Josiah

1A man of God came from Judah to a town called Bethel. God had sent him there. King Jeroboam was standing by the altar, burning incense.

And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.

NoteA "man of God" means a prophet, someone who tells people what God says. Judah was the southern part of the land, where King David's family ruled. Bethel was a town in the northern part, ruled by King Jeroboam. An altar is a special stone table where gifts were burned for God. Incense is a sweet-smelling powder that people burned as a gift.

2The man shouted at the altar the words God gave him. He said, "Altar, altar, listen to what God says. A boy named Josiah will be born in King David's family. He will kill the priests of these hilltop worship places on you. They are the priests who burn incense on you. He will burn people's bones on you."

And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee.

Note"The house of David" means King David's family, his children and grandchildren. Josiah was not born yet. He would come along about three hundred years later. The "hilltop worship places" were spots on hills where people worshiped. Kings of Judah were supposed to worship only at the temple in Jerusalem. Burning dead people's bones on an altar made it dirty. Nobody would ever use it again.

3That same day the man gave a sign to prove it. He said, "God says this will happen. The altar will split open. The ashes on it will spill out."

And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.

NoteA sign is something that happens to show a message is true.

4King Jeroboam heard the man shout against the altar. He pointed his hand at him and said, "Grab that man!" But his hand dried up and went stiff. He could not pull it back.

And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.

NoteHis hand "dried up" means it went thin and stiff, like a dry stick. He could not bend it or move it.

5Then the altar split open. The ashes spilled out, just as the man of God had said.

The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD.

6The king said to the man of God, "Please ask your God to help me. Pray that my hand will be well again." The man prayed to God. The king's hand became well, just like before.

And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the LORD thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.

7Then the king said, "Come home with me and eat. I will give you a gift."

And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.

NoteIn those days, eating a meal at someone's house meant you were friends. The king wanted the man of God to be his friend.

8The man of God said, "Even if you gave me half of all you own, I would not come. I will not eat bread or drink water here.

And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place:

Note"Half thine house" means half of everything the king owned. "Bread and water" is a way of saying any food or drink at all.

9God told me not to eat bread or drink water here. He also said not to go home the same way I came."

For so was it charged me by the word of the LORD, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.

10So the man went home a different way. He did not use the road he took to Bethel.

So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.

23Amon's own servants made a secret plan against him. They killed the king in his house.

And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew the king in his own house.

NoteThese servants were men who worked close to the king in his house. They planned the killing in secret.

24But the people of the land killed everyone who had plotted against King Amon. Then they made his son Josiah the new king.

And the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.

Note"The people of the land" means the ordinary families who owned land in Judah. They stepped in and chose the next king themselves.

25The other things Amon did are written down. You can read them in the record book of the kings of Judah.

Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

26Amon was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza. His son Josiah became king after him.

And he was buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.

NoteA tomb was a room cut into rock. Dead bodies were laid there and the door was closed with a stone.

1Josiah was eight years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for thirty-one years. His mother was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah from Boscath.

Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath.

NoteKings often took the throne as children. Grown-up helpers ruled with them until they were older. Josiah was king of Judah, a small country. Jerusalem was its main city.

2Josiah did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. He lived the way his ancestor King David had lived. He did not turn away from God's path, not even a little.

And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.

NoteDavid was a famous king who lived long before Josiah. People remembered him as a king who loved God. Josiah was part of his family, many years later.

3In the eighteenth year that Josiah was king, he sent a man named Shaphan to the temple. He was the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam. The king told him:

And 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,

NoteA scribe was a man who could read and write. Most people could not do either. Scribes wrote letters and kept records for the king. The temple was the special building in Jerusalem where people worshiped God.

4"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."

Go 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:

NoteThe King James Bible says "silver" here. There were no coins yet. People paid with pieces of silver, weighed on a scale. Families brought silver to the temple as a gift to God.

5"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."

