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Chapter 34 |
| 1 |
Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in
Jerusalem one and thirty years. |
| 2
| And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked
in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to
the left. |
| 3 | For in the
eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the
God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and
Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the
molten images. |
| 4 | And they
brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on
high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the
molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strewed it upon
the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them. |
|
5 | And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their
altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. |
| 6 | And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and
Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about. |
| 7 | And when he had broken down the altars
and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all
the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem. |
| 8 | Now in the eighteenth year of
his reign, when he had purged the land, and the house, he sent Shaphan the son
of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz
the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God. |
| 9 | And when they came to Hilkiah the high
priest, they delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which
the Levites that kept the doors had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and
Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin; and
they returned to Jerusalem. |
| 10
| And they put it in the hand of the workmen that had the oversight of
the house of the LORD, and they gave it to the workmen that wrought in the
house of the LORD, to repair and amend the house: |
|
11 | Even to the artificers and builders gave they it,
to buy hewn stone, and timber for couplings, and to floor the houses which the
kings of Judah had destroyed. |
| 12
| And the men did the work faithfully: and the overseers of them were
Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and
Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to set it forward; and other of the
Levites, all that could skill of instruments of music. |
| 13 | Also they were over the bearers of
burdens, and were overseers of all that wrought the work in any manner of
service: and of the Levites there were scribes, and officers, and porters. |
| 14 | And when they brought out
the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found
a book of the law of the LORD given by Moses. |
| 15 | And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I
have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah delivered
the book to Shaphan. |
| 16 |
And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word back again,
saying, All that was committed to thy servants, they do it. |
| 17 | And they have gathered together the
money that was found in the house of the LORD, and have delivered it into the
hand of the overseers, and to the hand of the workmen. |
| 18 | Then Shaphan the scribe told the king,
saying, Hilkiah the priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the
king. |
| 19 | And it came to
pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his
clothes. |
| 20 | And the king
commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah,
and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king's, saying, |
| 21 | Go, enquire of the LORD for
me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of
the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out
upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do after
all that is written in this book. |
|
22 | And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went to
Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of
Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college:)
and they spake to her to that effect. |
| 23 | And she answered them, Thus saith the LORD God of
Israel, Tell ye the man that sent you to me, |
| 24 | Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon
this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are
written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah: |
| 25 | Because they have forsaken me, and
have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with
all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this
place, and shall not be quenched. |
|
26 | And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire of the
LORD, so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel concerning
the words which thou hast heard; |
|
27 | Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself
before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the
inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy
clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD. |
| 28 | Behold, I will gather
thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither
shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon
the inhabitants of the same. So they brought the king word again. |
| 29 | Then the king sent and gathered
together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. |
|
30 | And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and
all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and
the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he read in their ears all
the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the
LORD. |
| 31 | And the king
stood in his place, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the
LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with
all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant
which are written in this book. |
|
32 | And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to
stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of
God, the God of their fathers. |
| 33
| And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries
that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in
Israel to serve, even to serve the LORD their God. And all his days they
departed not from following the LORD, the God of their fathers. |
