2 Chronicles 34

Josiah Succeeds Amon in Judah

1 ¹Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one * years in Jerusalem.

2 ²He did right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of his father David and did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

3 For in the eighth year of his reign while he was still a youth, he began to ³seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth * year he began ⁴to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, the carved images and the molten images.

4 They tore down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and ⁵the incense altars that were high above them he chopped down; also the Asherim, the carved images and the molten images he broke in pieces and ⁶ground to powder and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.

5 Then ⁷he burned the bones of the priests on their altars and purged Judah and Jerusalem.

6 ⁸In the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, even as far as Naphtali, in their surrounding ruins,

7 he also tore down the altars and ⁹beat the Asherim and the carved images into powder, and chopped down all the incense altars throughout the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Josiah Repairs the Temple

8 ¹⁰Now 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 ¹¹an official of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God.

9 They came to ¹²Hilkiah the high priest and delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the doorkeepers, had collected from ¹³Manasseh and Ephraim, and from all the remnant of Israel, and from all Judah and Benjamin and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

10 Then they gave it into the hands of the workmen who had the oversight of the house of the LORD, and the workmen who were working in the house of the LORD used it to restore and repair the house.

11 They in turn gave it to the carpenters and to the builders to buy quarried stone and timber for couplings and to make beams for the houses ¹⁴which the kings of Judah had let go to ruin.

12 ¹⁵The men did the work faithfully with foremen over them to supervise: Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites of the sons of Merari, Zechariah and Meshullam of the sons of the Kohathites, and ¹⁶the Levites, all who were skillful with musical instruments.

13 They were also over ¹⁷the burden bearers, and supervised all the workmen * from job to job; and some of the Levites were scribes and officials and gatekeepers.

Hilkiah Discovers Lost Book of the Law

14 When they were bringing out the money which had been brought into the house of the LORD, ¹⁸Hilkiah the priest found the book of the law of the LORD given by Moses.

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

16 Then Shaphan brought the book to the king and reported further word to the king, saying, "Everything that was entrusted * to your servants they are doing.

17 "They have also emptied out the money which was found in the house of the LORD, and have delivered it into the hands of the supervisors and the workmen."

18 Moreover, Shaphan the scribe told the king saying, "Hilkiah the priest gave me a book." And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.

19 When the king heard ¹⁹the words of the law, ²⁰he tore his clothes.

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

21 "Go, inquire of the LORD for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book which has been found; for ²¹great is the wrath of the LORD which is poured out on us because * our fathers have not observed the word of the LORD, to do according to all that is written in this book."

Huldah, the Prophetess, Speaks

22 So Hilkiah and those whom the king had told went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, the keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter); and they spoke to her regarding this.

23 She said to them, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Tell the man who sent you to Me,

24 thus says the LORD, "Behold, ²²I am bringing evil on this place and on its inhabitants, even all ²³the curses written in the book which they have read in the presence of the king of Judah.

25 "²⁴Because * they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods, that they might 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."'

26 "But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus you will say to him, 'Thus says the LORD God of Israel regarding the words which you have heard,

27 "²⁵Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before * God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and because you humbled yourself before Me, tore your clothes and wept before Me, I truly have heard you," declares the LORD.

28 "Behold, I will gather you to your fathers and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, so your eyes will not see all the evil which I will bring on this place and on its inhabitants.""' And they brought back word to the king.

29 ²⁶Then the king sent and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.

30 The king went up to the house of the LORD and ²⁷all the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests, the Levites and all the people, from the greatest to the least; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.

Josiah's Good Reign

31 Then the king ²⁸stood in his place and ²⁹made 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 written in this book.

32 Moreover, he made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand with him. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

33 Josiah ³⁰removed all the abominations from all the lands belonging to the sons of Israel, and made all who were present in Israel to serve the LORD their God. Throughout his lifetime * they did not turn from following the LORD God of their fathers.

