2 Chronicles 34
33;
33 Josiah removed all the
detestable idols from all the territory belonging to the Israelites, and he had
all who were present in Israel serve the Lord
their God. As long as he lived, they did not fail to follow the Lord,
the God of their ancestors. (6)
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25 Because
they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods and aroused My anger by
all that their hands have made, My anger will be poured out on this place and
will not be quenched.’
(7)
26 Tell the king of
Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, ‘This is what the
Lord, the God of Israel, says
concerning the words you heard:
27 Because your heart
was responsive and you humbled yourself before God when you heard what He spoke
against this place and its people, and because you humbled yourself before Me and tore your
robes and wept in My presence, I have heard you, declares the Lord.
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16 Then
Shaphan took the book to the king and reported to him: “Your officials are
doing everything that has been committed to them. (7)
17 They have paid out
the money that was in the temple of the Lord and have entrusted
it to the supervisors and workers.”
18 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.
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7 he
tore down the altars and the Asherah poles and crushed the idols to powder and
cut to pieces all the incense altars throughout Israel. Then he went back to
Jerusalem. (7)
8 In the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign,
to purify the land and the temple, he sent Shaphan son of Azaliah and Maaseiah
the ruler of the city, with Joah son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the temple
of the Lord his God.
9 They went to
Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money that had been brought into the
temple of God, which the Levites who were the gatekeepers had collected from
the people of Manasseh, Ephraim and the entire remnant of Israel and from all
the people of Judah and Benjamin and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
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31 The king stood by his pillar and
renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord—to
follow the Lord and keep His commands, statutes and decrees with all
his heart and all his soul, and to obey the words of the covenant written in
this book. (4)
32 Then he had
everyone in Jerusalem and Benjamin pledge themselves to it; the people of
Jerusalem did this in accordance with the covenant of God, the God of their
ancestors.
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22 Hilkiah
and those the king had sent with him went to speak to the prophet
Huldah, who was the wife of Shallum son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, keeper
of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the New Quarter. (4)
23 She said to them,
“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell
the man who sent you to Me,
24 ‘This is what the Lord
says: I am going to bring disaster on this place and its people—all the curses
written in the book that has been read in the presence of the king of Judah.
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13 had
charge of the laborers and supervised all the workers from job to job. Some of
the Levites were secretaries, scribes and gatekeepers. (4)
The Book of the Law
Found
14 While they were bringing out
the money that had been taken into the temple of the Lord,
Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord
that had been given through Moses.
15 Hilkiah said to
Shaphan the secretary, “I have found
the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord.” He gave it to
Shaphan.
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4 Under his direction the altars of
the Baals were torn down; he cut to pieces the incense altars that were above
them, and smashed the Asherah poles and the idols. These he broke to pieces and
scattered over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. (4)
5 He burned the bones
of the priests on their altars, and so he purged Judah and Jerusalem.
6 In the towns of
Manasseh, Ephraim and Simeon, as far as Naphtali, and in the ruins around them,
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28 Now I will gather you to your
ancestors, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the
disaster I am going to bring on this place and on those who live here.’” So
they took her answer back to the king. (1)
29 Then the king
called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.
30 He went up to the
temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the Levites—all the people from the
least to the greatest. He
read in their hearing all the Words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been
found in the temple of the Lord.
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19 When
the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his robes. (1)
20 He gave these orders
to Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, Shaphan the secretary
and Asaiah the king’s attendant:
21 “Go and inquire of the Lord
for me and for the remnant in Israel and Judah about what is written in this Book
that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger that is poured out on
us because those who have gone before us have not kept the Word of the Lord;
they have not acted in accordance with all that is written in this Book.”
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10 Then
they entrusted it to the men appointed to supervise the work on the Lord’s temple. These men paid the workers who repaired and restored
the temple.
(1)
11 They also gave
money to the carpenters and builders to purchase dressed stone, and timber for
joists and beams for the buildings that the kings of Judah had allowed to fall
into ruin.
12 The workers labored faithfully.
Over them to direct them were Jahath and Obadiah, Levites descended from
Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, descended from Kohath. The Levites—all who
were skilled in playing musical instruments—
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Josiah’s Reforms
34 Josiah was
eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. (1)
2 He did what was right in the
eyes of the Lord and followed the ways of his father David, not
turning aside to the right or to the left.
3 In the eighth year of his reign,
while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David. In his twelfth year he began to purge
Judah and Jerusalem of high places, Asherah poles and idols.
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