And he did thatwhich was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declinedneither to the righthand, nor to the left.
For in the eighthyear of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seekafter the God of David his father: and in the twelfthyear he began to purgeJudah and Jerusalemfrom the highplaces, and the groves, and the carvedimages, and the moltenimages.
And theybrakedown the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, thatwere on highabovethem, he cut down; and the groves, and the carvedimages, and the moltenimages, he brake in pieces, and madedust of them, and strawed it upon the graves of themthat had sacrificeduntothem.
And when he had brokendown the altars and the groves, and had beaten the gravenimagesintopowder, and cut down all the idolsthroughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.
Now in the eighteenthyear of his reign, when he had purged the land, and the house, he sentShaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God.
And whentheycame to Hilkiah the highpriest, theydelivered the moneythat was broughtinto the house of God, which the Levitesthatkept the doors had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin; and theyreturned to Jerusalem.
And they put it in the hand of the workmenthat had the oversight of the house of the LORD, and theygave it to the workmenthatwrought in the house of the LORD, to repair and amend the house:
Even to the artificers and buildersgavethey it, to buy hewnstone, and timber for couplings, and to floor the houseswhich the kings of Judah had destroyed.
And the men did the workfaithfully: and the overseers of themwereJahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to set it forward; and other of the Levites, all thatcouldskill of instruments of musick.
Alsotheywereover the bearers of burdens, and wereoverseers of all thatwrought the work in any manner of service: and of the Levitestherewerescribes, and officers, and porters.
And Hilkiahanswered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I havefound the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiahdelivered the book to Shaphan.
And theyhavegatheredtogether the moneythat was found in the house of the LORD, and havedelivered it into the hand of the overseers, and to the hand of the workmen.
And the kingcommandedHilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king’s, saying,
Go, enquire of the LORD for me, and for themthat are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the bookthat is found: for great is the wrath of the LORDthat is poured out upon us, because our fathershave not kept the word of the LORD, to do after all that is written in thisbook.
And Hilkiah, and theythat the king had appointed, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college:) and theyspake to her to thateffect.
Thussaith the LORD, Behold, I willbringeviluponthisplace, and upon the inhabitantsthereof, even all the cursesthat are written in the bookwhichtheyhavereadbefore the king of Judah:
Becausetheyhaveforsaken me, and haveburnedincenseuntoothergods, thattheymightprovoke me to angerwith all the works of theirhands; therefore my wrathshall be poured out uponthisplace, and shall not be quenched.
And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire of the LORD, so shall ye say unto him, Thussaith the LORD God of Israelconcerning the wordswhichthouhastheard;
Becausethineheart was tender, and thoudidsthumblethyselfbefore God, whenthouheardest his wordsagainstthisplace, and against the inhabitantsthereof, and humbledstthyselfbefore me, and didstrend thy clothes, and weepbefore me; I haveevenheardtheealso, saith the LORD.
Behold, I willgatherthee to thy fathers, and thoushalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neithershallthineeyes see all the evilthat I willbringuponthisplace, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So theybrought the kingwordagain.
And the kingwent up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he read in theirears all the words of the book of the covenantthat was found in the house of the LORD.
And the kingstood in his place, and made a covenantbefore the LORD, to walkafter the LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenantwhich are written in thisbook.
And he caused all thatwerepresent in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of theirfathers.
And Josiahtookaway all the abominations out of all the countriesthatpertained to the children of Israel, and made all thatwerepresent in Israel to serve, even to serve the LORDtheir God. And all his daystheydeparted not fromfollowing the LORD, the God of theirfathers.