34 Yoshiyah (Josiah) was eight when he became king, and he reigned from Yerushalem (Jerusalem) 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 (Judah), as well as the Asherah poles, and the carved and cast metal idols. 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,[ref] then crushed them to powder, which he scattered over the graves of the people who’d sacrificed to them. 5 He burnt the bones of those priests on their altars,[ref] and that’s how he purified Yerushalem and all of Yehudah, 6 as well as the cities in the tribes of Menasheh (Manasseh), Efrayim (Ephraim), Shim’on (Simeon), and as far north as Naftali (Naphtali), 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 of Yisrael (Israel), 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, Ma’aseyah the city official, and Yo’ahaz’s son Yoah the secretary, to repair his god Yahweh’s residence. 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 Menasheh, Efrayim, and other places in the northern kingdom of Yisrael, as well as from Yerushalem’s inhabitants and people 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 (Obadiah) (Levites descended from Merari), as well as Zekaryah (Zechariah) and Meshulam (descendants of Levi’s son Kohat), and all the Levites who were good on their musical instruments. 13 They also supervised the porters and people 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’d found a Torah scroll in the temple, and he gave him the scroll. 16 Shafan took the scroll with him to the king and reported to him, “Your servants are doing everything they were assigned to do. 17 They’ve taken the cash that was in Yahweh’s residence, and passed it on to the supervisors of the workers.” 18 Then Shafan told the king, “I’ve brought a scroll that the priest Hilkiyah gave me,” and then he started reading it out to the king.

19 When the king heard the words of God’s instructions, he tore his clothes in grief. 20 Then he commanded Hilkiyah, Shafan’s son Ahikam, Mikah’s son Avdon, Shafan himself, and the king’s special advisor Asayah, 21 “Go and ask Yahweh on my behalf, and on behalf of everyone in Yisrael (Israel) and Yehudah (Judah), what he wants us to do with respect to the instructions on the scroll that’s just been found, because it seems that Yahweh will be very angry at us because our ancestors haven’t followed all of Yahweh’s instructions as they’re written on that scroll.”

22 So Hilkiyah and the others went to Yerushalem’s (Jerusalem’s) Second District, to the prophetess Huldah (wife of Shalum, son of Tokahat, son of Hasrah who took care of the temple robes). They passed on the king’s question, 23 and she replied, “Yisrael’s god Yahweh says to tell the king: 24 Yahweh says, ‘Listen, I’m going to bring disaster on this place and its inhabitants, as per all the curses written on that scroll that was read to Yehudah’s king, 25 because they’ve abandoned me and offered incense to other gods. That’s made me angry, and so my rage will be poured out on this place, and it can’t be prevented.’ 26 However, Yehudah’s king sent you all to ask for Yahweh’s direction, so tell him, ‘Yisrael’s god Yahweh says that after hearing the scroll’s words, 27 you were sincere, and you humbled yourself in front of God when you heard his words about this place and its inhabitants. Yes, Yahweh declares you’ve humbled yourself in front of me and torn your clothes, and wept in front of me, and I’ve personally heard you. 28 So listen, I’ll allow you to die and be buried in peace, and so your eyes won’t see the disaster that I’ll send to this place and its inhabitants.’ ”

So they took that response back to the king.

29 Then the king summoned all the elders from Yerushalem (Jerusalem) and from across Yehudah, 30 and they all walked up to the temple, with the inhabitants of Yerushalem and all of Yehudah, and the priests and the Levites, and all the people, irrespective of their standing in the community. Then the king read everything out to them that was on the Torah scroll that had been found in the temple. 31 Then the king stood at his normal place and made an agreement with Yahweh: to obey Yahweh and follow his instructions and his regulations and statutes, sincerely and with all his energy—doing what was in the joint understanding that had been written on the scroll. 32 Then he had everyone from Yerushalem and Benyamin take a stand in agreement to it, and so Yerushalem’s inhabitants renewed their agreement with their ancestors’ god. 33 So King Yoshiyah (Josiah) removed all the disgusting idols from all the Israeli regions, and he made everyone in Yisrael (Israel) serve their god Yahweh—during his lifetime they never turned away from Yahweh, their ancestors’ god.

22 Yoshiyah (Josiah) was eight when he became king, and he reigned from Yerushalem (Jerusalem) for thirty-one years.[ref] (His mother was Adayah’s daughter Yedidah from Batsekat.) 2 He did what Yahweh had said was correct behaviour, following all the customs of his ancestor King David, and obeying Yahweh’s instructions.