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2 Chronicles 34:1-33 — Josiah's Reforms

2Chr.34.1-33

¹Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. ²He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in the ways of David his father; he did not turn aside to the right or to the left. ³In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherah poles, the carved images, and the cast images. ⁴They tore down the altars of the Baals before him, and he cut down the incense altars that were above them. He shattered the Asherah poles, the carved images, and the cast images, crushed them to dust, and scattered it over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. ⁵He burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and so he cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. ⁶And in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, even as far as Naphtali, in their ruins all around, ⁷he tore down the altars and the Asherah poles, crushed the carved images to powder, and cut down all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem. ⁸In the eighteenth year of his reign, after cleansing the land and the house, he sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah son of Joahaz the recorder to repair the house of the LORD his God. ⁹They came to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the keepers of the threshold, had gathered from Manasseh and Ephraim, from all the remnant of Israel, and from all Judah and Benjamin; and they returned to Jerusalem. ¹⁰They placed it in the hands of the overseers of the work in the house of the LORD, and they gave it to the workers who were laboring in the house of the LORD to restore and repair the house. ¹¹They gave it to the craftsmen and the builders to buy cut stone and timber for couplings and for beams for the buildings that the kings of Judah had damaged. ¹²The men did the work faithfully. Over them were appointed Jahath and Obadiah the Levites, from the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, from the sons of the Kohathites, to direct the work. The Levites, all of whom were skilled with musical instruments, ¹³were over the burden-bearers and supervised all who did the work in every kind of service. Some of the Levites were scribes, officials, and gatekeepers. ¹⁴While they were bringing out the money that had been brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD given through Moses . ¹⁵Hilkiah 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. ¹⁶Then Shaphan brought the book to the king and reported further to the king, saying, 'Your servants are doing all that was placed in their hands.' ¹⁷They have paid out the money found in the house of the LORD and have put it into the hands of the overseers and the workers. ¹⁸And Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, 'Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.' And Shaphan read from it before the king. ¹⁹When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes. ²⁰Then the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king's servant: ²¹Go, inquire of the LORD for me and for those who remain in Israel and in Judah concerning the words of the book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that has been poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD by doing all that is written in this book. ²²So Hilkiah and those whom the king had sent went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum son of Tokhath, son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter , and they spoke to her accordingly. ²³And she said to them, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Tell the man who sent you to me,' ²⁴'Thus says the LORD: Behold, I am bringing disaster on this place and on its inhabitants, all the curses written in the book that they read before the king of Judah, ²⁵because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods, so as to provoke me with all the works of their hands. Therefore my wrath shall be poured out on this place, and it will not be quenched. ²⁶But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, you shall say this to him: Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the words that you have heard: ²⁷Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and against its inhabitants, and because you humbled yourself before me, tore your clothes, and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the LORD. ²⁸Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I am bringing on this place and on its inhabitants.' So they brought back this answer to the king. ²⁹Then the king sent and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. ³⁰And the king went up to the house of the LORD with all the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests, the Levites, and all the people, from great to small. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the LORD. ³¹Then the king stood in his place and made the covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD and to keep his commandments, his testimonies, and his statutes with all his heart and with all his soul, and to carry out the words of the covenant written in this book. ³²He made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin stand to it, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem acted according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. ³³And Josiah removed all the detestable things from all the lands that belonged to the people of Israel, and he made all who were present in Israel serve the LORD their God. All his days they did not turn aside from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.

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4/11/2026

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