Hilkiah

3And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of the LORD, saying,

In the eighteenth year that Josiah was king, he sent a man named Shaphan to the temple. Shaphan was a scribe, someone who wrote and kept records. He was the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam. The king told him:

4Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the silver which is brought into the house of the LORD, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people:

"Go to Hilkiah, the high priest, the leader of all the priests. Ask him to count the money brought into the LORD's temple. The men who guard the doors have collected it from the people."

5And let them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work, that have the oversight of the house of the LORD: and let them give it to the doers of the work which is in the house of the LORD, to repair the breaches of the house,

"Then give the money to the men in charge of the work on the temple. They will pay the workers who are fixing the broken parts of the building."

6Unto carpenters, and builders, and masons, and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house.

"The money is for the carpenters, the builders, and the stone workers. It also buys wood and cut stone to fix the temple."

7Howbeit there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand, because they dealt faithfully.

"No one needs to check how the workers spend the money. They are honest men."

8And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.

Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, "I have found the Book of the Law in the temple!" He gave the book to Shaphan, and Shaphan read it.

9And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the house of the LORD.

Shaphan the scribe went back to the king with a report. He said, "Your servants have taken the money that was in the temple. We gave it to the men in charge of the work."

10And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.

Then Shaphan told the king something else. He said, "Hilkiah the priest gave me a book." And Shaphan read the book out loud to the king.

11And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.

The king listened to the words of the Book of the Law. When he heard them, he tore his clothes to show how upset he was.

12And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king’s, saying,

Then the king gave an order to five men. They were Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Michaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah, one of the king's servants. He said:

13Go ye, enquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.

"Go and ask the LORD what this book means for me, for the people, and for all Judah. The LORD is very angry with us. Our fathers did not obey the words of this book. They did not do what it says we should do."

14So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college;) and they communed with her.

So Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asahiah went to see Huldah. Huldah was a prophetess, a woman who told people what God said. She was married to Shallum, who took care of the king's clothes. Shallum was the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas. Huldah lived in Jerusalem, in the second part of the city. The men talked with her.

15And she said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me,

Huldah said to them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says. Tell the man who sent you to me:"

16Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read:

"This is what the LORD says. I am going to bring trouble on this place and on the people here. It will happen just as the book says, the book the king of Judah read."

17Because 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 kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.

"They have left me. They have burned incense to other gods. All the idols they made with their hands have made me angry. So my anger will burn against this place, and no one will put it out."

18But to the king of Judah which sent you to enquire of the LORD, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard;

"But the king of Judah sent you to ask the LORD a question. Tell him this. The LORD, the God of Israel, says about the words you heard:"

19Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the LORD.

"Your heart was soft, and you bowed low before the LORD. You heard me say that this place would be empty and ruined. You tore your clothes and cried in front of me. So I have heard you, says the LORD."

20Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.

"I will let you die and join your family who died before you. You will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the trouble I will bring on this place." The men took her answer back to the king.

4And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.

The king gave an order to Hilkiah, the chief priest. He also spoke to the priests who helped him and to the men who guarded the doors. He told them to carry out of the temple every object made for false gods. These were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for the sun, moon, and stars. He burned them outside the city in the fields of Kidron. Then he had the ashes taken to the town of Bethel.

5And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.

Josiah got rid of the priests who served false gods. Earlier kings of Judah had picked them. They burned sweet-smelling incense at worship spots on hills. They did this in the towns of Judah and around Jerusalem. Some of them burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, and to the stars.

6And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.

He took the Asherah pole out of the LORD's house. He carried it outside the city to the Kidron valley. There he burned it and ground it into fine dust. Then he threw the dust on the graves of ordinary people.

7And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove.

He tore down the rooms next to the LORD's house where men sold their bodies as part of false worship. Women had woven cloth there for the goddess Asherah.

8And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man’s left hand at the gate of the city.

Josiah brought all the priests in from the towns of Judah. He ruined the hilltop worship spots where those priests had burned incense. He did this everywhere, from the town of Geba to the town of Beersheba. He also tore down the altars by the gate of Joshua, the ruler of the city. That gate stood at the left side of the city entrance.

9Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren.

Those hilltop priests were not allowed to serve at the LORD's altar in Jerusalem. But they did eat flat bread made without yeast, along with the other priests.

10And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.

He also ruined the place called Topheth, in the valley of Ben-hinnom. Now no one could burn his son or daughter there as a gift to the god Molech.

11And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

Kings of Judah had set apart horses to honor the sun. They stood near the entrance to the LORD's house, by the room of an official named Nathan-melech. Josiah took the horses away. He burned up the chariots that were used to honor the sun.

12And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, did the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.

Kings of Judah had built altars on the roof by the upper room of Ahaz. Manasseh had built altars in the two courtyards of the LORD's house. King Josiah pulled all of them down. He smashed them and threw the pieces into the Kidron valley.

13And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.

There were hilltop worship spots east of Jerusalem, south of the hill called the Mount of Corruption. King Solomon had built them long ago for three false gods. He built one for Ashtoreth, the hated god of the Sidonians. He built one for Chemosh, the hated god of Moab. He built one for Milcom, the hated god of Ammon. King Josiah ruined all of them.

