Moff 2 CHR Chapter 34

◄ 2 CHR 34 ► ║ ═ ©

34 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem for thirty-one years. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Eternal, and followed the lines of his ancestor David, turning neither to the right hand nor to the left.

3 In the eighth year of his reign, when he was still a boy, he began to revere the God of his ancestor David, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the shrines, the sacred poles, the carved idols, and the metal gods. 4 Under his eyes, they demolished the altars of the Baals; he cut down the sun-pillars high over them, and as for the sacred poles, the carved idols, and the metal gods, he broke them in pieces, ground them to dust, and scattered the dust over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. 5 He burned the bones of the priests upon their altars, as he purged Judah and Jerusalem, 6 and destroyed their houses in the towns of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, as far as Naphtali; 7 he demolished altars, crushed sacred poles and carved idols to powder, and cut down all the sun-pillars, throughout all the land of Israel; after which he returned to Jerusalem.

8 In the eighteenth year of his reign, after he had purged the country and the temple, he sent Shaphan the son of Azallah, Maaseiah the provost of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the chancellor, to repair the temple of the Eternal his God. 9 They went to Hilkiah the high-priest and handed over the money brought into the temple of God, which had been collected by the Levites or warders from Manasseh, Ephraim, and all the survivors of Israel, as well as from Judah and Benjamin and the citizens of Jerusalem. 10 This money was put into the hands of the foremen who had charge of the temple of the Eternal, and these men, at work on the temple of the Eternal, spent it on the repairs and reconstruction of the temple, 11 paying joiners and builders to buy dressed stones, and timber for couplings and for beams in the buildings destroyed by the kings of Judah. 12 The men did their work honestly, supervised by Jahath and Obadiah, Merarite Levites, and by Zechariah and Meshullam, who were Kohathites, appointed to direct the work. Levites, every man of them a skilled musician, 13 also supervised the labourers and directed all the workmen in every department; the clerks, the stewards, and the warders were also taken from the Levites.

14 It was as they were taking out the money which had been deposited in the temple of the Eternal, that Hilkiah the priest found the law-book of the Eternal, written by Moses. 15 Hilkiah told Shaphan the secretary that he had found the law-book in the temple of the Eternal, and he handed it over to Shaphan, 16 who took the law-book to the king, as he gave in his report to the king. He reported, “Your servants are doing all that was entrusted to them. 17 The money found in the temple of the Eternal has been paid out to the foremen and to the workmen.” 18 Shaphan the secretary also told the king that Hilkiah the priest had handed him a book.

19 Shaphan read out of the book to the king; and when the king heard the words of the law, he tore his clothes, 20 and ordered Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the secretary, and Asalah a royal official, 21 to “go and consult the Eternal for me and for those left in Israel and Judah, about the terms of this book that has been found; for the Eternal vents his anger upon us, because our fathers have not obeyed the word of the Eternal, to carry out all the injunctions written in this book.” 22 So Hilkiah and the others went, as the king ordered, and told Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah (the grandson of Harhas), keeper of the robes (she lived in the second ward of Jerusalem). 23 She gave them this message from the Eternal the God of Israel: 24 “Tell the man who sent you to me that this is the Eternal’s decree: ‘I will bring upon this place and its inhabitants all the dread curses described in the book read to the king of Judah, 25 because the people have abandoned me, burning incense to other gods, to vex me with all their evil practices. Therefore my wrath is vented on this place, and it shall blaze without quenching.’ 26 However, tell this to the king of Judah who sent you to consult the Eternal: ‘The Eternal the God of Israel declares, 27 since you have listened to my words, since your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his threats against this place and its inhabitants, since you tore your clothes and wept before me, I have heard you, says the Eternal; 28 I will gather you to your fathers, you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disasters I am bringing on this place and its inhabitants.’ ”

29 They took back this answer to the king, and the king summoned all the sheikhs of Judah and Jerusalem; 30 he went up to the temple of the Eternal, accompanied by all the men of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem, the priests, the Levites, and all the people, young and old. He then read aloud to them all the words of the book of the compact, which had been found in the temple of the Eternal, 31 and, standing on the platform, the king made a compact, in presence of the Eternal, to follow the Eternal, to obey his orders and his warnings and his rules, heart and soul, carrying out the terms of the compact laid down in this book. 32 He made everyone in Jerusalem and Benjamin adhere to it. The citizens of Jerusalem carried out this compact with God, the God of their fathers; 33 Josiah removed all the abominable idols from every district belonging to Israel, and made everyone within Israel offer worship to the Eternal their God; during all his reign they never gave up their devotion to the Eternal the God of their fathers.

2 CHR C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28 C29 C30 C31 C32 C33 C34 C35 C36

Moff 2 CHR Chapter 34

Moff 2 CHR Chapter 34