⁸Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the scroll of the Torah in the temple of Yahweh,” and Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan and he read it. ⁹Shaphan the secretary came to the king and returned the king a word, and he said, “Your servant poured out the money found in the temple, and they have given it into the hand of the doers of the work appointed over the temple of Yahweh.” ¹⁰Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll.” Then Shaphan read before the king.

¹¹When the king heard the words of the scroll of the Torah, he tore his clothes. ¹²Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Acbor the son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the servant of the king, saying, ¹³“Go, inquire of Yahweh for me and for the people and for all of Judah concerning the words of this scroll that was found. For the wrath of Yahweh that is kindled against us is great because our ancestors^c did not listen to the words of this scroll to do according to all that is written concerning us!”

The Prophetess Huldah Predicts Doom for Judah

¹⁴So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah the son of Harhas, the keeper of the robes. Now she was living in Jerusalem in the second district. Then they spoke to her, ¹⁵and she said to them, “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, ‘Say to the man who sent you to me, ¹⁶“Thus says Yahweh, ‘Look I am bringing evil to this place and upon its inhabitants, according to all of the words of that scroll that the king of Judah has read ¹⁷because they have abandoned me and they have burned incense to other gods, provoking me to anger with all of the works of their hands. My wrath shall be kindled against this place and not be quenched.’ ” ¹⁸And to the king of Judah who sent all of you to inquire of Yahweh, thus you shall say to him, “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, ‘Concerning the words that you have heard, ¹⁹because you have a responsive heart, and you humbled yourself before Yahweh when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants to become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before my face, I have also heard, declares Yahweh. ²⁰Therefore look, I am gathering you to your ancestors,^d and you shall be gathered to your tombs in peace. Your eyes will not see all of the disaster that I am bringing onto this place.’ ” ’ ” Then they reported the word^e to the king.

Josiah’s Covenantal Reforms

23So the king sent word, and all of the elders of Judah and Jerusalem gathered to him. ²Then the king went up to the temple of Yahweh, and all of the men of Judah and all of the inhabitants of Jerusalem were with him, including the priests, the prophets, and all of the people from smallest to greatest; and in their hearing^a he read all of the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been found in the temple of Yahweh. ³Then the king stood by the pillar, and he made^b a covenant before Yahweh, to go after Yahweh and to keep his commands and his warnings and his statutes with all of his heart and with all of his soul, to keep the words of this covenant written on this scroll. Then all of the people joined^c in the covenant.

Read in Logos

Footnotes

cOr “fathers”
dOr “fathers”
eLiterally “they returned a word”
aLiterally “ears”
bLiterally “cut”
cLiterally “stood”