And 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,

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

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

NoteThe temple had been standing for hundreds of years. Old buildings crack and crumble. Workers needed wood and cut stone to mend it.

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

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

1King Josiah sent out a message. All the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem came to him.

And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.

NoteJudah was the southern part of Israel. Jerusalem was its main city. The leaders were the older men who helped run the towns.

2The king went up to the LORD's house, the temple. Everyone went with him. The men of Judah came, and all who lived in Jerusalem. The priests came, and the prophets, who were men who told people what God said. Every person came, young and old, important and not. The king read out loud the whole book that had been found in the temple. It held the words of God's agreement with his people.

And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.

NoteThe temple was God's special house in Jerusalem. People came there to worship. Priests were the men whose job was to lead that worship. The book they found was very old. It held the rules God gave his people through Moses long ago. It had been lost inside the temple for many years.

3The king stood by the pillar. He made a promise to the LORD in front of everyone. He would follow the LORD and keep all his commands and rules. He would do this with his whole heart and his whole self. He promised to do everything written in the book. All the people promised the same thing.

And the king stood by a pillar, 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 their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.

NoteThe pillar was a tall stone post in the temple. The king stood there so everyone could see him.

4The 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.

And 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.

NoteBaal and Asherah were false gods. People in nearby lands worshiped them. Some people in Judah did too. "The host of heaven" means the sun, moon, and stars. Some people worshiped them as gods. Kidron was a valley just outside the city wall. Bethel was a town to the north.

5Josiah 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. Others burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, and to the stars.

And 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.

NoteIncense is a sweet-smelling powder. People burned it as a gift to a god. "High places" were worship spots built on hills. People went there instead of the temple.

6He 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.

And 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.

NoteAn Asherah pole was a tall wooden pole. It was carved and set up for the goddess Asherah. Throwing the dust on graves made it dirty. After that nobody would want to use it again.

7He 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.

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

8Josiah 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.

And 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.

NoteGeba was far north in Judah. Beersheba was far south. Saying both means he did this everywhere in the land. To ruin a place here means to make it dirty and unfit. Then no one would worship there anymore.

9Those 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.

Nevertheless 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.

NoteFlat bread without yeast was part of the priests' food. Priests were given a share of the food people brought to God.

10He 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.

And 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.

NoteMolech was a false god. Some people burned their own children as gifts to him. Topheth was the spot where they did this. It was in a valley just outside Jerusalem.

11Kings 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.

And 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.

NoteThe horses were gifts given to honor the sun as a god. A chariot is a small cart pulled by horses.

12Kings 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.

And 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.

NoteAhaz and Manasseh were kings of Judah long before Josiah. Houses then had flat roofs. People could climb up and worship the stars there.

13There 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.

And 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.

NoteSolomon was a famous king long before. He built the first temple. The Sidonians, Moabites, and Ammonites lived in lands nearby. Each one had its own god. The Mount of Corruption was a hill east of the city.

14He smashed the stone pillars to pieces. He cut down the Asherah poles. Then he covered those places with human bones.

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

NoteStone pillars were tall standing stones set up for false gods. Dead people's bones made a place unclean by their rules. So no one would worship there again.

15There was an altar at Bethel too. Jeroboam son of Nebat had built it, and he had led Israel into sin. Josiah pulled down that altar and the worship spot with it. He burned the worship spot and ground it into fine dust. He burned the Asherah pole as well.

Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove.

NoteJeroboam was the first king of the northern part of Israel. He set up places to worship that were not the temple.

16Then Josiah turned and saw tombs on the hillside. He sent men to take the bones out of them. He burned the bones on the altar to make it unfit to use. This is just what a man of God had said would happen long before.

And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.

NoteA tomb is a place where dead people are buried. A "man of God" means a prophet, someone who told people what God said.

17The king asked, "What is that stone marker I see?" The men of the city said, "That is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah. He said long ago that you would do these things to the altar at Bethel."

Then he said, What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel.