2 Chronicles 34 Commentary

Chapter 34

Josiah's good reign in Judah.

- As the years of infancy cannot be useful to our fellow-creatures, our earliest youth should be dedicated to God, that we may not waste any of the remaining short space of life. Happy and wise are those who seek the Lord and prepare for usefulness at an early age, when others are pursuing sinful pleasures, contracting bad habits, and forming ruinous connexions. Who can express the anguish prevented by early piety, and its blessed effects? Diligent self-examination and watchfulness will convince us of the deceitfulness and wickedness of our own hearts, and the sinfulness of our lives. We are here encouraged to humble ourselves before God, and to seek unto him, as Josiah did. And believers are here taught, not to fear death, but to welcome it, when it takes them away from the evil to come. Nothing hastens the ruin of a people, nor ripens them for it, more than their disregard of the attempts made for their reformation. Be not deceived, God is not mocked. The current and tide of affections only turns at the command of Him who raises up those that are dead in trespasses and sins. We behold peculiar loveliness, in the grace the Lord bestows on those, who in tender years seek to know and to love the Saviour. Hath Jesus, the Day-spring from on high, visited you? Can you trace your knowledge of this light and life of man, like Josiah, from your youth? Oh the unspeakable happiness of becoming acquainted with Jesus from our earliest years!

Cross References

• 1. 2 Kings 22:1, 2; Jeremiah 1:2; Jeremiah 3:6
• 2. 2 Chronicles 29:2
• 3. 2 Chronicles 15:2; Proverbs 8:17
• 4. 1 Kings 13:2; 2 Chronicles 33:22
• 5. 2 Kin 23:4, 5, 11
• 6. Exodus 32:20
• 7. 1 Kings 13:2; 2 Kings 23:20
• 8. 2 Kings 23:15, 19
• 9. 2 Chronicles 31:1
• 10. 2 Kings 22:3-20
• 11. 2 Chronicles 18:25
• 12. 2 Chronicles 35:8
• 13. 2 Chronicles 30:10, 18
• 14. 2 Chronicles 33:4-7
• 15. 2 Kings 12:15
• 16. 1 Chronicles 25:1
• 17. Nehemiah 4:10
• 18. 2 Chronicles 34:9
• 19. Deuteronomy 28:3-68
• 20. Joshua 7:6
• 21. 2 Chronicles 29:8
• 22. 2 Chronicles 36:14-20
• 23. Deuteronomy 28:15-68
• 24. 2 Chronicles 33:3
• 25. 2 Kings 22:19; 2 Chronicles 12:7; 2 Chronicles 32:26
• 26. 2 Kings 23:1-3
• 27. Nehemiah 8:1-3
• 28. 2 Kings 11:14; 2 Kings 23:3; 2 Chronicles 30:16
• 29. 2 Chronicles 23:16; 2 Chronicles 29:10
• 30. 2 Chronicles 34:3-7

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "guardians of the threshold"
• [b]. Lit "from the hand of"
• [c]. Lit "gave"
• [d]. Lit "returned"
• [e]. Lit "given into the hand of"
• [f]. In 2 Kin 22:12, "Achbor, son of Micaiah"
• [g]. So with Gr
• [h]. In 2 Kin 22:14 "Tikvah, son of Harhas"
• [i]. Lit "days"

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 34

This chapter begins with the good reign of Josiah, the reformation he made in the land, purging it from idolatry, 2Ch 34:1-7, relates the orders he gave to repair the house of the Lord, which was accordingly done, 2Ch 34:8-13, when the book of the law was found and brought to him, which greatly affected him, 2Ch 34:12-19, upon which he deputed some persons to inquire of the Lord, who did of Huldah the prophetess, to whom she gave an answer, which they returned to the king, 2Ch 34:20-28 and the chapter is concluded with an account of reading the book in the ears of all the people, and of the king, and then making a covenant with the Lord to serve him, 2Ch 34:27-33.

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