The Koine Bible

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

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

And in the eighth year of his reign, and he himself still a boy, he began to seek the Lord, the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year of his reign he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem from the high places and the groves and from the molten images.

And he pulled down before him the altars of the Baalim and the high places that were upon them, and cut down the groves and the graven images and the molten images he crushed and ground to powder and threw upon the face of the graves of those sacrificing to them

And he burned the bones of priests upon the altars and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem

and in the cities of Ephraim and Manasseh and Simeon and Naphtali and in their places round about

And he tore down the sacred groves and the altars, and he cut the idols into pieces, and he cut down all the high places from all the land of Israel, and he returned to Jerusalem.

And in the eighteenth year of his reign, to cleanse the land and the house, he sent Shaphan son of Azaliah and Maaseiah the ruler of the city and Joah son of Joahaz his recorder to strengthen the house of the Lord his God

And they came to Hilkiah the great priest and gave the silver that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites who were keeping the gate had collected from the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim and from all the remnant in Israel and of the sons of Judah and Benjamin and of the inhabitants in Jerusalem.

And they gave it into the hand of those doing the work, those appointed in the house of the Lord; and they gave it to the workers who were doing the work in the house of the Lord, to repair and strengthen the house.

And they gave to the craftsmen and to the builders to buy hewn stones and timber for beams, to roof the houses that the kings of Judah had destroyed

And the men were faithful over the works, and over them were superintendents: Jeth and Abdias, the Levites of the sons of Merari, and Zacharias and Mosollam of the sons of Kohath, to supervise, and every Levite, every one understanding with instruments of songs.

and over the burden-bearers and over all those who did the work by labor and by labor, and from the Levites, scribes and judges and gatekeepers

And when they were bringing out the silver that had been brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the book of the law of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found a book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan.

And Shaphan brought the book to the king and still gave to the king an account, all the silver that had been given into the hand of your servants who are doing the work

And they melted down the silver found in the house of the Lord and gave it into the hand of the overseers and into the hand of those doing the work.

And Shaphan the scribe reported to the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest gave me a book, and Shaphan read it before the king.

And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the law, that he tore his garments.

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

Go, seek the Lord concerning me and concerning all that is left in Israel and Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been found, for great is the wrath of the Lord that has been kindled against us, because our fathers did not hear the words of the Lord, to do according to all that is written in this book.

And Hilkiah went, and those whom the king had said, to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum son of Tokhath son of Hasrah, keeper of the garments, and she was dwelling in Jerusalem in the Mishneh; and they spoke to her according to these things.

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

Thus says the Lord: behold, I am bringing evils upon this place, all the words written in the book that was read before the king of Judah

because they have forsaken me and have burned incense to foreign gods, in order to provoke me with all the works of their hands; and my wrath was kindled in this place, and it shall not be quenched

And concerning the king of Judah, the one who sent you to seek the Lord, thus you shall say to him: Thus says the Lord God of Israel, the words which you heard,

And your heart was broken and you were humbled before me when you heard my words concerning this place and concerning its inhabitants, and you were humbled before me and tore your garments and wept before me, and I heard, says the Lord.

Behold, I am adding you to your fathers, and you shall be added to your tombs in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the evils that I am bringing upon this place and upon those who dwell in it. And they gave the king a report.

And the king sent and gathered the elders of Judah and Jerusalem

And the king went up to the house of the Lord, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the Levites and all the people, from great to small, and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant found in the house of the Lord.

And the king stood on the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord to walk before the Lord, to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his ordinances with all his heart and with all his soul, the words of the covenant written in this book.

And he stood all those found in Jerusalem and Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem made a covenant in the house of the Lord God of their fathers.

And Josiah removed all the abominations from all the land that belonged to the sons of Israel, and he made all those who were found in Jerusalem and in Israel to serve the Lord their God all the days of him; he did not turn aside from following the Lord God of his fathers.