34 Yoshiyah was eight when he became king, and he reigned from Yerushalem for thirty-one years.[ref] 2 He did what Yahweh had said was right, and made similar decisions to his ancestor David—not deviating to the right or the left.

3 In the eighth year of his reign while he was still a teenager, he began to learn more about the god of his ancestor David, and in the twelfth year, he began to remove the hilltop shrines from Yerushalem and across Yehudah, as well as the Asherah poles, and the idols and metal images. 4 He watched while they tore down the altars for the Baals and cut down the incense altars that were above them. He shattered the Asherah poles and the idols and metal images, then crushed them to powder which he scattered over the graves of those who’d sacrificed to them.[ref] 5 He burnt the bones of those priests on their altars, and so he purified Yerushalem and all Yehudah,[ref] 6 as well as in the cities in the tribes of Menashsheh, Efrayim, Shimeon, and as far north as Naftali, including in the ruins around them. 7 He tore down the altars and the Asherah poles, ground the idols into pieces, and cut down the incense altars in all Yisrael before returning to Yerushalem.

8 In his eighteenth year as king, in order to purify the land and the temple, he sent Atsalyah’s son Shafan, Maaseyah the city official, and Yoahaz’s son Yoah the secretary, to repair the residence of his god Yahweh. 9 They went to Hilkiyah the high priest and handed over the funds that had been donated for God’s house, which had been collected by the Levites as doorkeepers—the money was from the tribes of Menashsheh, Efrayim, and other places in the northern kingdom of Yisrael, as well as from Yerushalem’s inhabitants and across all of Yehudah and Benyamin. 10 The priests then paid the workers who’d been assigned to work in Yahweh’s temple to repair and strengthen it. 11 They also paid the carpenters and builders to buy cut stone and timber for the beams and braces which Yehudah’s kings had allowed to deteriorate, 12 and the workers did their work faithfully. Their supervisors were Yahat and Ovadyah (Levites descended from Merari), as well as Zekaryah and Meshullam (descendants of Levi’s son Kohat), and all the Levites who were good on their musical instruments. 13 They also supervised the porters and those working on various other tasks. Some of the Levites were secretaries, officials, and guards.

14 When they were bringing the money out of the temple, Hilkiyah the high priest found a scroll containing Yahweh’s instructions that had been given via Mosheh (Moses). 15 Hilkiyah informed the scribe Shafan that he had found a Torah scroll in the temple, and he gave him the scroll. 16 ◙ 17 ◙ 18 ◙

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