¹Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and thirty-one years he reigned in Jerusalem.

²And he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, and walked in the ways of David his father, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

³And in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherah poles, the idols and the cast images.

⁴And they tore down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and the sun-pillars that were above them he cut down; and the Asherah poles and the idols and the cast images he broke in pieces and made dust of, and sprinkled it over the face of the graves of those who sacrificed to them.

⁵And the bones of the priests he burned on their altars, and he cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.

⁶And in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, as far as Naphtali, with their cutting tools all around.

⁷And he tore down the altars and the Asherah poles, crushed the idols to dust, and cut down all the sun-pillars in all the land of Israel; and he returned to Jerusalem.

⁸And in the eighteenth year of his reign, to cleanse the land and the house, he sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the official of the city, and Joah son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of Yahweh his God.

⁹And they came to Hilkiah the great priest and gave the silver that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the keepers of the vestibule, had gathered from the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and from all the remnant of Israel, and from all Judah and Benjamin; and they returned to Jerusalem.

¹⁰And they put it into the hand of those who did the work, those appointed in the house of Yahweh; and they gave it to those who did the work, who were working in the house of Yahweh, to mend and to repair the house.

¹¹And they gave it to the craftsmen and to the builders to buy quarried stones and wood for the clamps, and to lay beams for the houses that the kings of Judah had ruined.

¹²And the men were working with steadiness at the work; and over them were appointed Jahath and Obadiah the Levites, of the children of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the children of the Kohathites, to act as overseers; and the Levites, every one skilled in instruments of song.

¹³And they were over the burden-bearers and acted as overseers of every one who did work, service by service; and some of the Levites were scribes and officials and gatekeepers.

¹⁴And when they brought out the silver that had been brought into the house of Yahweh, Hilkiah the priest found the scroll of the instruction of Yahweh by the hand of Moses.

¹⁵And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the scroll of the instruction in the house of Yahweh.” And Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan.

¹⁶And Shaphan brought the scroll to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying, “All that was given into the hand of your servants, they are doing.”

¹⁷And they poured out the silver that was found in the house of Yahweh, and put it into the hand of those who were appointed, and into the hand of those who did the work.

¹⁸And Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a record.” And Shaphan read aloud from it before the face of the king.

¹⁹And when the king heard the words of the instruction, he tore his garments.

²⁰And the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying:

²¹Go, inquire of Yahweh on behalf of me and on behalf of those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the record that has been found. For great is the anger of Yahweh that has been poured out on us, because our fathers did not keep the word of Yahweh, to do all that is written in this record.

²²And Hilkiah went, with those whom the king had sent, to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum son of Tokhath son of Hasrah, keeper of the garments. She dwelled in Jerusalem in the second quarter, and they spoke to her in this way.

²³She said to them, “Here is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: Say to the man who sent you to me,

²⁴Here is what Yahweh says: See, I am about to bring evil on this place and on its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the record that was read aloud before the face of the king of Judah.

²⁵Because they abandoned me and made sacrifices smoke to other gods, so as to provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands, my anger has been poured out on this place and will not be quenched.

²⁶And to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of Yahweh, this is what you are to say to him: Here is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says regarding the words that you heard:

²⁷Because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the face of God when you heard his words against this place and against its inhabitants, and you humbled yourself before my face, and tore your garments, and wept before my face, I also have heard—the utterance of Yahweh.

²⁸See, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your graves in wholeness, and your eyes will not see all the evil that I am about to bring on this place and on its inhabitants. And they brought back word to the king.

²⁹And the king sent and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.

³⁰And the king went up to the house of Yahweh, with all the men of Judah, those who dwelled in Jerusalem, the priests, the Levites, and all the people, from great to small. And he read aloud in their ears all the words of the record of the covenant that had been found in the house of Yahweh.

³¹And the king stood in his place and cut the covenant before the face of Yahweh, to walk after Yahweh, and to keep his commandments, his testimonies, and his statutes with all his heart and with all his being, to do the words of the covenant that are written in this record.

³²And he had everyone who was found in Jerusalem and Benjamin take a stand; and those who dwelled in Jerusalem acted according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

³³And Josiah removed all the abominations from all the lands that belonged to the children of Israel, and put into service everyone found in Israel, to serve Yahweh their God. All his days they did not turn aside from following Yahweh, the God of their fathers.