2 Chronicles 34

Josiah Reigns in Judah

1 Josiah a was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. 2 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of his father David; 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 still b young, he began to c seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began d to purge Judah and Jerusalem e of the 1 high places, the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images. 4 f They broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and the incense altars which were above them he cut down; and the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images he broke in pieces, and made dust of them g and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. 5 He also h burned the bones of the priests on their i altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. 6 And so he did in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, as far as Naphtali and all around, with 2 axes. 7 When he had broken down the altars and the wooden images, had j beaten the carved images into powder, and cut down all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.

The Book of the Law Found

8 k In the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the 3 temple, he sent l Shaphan the son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the m governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God. 9 When they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered n the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites who kept the doors had gathered from the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, from all the o remnant of Israel, from all Judah and Benjamin, and which they had brought back to Jerusalem. 10 Then they put it in the hand of the foremen who had the oversight of the house of the LORD; and they gave it to the workmen who worked in the house of the LORD, to repair and restore the house. 11 They gave it to the craftsmen and builders to buy hewn stone and timber for beams, and to floor the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed. 12 And the men did the work faithfully. Their overseers were Jahath and Obadiah the Levites, of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to supervise. Others of the Levites, all of whom were skillful with instruments of music, 13 were p over the burden bearers and were overseers of all who did work in any kind of service. q And some of the Levites were scribes, officers, and gatekeepers.

14 Now when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest r found the Book of the Law of the LORD given by Moses. 15 Then Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, "I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD." And Hilkiah gave the s book to Shaphan. 16 So Shaphan carried the book to the king, bringing the king word, saying, "All that was committed to your servants they are doing. 17 "And they have 4 gathered the money that was found in the house of the LORD, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers and the workmen." 18 Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read it before the king.

19 Thus it happened, when the king heard the words of the Law, that he tore his clothes. 20 Then the king commanded Hilkiah, t Ahikam the son of Shaphan, 5 Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying, 21 "Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and for those who are left in Israel and Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found; for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not u 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 the king had appointed went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of 6 Tokhath, the son of 7 Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe. (She dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter.) And they spoke to her to that effect. 23 Then she answered them, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'Tell the man who sent you to Me, 24 "Thus says the LORD: 'Behold, I will v bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the w book which they have read before the king of Judah, 25 'because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore My wrath will be poured out on this place, and not be quenched.' " ' 26 "But as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, in this manner you shall speak to him, 'Thus says the LORD God of Israel: "Concerning the words which you have heard - 27 "because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and you humbled yourself before Me, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you," says the x LORD. 28 "Surely 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 calamity which I will bring on this place and its inhabitants." ' " So they brought back word to the king.

29 y Then the king sent and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 30 The king went up to the house of the LORD, with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem - the priests and the Levites, and all the people, great and small. And he z read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the house of the LORD. 31 Then the king a stood in b his place and made a c covenant before the LORD, to follow 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 And he made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin take a stand. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. 33 Thus Josiah removed all the d abominations from all the country that belonged to the children of Israel, and made all who were present in Israel 8 diligently serve the LORD their God. e All his days they did not depart from following the LORD God of their fathers.

