King Josiah’s Reforms
1   Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years.
2   And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and turned aside neither to the right hand, nor to the left.
3   For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places,  and  the  idol  poles,  and  the  carved images, and the molten images.
4   And they broke down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the idol poles, and the carved images, and the molten images, he broke in pieces, and made dust of them, and scattered it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.
5   And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.
6   And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim,  and  Simeon,  even  unto  Naphtali,  in their ruins round about.
7   And when he had broken down the altars and the idol poles, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the incense altars  throughout  all  the  land  of  Israel,  he returned to Jerusalem.
8   Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land, and the house, he sent Shaphan 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.
9   And when they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered the money that was brought into  the house of God, which the Levites that kept 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 they returned to Jerusalem.
10   And they put it in the hand of the workmen that had the oversight of the house of the LORD, and they gave it to the workmen that worked in the house of the LORD, to repair and restore the house:
11   Even to the craftsmen and builders gave they it, to buy hewn stone, and timber for beams, and to floor the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed.
12   And the men did the work faithfully: and the overseers of them were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam,  of  the  sons  of  the  Kohathites,  to have oversight; and other of the Levites, all that were skillful with instruments of music.
13   Also  they  were  over  the  bearers  of burdens, and were overseers of all that did the work in any kind of service: and of the Levites there  were  scribes,  and  officers,  and gatekeepers.

Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law
14   And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the LORD given by Moses.
15   And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan.
16   And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying, All that was committed to your servants, they are doing.
17   And  they  have  gathered  together  the money that was found in the house of the LORD, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and to the hand of the workmen.
18   Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest has given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.
19   And it came to pass, when the king had heard  the  words  of  the  law,  that  he  tore  his clothes.
20   And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying,
21   Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do according to all that is written in this book.
22   And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the second quarter:) and they spoke to her to that effect.
23   And she answered them, Thus says the LORD God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me,
24   Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this  place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah:
25   Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched.
26   And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, so shall you say unto him, Thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning the words which you have heard;
27   Because your heart was tender, and you did humble yourself before God, when you heard his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbled yourself before me, and did tear your clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard you also, says the LORD.
28   Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and  you  shall  be  gathered  to  your  grave  in peace, neither shall your eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon its inhabitants. So they brought the king word again.

Josiah Restores True Worship
29   Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.
30   And the king went 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 their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the LORD.
31   And the king stood in his place, and 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 perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book.
32   And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.
33   And Josiah took away all the abominations out  of  all  the  country  that  belonged  to  the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the LORD their God. And all his days they departed not from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.