2 Chronicles 34

Josiah Reigns in Judah

1 m Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father; and he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the n Asherim, and the carved and the metal images. 4 And they chopped down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and he cut down the o incense altars that stood above them. And he broke in pieces the n Asherim and the carved and the metal images, and he made dust of them and o scattered it over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. 5 p He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. 6 And in the q cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, in their ruins 1 all around, 7 he broke down the altars and beat the n Asherim and the images r into powder and cut down all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

The Book of the Law Found

8 s Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had cleansed the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the t governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz, u the recorder, to repair the house of the Lord his God. 9 They came to v Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the keepers of the threshold, had collected from q Manasseh and Ephraim and from all the remnant of Israel and from all Judah and Benjamin and from the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10 And they gave it to the workmen who were working in the house of the Lord. And the workmen who were working in the house of the Lord gave it for repairing and restoring the house. 11 They gave it to the carpenters and the builders to buy quarried stone, and timber for binders and w beams for the buildings that the kings of Judah had let go to ruin. 12 And the men did the work faithfully. Over them were set Jahath and Obadiah the Levites, of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to have oversight. x The Levites, all who were skillful with instruments of music, 13 were over y the burden-bearers and directed all who did work in every kind of service, and some of the Levites were scribes and officials and gatekeepers.

14 While they were bringing out the money that had been brought into the house of the Lord, v Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord given through Moses. 15 Then Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the secretary, "I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord." And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan. 16 Shaphan brought the book to the king, and further reported to the king, "All that was committed to your servants they are doing. 17 They have emptied out the money that was found in the house of the Lord and have given it into the hand of the overseers and the workmen." 18 Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read from it before the king.

19 And when the king heard the words of the Law, z he tore his clothes. 20 And the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying, 21 "Go, inquire of the Lord for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been found. For great is a the wrath of the Lord that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do according to all that is written in this book."

Huldah Prophesies Disaster

22 So Hilkiah and those whom the king had sent 2 went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter) and spoke to her to that effect. 23 And she said to them, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: 'Tell the man who sent you to me, 24 Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book that was read before the king of Judah. 25 Because they have forsaken me and b have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands, therefore a my wrath will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched. 26 But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, 27 because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. 28 Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place and its inhabitants.'" And they brought back word to the king.

29 c Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 30 And the king went up to the house of the Lord, with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the Levites, all the people both great and small. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord. 31 And the king d stood in his place e 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 all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book. 32 Then he made all who were present in Jerusalem and in Benjamin join in it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. 33 And Josiah took away f all the abominations from all the territory that belonged to the people of Israel and made all who were present in Israel serve the Lord their God. All his days they did not turn away from following the Lord, the God of their fathers.

  1. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 34:1 - 2
    Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem.
    2 Kings 22:1 - 2
    Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath.
  2. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 14:3
    He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim
  3. Cross References
    2 Kings 23:6
    And he brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron and beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves of the common people.
  4. Cross References
    2 Kings 23:6
    And he brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron and beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves of the common people.
  5. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 34:3
    For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, and the carved and the metal images.
  6. Cross References
    2 Kings 23:20
    And he sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
    1 Kings 13:2
    And the man cried against the altar by the word of the Lord and said, "O altar, altar, thus says the Lord : 'Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who make offerings on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.'
  7. Cross References
    2 Kings 23:15
    Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected by Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, that altar with the high place he pulled down and burned, reducing it to dust. He also burned the Asherah.
    2 Kings 23:19
    And Josiah removed all the shrines also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which kings of Israel had made, provoking the Lord to anger. He did to them according to all that he had done at Bethel.
  8. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 34:3
    For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, and the carved and the metal images.
  9. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 9:21
    Then I took the sinful thing, the calf that you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust. And I threw the dust of it into the brook that ran down from the mountain.
  10. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 34:8 - 28
    Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had cleansed 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.
    2 Kings 22:3 - 20
    In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, the secretary, to the house of the Lord, saying.
  11. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 18:25
    And the king of Israel said, "Seize Micaiah and take him back to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king's son.
  12. Cross References
    2 Samuel 8:16
    Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder.
  13. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 35:8
    And his officials contributed willingly to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the chief officers of the house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings 2,600 Passover lambs and 300 bulls.
  14. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 34:6
    And in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, in their ruins all around.
  15. Cross References
    Nehemiah 2:8
    And a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy." And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.
  16. Cross References
    1 Chronicles 23:5
    4,000 gatekeepers, and 4,000 shall offer praises to the Lord with the instruments that I have made for praise.
  17. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 2:2
    And Solomon assigned 70,000 men to bear burdens and 80,000 to quarry in the hill country, and 3,600 to oversee them.
    2 Chronicles 2:18
    Seventy thousand of them he assigned to bear burdens, 80,000 to quarry in the hill country, and 3,600 as overseers to make the people work.
    Nehemiah 4:10
    In Judah it was said, "The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall.
  18. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 34:9
    They came to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the keepers of the threshold, had collected from Manasseh and Ephraim and from all the remnant of Israel and from all Judah and Benjamin and from the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
  19. Cross References
    Joshua 7:6
    Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening, he and the elders of Israel. And they put dust on their heads.
  20. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 12:7
    When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah: "They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.
  21. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 28:3 - 4
    And he made offerings in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom and burned his sons as an offering, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.
    2 Chronicles 28:25
    In every city of Judah he made high places to make offerings to other gods, provoking to anger the Lord, the God of his fathers.
  22. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 34:21
    "Go, inquire of the Lord for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do according to all that is written in this book."
  23. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 34:29 - 32
    Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.
    2 Kings 23:1 - 3
    Then the king sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him.
  24. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 6:13
    Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the court, and he stood on it. Then he knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven.
    2 Kings 11:14
    And when she looked, there was the king standing by the pillar, according to the custom, and the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets. And Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, "Treason! Treason!
    2 Chronicles 30:16
    They took their accustomed posts according to the Law of Moses the man of God. The priests threw the blood that they received from the hand of the Levites.
  25. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 15:12
    And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul.
  26. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 28:3
    And he made offerings in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom and burned his sons as an offering, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.
    2 Chronicles 33:2
    And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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