14And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.

He smashed the stone pillars to pieces. He cut down the Asherah poles. Then he covered those places with human bones.

8Now 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.

It was now his eighteenth year as king. The land and the temple were clean. Josiah sent three men to fix up the house of the LORD his God. They were Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the leader of the city, and Joah son of Joahaz, who kept the records.

9And 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.

They went to Hilkiah the high priest, the chief priest at the temple. They gave him the money people had brought into God's house. The Levites, the men who worked at the temple, had collected it at the doors. It came from the people of Manasseh and Ephraim and everyone left in Israel. It also came from Judah, Benjamin, and Jerusalem.

10And 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 wrought in the house of the LORD, to repair and amend the house:

They handed the money to the men in charge of the temple work. Those men paid the workers who were fixing the house of the LORD.

11Even to the artificers and builders gave they it, to buy hewn stone, and timber for couplings, and to floor the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed.

They gave money to the carpenters and builders. It paid for cut stone and for wooden beams. Earlier kings of Judah had let those buildings fall apart.

12And 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 set it forward; and other of the Levites, all that could skill of instruments of musick.

The men did the work honestly. Two Levites named Jahath and Obadiah watched over them. They came from the family of Merari. Zechariah and Meshullam from the family of Kohath watched over them too. Other Levites who were skilled at playing music helped as well.

13Also they were over the bearers of burdens, and were overseers of all that wrought the work in any manner of service: and of the Levites there were scribes, and officers, and porters.

They were in charge of the men who carried heavy loads. They watched over every job that was being done. Some of the Levites were writers, some were officers, and some guarded the gates.

14And 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.

The workers were carrying out the money kept in the LORD's house. While they did, Hilkiah the priest found a book. It was the Book of the Law of the LORD, written down by Moses.

15And 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.

Hilkiah said to Shaphan the scribe, the man who read and wrote for the king, "I have found the Book of the Law in the LORD's house!" Then he handed the book to Shaphan.

16And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying, All that was committed to thy servants, they do it.

Shaphan carried the book to the king. He also told him, "Your servants are doing everything you gave them to do."

17And 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.

"They have paid out the money that was found in the LORD's house. They gave it to the men in charge and to the workers."

18Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.

Then Shaphan told the king, "Hilkiah the priest gave me a book." And Shaphan read it out loud to the king.

19And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes.

When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes.

20And 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’s, saying,

Then the king gave an order to Hilkiah and to Ahikam son of Shaphan. He also spoke to Abdon son of Micah, to Shaphan the scribe, and to his servant Asaiah.

21Go, enquire 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 after all that is written in this book.

He said, "Go and ask the LORD about the words in this book that was found. Ask for me and for everyone still left in Israel and Judah. The LORD is very angry with us. Our fathers did not keep his word or do what this book says."

22And Hilkiah, and they that 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 they spake to her to that effect.

So Hilkiah and the men the king chose went to see Huldah. She was a prophetess, a woman who told people what God said. Her husband was Shallum son of Tokhath, son of Hasrah, who took care of the robes. Huldah lived in Jerusalem, in the newer part of the city. They told her what the king had said.

23And she answered them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Tell ye the man that sent you to me,

She answered them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says. Go and tell the man who sent you:"

24Thus saith 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:

"This is what the LORD says. I am going to bring trouble on this place and on the people here. Everything bad written in that book will happen. The king of Judah heard those words read out loud."

25Because 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.

"They have left me. They have burned incense to other gods. Everything they made with their hands has made me angry. So my anger will pour out on this place, and no one will stop it."

26And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire of the LORD, so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel concerning the words which thou hast heard;

"But the king of Judah sent you to ask the LORD. Tell him this from the LORD, the God of Israel, about the words he heard:"

27Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD.

"Your heart was soft, and you were sorry in front of God. You heard what I said against this place and its people. You bowed low before me, tore your clothes, and cried. So I have heard you, says the LORD."

28Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought the king word again.

"I will let you die and join your family in peace. You will be buried before the trouble comes. Your eyes will not see the hard things I will bring on this place and its people." So the men took her answer back to the king.

7And Josiah gave to the people, of the flock, lambs and kids, all for the passover offerings, for all that were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bullocks: these were of the king’s substance.

Josiah gave the people 30,000 lambs and young goats for the Passover offerings. He gave 3,000 bulls too. Every animal came from his own flocks and herds.

8And his princes gave willingly unto the people, to the priests, and to the Levites: Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God, gave unto the priests for the passover offerings two thousand and six hundred small cattle, and three hundred oxen.

His leaders gave gladly to the people, the priests, and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel were in charge of God's house. They gave the priests 2,600 sheep and goats and 300 bulls.

9Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel, his brethren, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave unto the Levites for passover offerings five thousand small cattle, and five hundred oxen.

Conaniah gave too, with his brothers Shemaiah and Nethaneel. So did Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad, who led the Levites. They gave the Levites 5,000 sheep and goats and 500 bulls.