18Josiah said, "Leave him alone. No one is to touch his bones." So they left his bones alone, and also the bones of the prophet from Samaria who was buried with him.

And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.

NoteSamaria was the land to the north, and also a city there.

19Kings of Israel had built shrines at hilltop worship spots in the towns of Samaria. Those shrines had made the LORD angry. Josiah took them all away. He did to them just what he had done at Bethel.

And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel.

NoteA shrine is a small building made for worshiping a god.

20He killed all the priests of those hilltop spots on their own altars. He burned human bones on the altars. Then he went back to Jerusalem.

And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men’s bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.

21The king gave an order to all the people. He said, "Hold the Passover meal for the LORD your God. Do it the way the book of the agreement says."

And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the LORD your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant.

NotePassover was a special meal held once a year. It helped people remember when God brought Israel out of Egypt.

22No Passover like this had been held for a very long time. Not since the days of the judges, the leaders who ruled Israel before there were kings. None of the kings of Israel or Judah had held one like it.

Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;

23But now, in the eighteenth year that Josiah was king, this Passover was held for the LORD in Jerusalem.

But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to the LORD in Jerusalem.

24Josiah also got rid of people who claimed to speak with the dead or tell the future. He got rid of the little house gods and the idols. He removed every hated thing found in Judah and in Jerusalem. He did this to obey the words written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had found in the LORD's house.

Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.

NoteSome people said they could talk to the dead. Others said they could tell what would happen next. House gods were small statues people kept in their homes. Idols are statues people bow down to and worship.

25There was never a king like Josiah before him. He turned to the LORD with his whole heart, his whole self, and all his strength. He followed everything in the law of Moses. And no king like him came after him either.

And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.

NoteThe law of Moses is the rules God gave through Moses. They were written down in books.

26Even so, the LORD did not turn away from his great anger. He was still angry with Judah because of all the wrong things Manasseh had done.

Notwithstanding the LORD turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal.

NoteManasseh was Josiah's grandfather. He was king for many years and worshiped false gods.

27The LORD had said, "I will push Judah away from me, just as I pushed Israel away. I will turn away from Jerusalem, the city I chose. I will turn away from the temple, where I said my name would be."

And the LORD said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.

28The other things Josiah did are written down in another book. It is the record book of the kings of Judah.

Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

NoteKings kept record books. Someone wrote down what each king did.

29In Josiah's time, Pharaoh Neco, the king of Egypt, marched north to the Euphrates River. He went to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah went out to stop him. Neco met him at Megiddo and killed him there.

In his days Pharaohnechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he slew him at Megiddo, when he had seen him.

NotePharaoh was the title for the king of Egypt, like the word king. Assyria was a strong country far to the northeast. The Euphrates is a very big river there. Megiddo was a town in the north of Israel.

30Josiah's servants carried his body from Megiddo in a chariot. They brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. Then the people of the land chose his son Jehoahaz. They poured oil on him to show he was the new king. He took his father's place.

And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s stead.

Note"The people of the land" means the leading families of Judah. Pouring oil on a new king's head was the way to show he was chosen.

1Josiah was only eight years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for thirty-one years.

Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years.

2He did what was right to the LORD. He lived the way his ancestor David had lived. He did not turn away from God's path to either side.

And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left.

NoteDavid was a famous king who lived long before Josiah. He was Josiah's grandfather's grandfather, many times over.

3In his eighth year as king, Josiah was still young. He began to look for the God his ancestor David served. In his twelfth year he started cleaning up Judah and Jerusalem. He got rid of the hilltop worship spots and the Asherah poles. He also got rid of carved idols and idols poured from metal.

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 groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.

NoteA high place was a spot on a hill for worshiping other gods. An Asherah pole was a wooden pole set up for a goddess. An idol is a statue that people pray to like a god.

