Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem.

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

And in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek after the God of David his father. And in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places and the Asherahs and the idols and the molten images.

And they tore down the altars to the Baals in his presence, and the incense altars that were set upon them he hewed down; and the Asherahs and the idols and the molten images he shattered and ground them to dust and scattered it upon the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.

And he burned the bones of the priests upon their own altars and so purged Judah and Jerusalem.

And in the cities of Manasseh and Ephraim and Simeon, as far as Naphtali, in their ruins all around,

He also tore down the altars and beat the Asherahs and idols into dust, and he hewed down all the incense altars throughout the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

And in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the house, he sent Shaphat the son of Azariah and Maaseiah the governor of the city and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder to repair the house of Jehovah his God.

And they came to Hilkiah the high priest and delivered the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the doorkeepers, had collected from the hands of Manasseh and Ephraim and from all the remnant of Israel and from all Judah and Benjamin and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

And they delivered it into the hand of those who did the work, who had the oversight of the house of Jehovah; and those who did the work, who worked in the house of Jehovah, used it to mend and repair the house.

And they gave it to the carpenters and the builders for the purchase of hewn stones and timber for couplings and to make beams for the buildings that the kings of Judah had destroyed.

And the men did the work faithfully, and the overseers over them were Jahath and Obadiah the Levites, of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to supervise; and the Levites who were all skilled in musical instruments

Were over the burden bearers and supervised all who did the work from task to task; and some of the Levites were scribes and officials and gatekeepers.

And when they brought out the money that had been brought into the house of Jehovah, Hilkiah the priest found the book of the law of Jehovah given through Moses.

And Hilkiah responded and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of Jehovah. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan.

And Shaphan brought the book to the king and in addition brought back word to the king, saying, All that was committed to the hand of your servants they are doing.

They have emptied out the money that was found in the house of Jehovah and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers and into the hand of those who do the work.

Then Shaphan the scribe reported to the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest has given me a book. And Shaphan read aloud in it before the king.

And when the king heard the words of the law, he tore his clothes.

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

Go; inquire of Jehovah 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 Jehovah that has been poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of Jehovah by doing according to all that is written in this book.

And 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 keeper of the wardrobe (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the second quarter); and they spoke to her to that effect

And she said to them, Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel: Tell the man who sent you to me,

Thus says Jehovah, I am now bringing evil upon this place and upon its inhabitants, even all the curses that are written in the book that they have read aloud before the king of Judah.

Because they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods, so as to provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore My wrath will be poured out on this place, and it shall not be quenched.

But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of Jehovah, thus shall you say to him: Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel, regarding the words which you have heard,

Because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants and humbled yourself before Me and tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you, declares Jehovah.

I will then 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 will bring upon this place and upon its inhabitants. And they brought word back to the king.

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

And the king went up to the house of Jehovah, with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the Levites and all the people, both great and small; and he read aloud, in their hearing, all the words of the book of the covenant, which had been found in the house of Jehovah.

And the king stood up where he was and made a covenant before Jehovah to walk after Jehovah and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and with all his soul by performing the words of the covenant which were written in this book.

And he made all who were found in Jerusalem and Benjamin enter into the covenant. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

And Josiah removed all the abominations out of all the lands that belonged to the children of Israel, and he made all who were found in Israel serve Jehovah their God; throughout his days they did not turn from following after Jehovah, the God of their fathers.