Josiah Reigns in Judah (2 Chronicles 34:1–2)
1 UST Josiah was 8 years old when he became the king of Judah. He ruled from Jerusalem for 31 years. His mother was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah. She was from the city of Bozkath. BSB BSB: Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath.
2 UST Josiah did things that pleased Yahweh. He behaved in the same godly manner as his ancestor King David had behaved. He did not behave differently at all. BSB BSB: And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.
Funding the Temple Repairs (2 Chronicles 34:8–13)
3 UST After Josiah had been ruling for almost eighteen years, he sent his secretary Shaphan, whose father was Azaliah and whose grandfather was Meshullam, to Yahweh’ s temple. He told him, BSB BSB: Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the scribe, Shaphan son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the house of the LORD, saying,
4 UST “The priests who supervise the courtyard entrance have collected money from the people and brought it into the temple. Go and tell the high priest Hilkiah to get that money, count it, and put it in bags. BSB BSB: “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him count the money that has been brought into the house of the LORD, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people.
5 UST Tell him to give the money to the men who are supervising the work of repairing the temple. They are to use it to pay the men who are doing the actual work of making the repairs that the temple needs. BSB BSB: And let them deliver it into the hands of the supervisors of those doing the work on the house of the LORD, who in turn are to give it to the workmen repairing the damages to the house of the LORD—
6 UST They must use it to pay carpenters and builders and masons and to buy timber and stones that workers have shaped. The skilled workers will use that timber and stone to repair the temple.” BSB BSB: to the carpenters, builders, and masons—to buy timber and dressed stone to repair the temple.
7 UST The men who supervise the work are completely honest. So you do not need to require them to report how they spend the money you give them. BSB BSB: But they need not account for the money put into their hands, since they work with integrity.”
Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law (2 Chronicles 34:14–21)
8 UST { So Shaphan did that, and later} Hilkiah reported to him,“I have found a scroll in the temple that records the laws that God gave to Moses.” Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan, and he read it. BSB BSB: Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD!” And he gave it to Shaphan, who read it.
9 UST Then Shaphan went to King Josiah and told him,“I gave the priests your instructions, and they have emptied the chest in which they were collecting money for the temple. They have given the money to the men who are supervising the work of repairing the temple.” BSB BSB: And Shaphan the scribe went to the king and reported, “Your servants have paid out the money that was found in the temple and have put it into the hands of the workers and supervisors of the house of the LORD.”
10 UST Then Shaphan also told the king,“Hilkiah gave me this scroll.” And Shaphan read to the king what the scroll recorded. BSB BSB: Moreover, Shaphan the scribe told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it in the presence of the king.
11 UST When the king heard the laws that Shaphan was reading to him from the scroll, he tore his robes{ to show how concerned he was that Yahweh would punish the Judeans}. BSB BSB: When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes
12 UST Then King Josiah gave special instructions to Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Akbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan his royal secretary, and Asaiah, his special advisor. He told them, BSB BSB: and commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the servant of the king: 13 UST “Now that Hilkiah has found this scroll, I want you to go and ask Yahweh what I and the people of Jerusalem and the rest of Judah should do about what it says. Our ancestors did not obey the commandments that this scroll records. They should have done everything that Moses wrote we should do. So Yahweh must be very angry with us.” BSB BSB: “Go and inquire of the LORD for me, for the people, and for all Judah concerning the words in this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that burns against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book by doing all that is written about us.”
Huldah’s Prophecy (2 Chronicles 34:22–28)
14 UST So Hilkiah, Ahikam, Akbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to consult a woman whose name was Huldah. She was a prophetess, and she lived in the Second Quarter of Jerusalem. She was married to Shallum, whose father was Tikvah and whose grandfather was Harhas. Shallum took care of the garments that the priests wore in the temple. Those five men told Huldah about the scroll that Hilkiah had found. BSB BSB: So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went and spoke to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the Second District.
15 UST In response, she told them,“Yahweh, the God whom we Israelites worship, says that wants you to say something to the man who sent you to me. BSB BSB: And Huldah said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Tell the man who sent you
16 UST Yahweh says that he is going to make something terrible happen to this city and to the people who live here. He is going to punish them in the way that the scroll King Josiah read describes. BSB BSB: that this is what the LORD says: I am about to bring calamity on this place and on its people, according to all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read,
17 UST He is going to do that because they stopped worshiping him and burned incense to{ honor} other gods. They made many idols, and that made him very angry. He is so angry with them that he is going punish them. BSB BSB: because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. My wrath will be kindled against this place and will not be quenched.’
18 UST But there is something further that you are to tell the king of Judah, who sent you to ask Yahweh about what the scroll said. Yahweh, the God whom we Israelites worship, says that BSB BSB: But as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, tell him that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘As for the words that you heard,
19 UST he is going to treat him mercifully. Yahweh will do that because he was so sad and he acted humbly toward me when he heard what Yahweh said he was going to do to punish this city and the people who live here. Yahweh said that he was going to do something so terrible that it would horrify people. People would curse other places by saying they wanted them to become like Jerusalem. But when King Josiah heard that, he wept and tore his robes{ to show his distress}. He knew that Yahweh was watching him. That is why Yahweh declares that he is going to treat him mercifully. BSB BSB: because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its people, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and because you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I have heard you,’ declares the LORD.
20 UST Yahweh wants you to tell Josiah that because he was sorry for the sins of Judah, Yahweh is going to allow him to die peacefully. The Judeans will bury him in the same place where people buried his ancestors. Yahweh is still going to cause something terrible to happen to Jerusalem and the people who live in it. But Josiah will not be alive to see that.” The officials returned to King Josiah and reported what Huldah had told them. BSB BSB: ‘Therefore I will indeed gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all the calamity that I will bring on this place.’” So they brought her answer back to the king.
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