4His men tore down the altars used for the Baals while he watched. The Baals were false gods. He cut down the incense altars set above them. He smashed the Asherah poles and all the idols to bits. He ground them into dust. Then he threw the dust on the graves of the people who had brought them gifts.

And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.

NoteBaal was a god that people near Israel prayed to. An altar is a stone table where gifts were given to a god. Incense is sweet-smelling smoke burned as a gift.

5He burned the bones of the idol priests on their own altars. In this way he made Judah and Jerusalem clean again.

And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.

NoteBurning bones on an altar made that altar dirty. After that, no one would want to use it again.

6Josiah did the same thing in the towns of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon. He went as far north as Naphtali. He worked through the broken-down places all around them.

And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about.

NoteThese are names of parts of the land. Each part was named after one family of Israel.

7He tore down the altars and the Asherah poles. He crushed the idols into powder. He cut down every incense altar in the whole land of Israel. Then he went back to Jerusalem.

And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.

8It 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.

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.

NoteThe house of the LORD was the temple in Jerusalem. It was a big stone building where people worshiped God.

9They 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.

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.

NotePeople brought money to the temple as a gift to God. It was kept there until it was needed.

10They 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.

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

11They 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.

Even 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.

NoteCut stone means stone shaped flat so it fits in a wall. Beams are long, strong pieces of wood that hold up a roof.

12The 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.

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

NoteThe Levites all came from one big family of Israel. Their job was helping at the temple. Merari and Kohath were smaller families inside that family.

13They 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.

Also 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.

14The 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.

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.

NoteThe Book of the Law held God's rules for his people. Moses was their leader long, long before Josiah was born. The book had been lost for many years.

15Hilkiah 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.

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.

16Shaphan carried the book to the king. He also told him, "Your servants are doing everything you gave them to do."

And 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.

17"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."

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.

18Then Shaphan told the king, "Hilkiah the priest gave me a book." And Shaphan read it out loud to the king.

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

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

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

NoteTearing your clothes showed everyone that you were very sad. People did this when something terrible happened.

20Then 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.

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’s, saying,

21He 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."

Go, 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.

NoteTo ask the LORD, you went to a prophet. A prophet was a person who told others what God said. "Our fathers" means the people who lived before them.

22So 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.

And 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.

NoteTaking care of the robes was a real job. He looked after special clothes for the king or the temple. The newer part was one section of the city.

23She answered them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says. Go and tell the man who sent you:"

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

24"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."

Thus 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:

25"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."

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.

NoteIncense is sweet-smelling smoke. Burning it was a way of giving a gift to a god.

26"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:"

And 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;

27"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."

Because 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.

NoteA soft heart means he was ready to listen. He was truly sorry about what was wrong.

28"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.

Behold, 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.

NoteJoining your family meant being buried where they were buried. It was a gentle way of saying he would die first.

29Then the king sent word and called together all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem.

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

NoteThe leaders were the older men of the towns. People went to them for help with big choices.

30The king went up to the house of the LORD. All the people of Judah and Jerusalem came with him. The priests, the Levites, and all the people came, big and small. He read to them every word of the Book of the Covenant. That book held God's agreement with his people, and it had been found in the LORD's house.

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 ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the LORD.

NoteA covenant is a very serious promise between two sides. "Big and small" here means everyone, young and old.

31The king stood in his place. He made a promise to the LORD in front of everyone. He would follow the LORD and keep his commands and his rules. He would do it with his whole heart and his whole life. He would do everything the agreement in the book said.

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.

NoteThe king had a special spot where he stood in the temple. Everyone could see him there.

32Then he had everyone in Jerusalem and Benjamin agree to the promise too. And the people of Jerusalem did what God's agreement said. He was the God their fathers had served.

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.

33Josiah took away every hateful idol from all the lands that belonged to Israel. He had everyone in Israel serve the LORD their God. As long as Josiah lived, the people kept following the LORD, the God of their fathers.

And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained 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.

NoteHateful idols were statues of other gods. God had told his people not to keep them.