  1. Cross References
    2 Kings 22:1
    Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath.
    2 Kings 22:2
    And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
    Jeremiah 1:2
    To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
    Jeremiah 3:6
    The LORD said also to me in the days of Josiah the king: "Have you seen what backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there played the harlot.
  2. Cross References
    Ecclesiastes 12:1
    Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come, And the years draw near when you say, "I have no pleasure in them":
  3. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 15:2
    And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: "Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.
    Proverbs 8:17
    I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me.
  4. Cross References
    1 Kings 13:2
    Then he cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD, and said, "O altar, altar! Thus says the LORD: 'Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men's bones shall be burned on you.'
  5. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 33:17 - 19
    Nevertheless the people still sacrificed on the high places, but only to the LORD their God.
    2 Chronicles 33:22
    But he did evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh had done; for Amon sacrificed to all the carved images which his father Manasseh had made, and served them.
  6. Cross References
    Leviticus 26:30
    I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and cast your carcasses on the lifeless forms of your idols; and My soul shall abhor you.
    2 Kings 23:4
    And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the LORD all the articles that were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel.
  7. Cross References
    2 Kings 23:6
    And he brought out the wooden image from the house of the LORD, to the Brook Kidron outside Jerusalem, burned it at the Brook Kidron and ground it to ashes, and threw its ashes on the graves of the common people.
  8. Cross References
    1 Kings 13:2
    Then he cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD, and said, "O altar, altar! Thus says the LORD: 'Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men's bones shall be burned on you.
  9. Cross References
    2 Kings 23:20
    He executed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned men's bones on them; and he returned to Jerusalem.
  10. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 9:21
    Then I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it and ground it very small, until it was as fine as dust; and I threw its dust into the brook that descended from the mountain.
  11. Cross References
    2 Kings 22:3 - 20
    Now it came to pass, in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the scribe, the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the house of the LORD, saying:
  12. Cross References
    2 Kings 25:22
    Then he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, governor over the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left.
  13. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 18:25
    Then the king of Israel said, "Take Micaiah, and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king's son.
  14. Cross References
    2 Kings 12:4
    And Jehoash said to the priests, "All the money of the dedicated gifts that are brought into the house of the LORD - each man's census money, each man's assessment money - and all the money that a man purposes in his heart to bring into the house of the LORD.
  15. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 30:6
    Then the runners went throughout all Israel and Judah with the letters from the king and his leaders, and spoke according to the command of the king: "Children of Israel, return to the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel; then He will return to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria.
  16. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 8:10
    And others were chiefs of the officials of King Solomon: two hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people.
  17. Cross References
    1 Chronicles 23:4
    Of these, twenty-four thousand were to look after the work of the house of the LORD, six thousand were officers and judges.
    1 Chronicles 23:5
    Four thousand were gatekeepers, and four thousand praised the LORD with musical instruments, "which I made," said David, "for giving praise.
  18. Cross References
    2 Kings 22:8
    Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, "I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD." And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
  19. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 31:24
    So it was, when Moses had completed writing the words of this law in a book, when they were finished.
    Deuteronomy 31:26
    Take this Book of the Law, and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there as a witness against you.
  20. Cross References
    Jeremiah 26:24
    Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.
  21. Cross References
    2 Kings 17:15 - 19
    And they rejected His statutes and His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He had testified against them; they followed idols, became idolaters, and went after the nations who were all around them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them that they should not do like them.
  22. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 36:14 - 20
    Moreover all the leaders of the priests and the people transgressed more and more, according to all the abominations of the nations, and defiled the house of the LORD which He had consecrated in Jerusalem.
  23. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 28:15 - 68
    But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
  24. Cross References
    2 Kings 22:19
    Because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you, " says the LORD.
    2 Chronicles 12:7
    Now when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, "They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance. My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.
    2 Chronicles 30:6
    Then the runners went throughout all Israel and Judah with the letters from the king and his leaders, and spoke according to the command of the king: "Children of Israel, return to the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel; then He will return to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria.
    2 Chronicles 33:12
    Now when he was in affliction, he implored the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.
    2 Chronicles 13:1
    In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah.
  25. Cross References
    2 Kings 23:1 - 3
    Now the king sent them to gather all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to him.
  26. Cross References
    Nehemiah 8:1 - 3
    Now all the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate; and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded Israel.
  27. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 6:13
    (for Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court; and he stood on it, knelt down on his knees before all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven).
  28. Cross References
    2 Kings 11:14
    When she looked, there was the king standing by a pillar according to custom; and the leaders and the trumpeters were by the king. All the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets. So Athaliah tore her clothes and cried out, "Treason! Treason!
    2 Kings 23:3
    Then the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to follow 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 this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand for the covenant.
    2 Chronicles 30:16
    They stood in their place according to their custom, according to the Law of Moses the man of God; the priests sprinkled the blood received from the hand of the Levites.
  29. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 23:16
    Then Jehoiada made a covenant between himself, the people, and the king, that they should be the LORD's people.
    2 Chronicles 29:10
    Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that His fierce wrath may turn away from us.
  30. Cross References
    1 Kings 11:5
    For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
    2 Chronicles 33:2
    But he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
  31. Cross References
    Jeremiah 3:10
    And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me with her whole heart, but in pretense," says the LORD.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Previous Book Next Book