¹Josiah was eight years old when he started to reign, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. ²And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and he walked in the ways of David his father, and he did not deviate to the right or left. ³And after eight years in his reign, when he was still a lad, he began to seek the God of David his father, and in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the idolatrous raised sites and the phallic parks and the carved images and cast images. ⁴And they demolished the altars of the Baalim in his presence, and he cut down the sun-images which were high up above them, and he smashed up and ground small the phallic parks and the carved images and the cast images, and he scattered them on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. ⁵And he burnt the bones of the priests on the two altars, and he cleansed Judah and Jerusalem, ⁶and he did likewise in the cities of Manasseh and Ephraim and Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, using their mattocks all around. ⁷And when he had demolished the altars, and broken up and ground fine the phallic parks and the carved images, and had cut down all the sun-images, in all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem. ⁸And in the eighteenth year of his reign, in cleansing the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Jehoahaz, the state secretary, to refurbish the house of the Lord his God. ⁹And when they had come to Hilkiah the high priest, they gave him the money which had been brought to the house of God, which the Levite doorkeepers had collected from the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and from all the rest of Israel and from all of Judah and Benjamin and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰And they paid those doing the work – those charged with the house of the Lord – and they gave it to those doing the work, who worked on the house of the Lord, in repairing and restoring the house. ¹¹And they gave it to the craftsmen and the builders, to buy hewn stone, and wood for the beams, and to provide a roof for the buildings which the kings of Judah had brought to ruin. ¹²And the men acted faithfully in the work, and those appointed over them were Jahath and Obadiah the Levites of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam of the sons of the Kohathites, to superintend. And the Levites included all who were knowledgeable about musical instruments. ¹³And they were in charge of the burden bearers, and they superintended all who carried out the craftsmanship, whatever the work. And from the Levites were scribes and officers and gatekeepers. ¹⁴And when they brought the money out which had been brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the book of the law of the Lord, written through the intermediacy of Moses. ¹⁵And Hilkiah reacted and 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. ¹⁶Then Shaphan brought the book to the king, and he reported again to the king and said, “Everything which was committed to your servants, they are carrying out.” ¹⁷And they poured out the money which was found in the house of the Lord, and they paid it to those who were in charge and to those who carried out the work. ¹⁸And Shaphan the scribe explained to the king and said, “Hilkiah the priest gave me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the king's presence. ¹⁹And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the law, that he tore his clothes. ²⁰And the king gave orders to Hilkiah and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king's servant, and he said, ²¹“Go and consult the Lord on behalf of me and on behalf of the remainder in Israel and in Judah concerning the book which was found, for the fury of the Lord which has been poured out on us is great, because our fathers did not keep the word of the Lord, that we should do everything written in this book.” ²²So Hilkiah and those whom the king had commanded went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah the vestry keeper, and she was resident in Jerusalem in the second quarter, and they spoke to her about it. ²³And she said to them, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Say to the man who sent you to me, ²⁴«This is what the Lord says: ‹I am about to bring evil on this place and on its inhabitants – all the curses which are written in the book, which they read in the presence of the king of Judah – ²⁵because they have forsaken me and have burned incense to other gods, so as to provoke me to anger with every work of their hands, and my fury will be poured out on this place, and it will not be extinguished.› » ²⁶And to the king of Judah who sent you to consult the Lord, this is what you shall say, «This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‹As for the things which you have heard, ²⁷on account of your contrition and the fact that you have humbled yourself before God, in that you have heard his words in relation to this place and in relation to its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me, and that you have torn your clothes and wept before me, so I for my part have heard you›, the Lord says, ²⁸‹And I am about to gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes will not see all the evil which I am bringing on this place and on its inhabitants.› » ’ ” And they reported it to the king. ²⁹Then the king sent word, and he assembled all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. ³⁰And the king went up to the house of the Lord, as did every man of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests and the Levites and all the people, both great and small, and he read, with them hearing, all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord. ³¹And the king stood on his rostrum, and he 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 do the words of the covenant which were written in this book. ³²And he made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin party to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem acted in accordance with the covenant of God – the God of their fathers. ³³And Josiah removed all the abominations from all the lands which belonged to the sons of Israel, and he made everyone who was present in Israel serve, that is serve the Lord their God. In all his days they did not depart from following the Lord God of their fathers.