the Passover lamb with fire according to the rule, and they cooked the holy offerings in pots, jars, bowls, and quickly brought them to all the people. ¹⁴ Afterward they prepared the offerings for them and the priests because the priests, the sons of Aaron, offered the burnt offering and fat portions until night. So the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron.

¹⁵ The singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their places according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer. The gatekeepers were at each of the gates; they did not need to leave their service, for their brothers the Levites made preparations for them.

¹⁶ So all the service of the Lord was carried out that day to have the Passover, and to offer the burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord according to the command of King Josiah. ¹⁷ And the sons of Israel who were present had the Passover at that time and the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days. ¹⁸ And no Passover had been made like this in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. And none of the kings of Israel had performed a Passover like Josiah had done. And the priests and Levites and all Judah and Israel were present along with those living in Jerusalem. ¹⁹ In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah this Passover was performed.

The Death of Josiah^(B)

²⁰ After all this when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt went up to war in Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to meet him. ²¹ And Necho sent messengers to him saying, “What is there between you and me, king of Judah? I am not against you this day, but against the house with which I am at war. And God has commanded that I hurry. Refrain from being against God who is with me so that He does not destroy you.”

²² But Josiah did not turn away from him for he went to battle against him disguised. He did not listen to the words of Necho that came from the mouth of God, but he came to battle in the plain of Megiddo.

²³ So the archers shot King Josiah, and the king said to his servants, “Take me away for I am severely wounded.” ²⁴ Then his servants took him from the chariot, and they set him in a second chariot, and they brought him to Jerusalem. He died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

²⁵ And Jeremiah composed a dirge for Josiah, and all the male and female singers speak of Josiah in their laments to this day. They set them as a statute over Israel. They are written in the Laments.

²⁶ And the remainder of the acts of Josiah, his deeds and covenant faithfulness, according to what is written in the Law of the Lord, ²⁷ and his acts from beginning to end are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.

Jehoahaz, King of Judah^(C)

36 Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and made him king in the place of his father in Jerusalem.