3 In the eighth month of the eighteenth year of King Yoshiyyah’s reign, he sent the scribe Shafan (the son of Atsalyah the son of Meshullam) to the temple, saying 4 “Go to the high priest Hilkiyyah and get him to count the silver that was brought into Yahweh’s temple, which the door-keepers collected from the people. 5 Then have it given to the supervisors of the temple repairs, and then they can pay the workers who’re repairing the damage— 6 the craftsmen, builders, and masons, as well as buying wood and quarried stones for the repairs.” 7 They won’t need to submit detailed accounts for it because they’re trustworthy people.[ref]

8 During the repairs, the hight priest Hilkiyyah told the scribe Shafan, “I found a scroll in the temple with Yahweh’s instructions written on it.” So Hilkiyyah gave the scroll to Shafan to read. 9 Then Shafan the scribe went to the king with this report, “Your servants handed over the money that had been collected in the temple, and they gave it to the supervisors of the workers doing the repairs.” 10 Then he added, “And the priest Hilkiyyah gave me a scroll.” Then he read it out loud to King Yoshiyyah.

11 When the king heard the contents of the scroll, he tore his clothes 12 and commanded the priest Hilkiyyah, Shafan’s son Ahikam, Mikayah’s son Akbor, the scribe Shafan, and the king’s servant Asayah, 13 “Go and inquire from Yahweh on my behalf and on behalf of the people and all Yehudah, concerning the words of this scroll that was found. Because it sounds like Yahweh must be very angry at us because our predecessors didn’t listen to what’s written on this scroll and didn’t do what was expected of us.”

14 So Hilkiyyah the priest and Ahikam, Akbor, Shafan, and Asayah went to the prophetess Huldah (the wife of Shallum, the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the one in charge of looking after the priests’ uniforms who lived in the newer part of Yerushalem), and they spoke to her. 15 She told them that Israel’s God Yahweh had said, “Tell the man who sent you all to me 16 that Yahweh says this: I’m going to bring disaster to this place and its inhabitants, just like it’s written in the scroll that the king read 17 because they abandoned me. They offered sacrifices to other gods in order to make me angry at everything they do, so now my anger will be directed against this place and it’s not stoppable. 18 But to the king of Yehudah who sent you all to seek Yahweh, tell him that Israel’s God Yahweh says: The words that you heard from the scroll, 19 because you’re open to learn and because you humbled yourself in front of Yahweh when you heard my promise that this place and its inhabitants would become a horror and a curse, and because you’ve torn your clothes and wept in front of me, then Yahweh said that he’s taken notice of you. 20 Because of that, he’ll allow you to die and be buried peacefully, and you yourself won’t witness the destruction that will come to this place.”

So they relayed those messages back to King Yoshiyyah.