2 Chronicles 34

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Josiah was eight years old when he came to the throne, and he reigned for thirty-one years inJerusalem.	1 Josiah was eight years old when he had begun to reign, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem.
2 He did what is pleasing to Yahweh, and fol owed the example of his ancestor David, not deviatingfrom it to right or to left.	2 And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and he walked in the ways of his father David. He did not turn away, neither to the right, nor to the left.
3 In the eighth year of his reign, when he was still a youth, he began to seek the God of his ancestorDavid. In the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the sacred poles and thesculpted and cast images.	3 Now in the eighth year of his reign, when he was still a boy, he began to seek the God of his father David. And in the twelfth year after he had begun to reign, he cleansed Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the sacred groves, and the idols, and the graven images.
4 He superintended the smashing of the altars of Baal, he broke up the incense altars standing abovethem, he shattered the sacred poles and the sculpted and cast images and reduced them to powder, scatteringthe powder on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.	4 And in his sight, they destroyed the altars of the Baals, and they demolished the idols which had been set upon them. And then he cut down the sacred groves and crushed the graven images. And he scattered the fragments upon the tombs of those who had been accustomed to immolate to them.
5 He burned the bones of their priests on their altars and so purified Judah and Jerusalem.	5 And after that, he burned the bones of the priests upon the altars of the idols. And so did he cleanse Judah and Jerusalem.
6 In the towns of Manasseh, Ephraim and Simeon, as far as Naphtali, and round their open spaces,	6 Then too, in the cities of Manasseh, and of Ephraim, and of Simeon, even to Naphtali, he overturned everything.
7 he smashed the altars and sacred poles, reduced the sculpted images to powder and broke up al theincense altars throughout the territory of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.	7 And when he had destroyed the altars and the sacred groves, and had broken the idols to pieces, and when all the profane shrines had been demolished from the entire land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.
8 In the eighteenth year of his reign, after purging the country and the Temple, he commissionedShaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah governor of the city and the herald Joah son of Joahaz, to repair the Templeof Yahweh his God.	8 And so, in the eighteenth year of his reign, having now cleansed the land and the temple of the Lord, he sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah, the ruler of the city, and Joah, the son of Joahaz, the historian, to repair the house of the Lord his God.
9 When they came to the high priest Hilkiah, they handed over the money contributed to the Temple ofGod and col ected by the levitical guardians of the threshold from Manasseh and Ephraim, from all the rest of Israel, from al Judah and Benjamin, and from the inhabitants of Jerusalem.	9 And they went to Hilkiah, the high priest. And having accepted from him the money which had been brought into the house of the Lord, and which the Levites and porters had gathered together from Manasseh, and Ephraim, and the entire remnant of Israel, and also from all of Judah, and Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
10 They handed it over to the masters of works attached to the Temple of Yahweh, and these gave it tothe men working on the Temple of Yahweh to repair and restore the Temple;	10 they delivered it into the hands of those who were in charge of the workers in the house of the Lord, so that they might repair the temple, and restore whatever was weak.
11 they gave it to the craftsmen and builders for buying dressed stone and timber for beams, tounderpin the buildings which the kings of Judah had al owed to fall into decay.	11 And they gave it to the artisans and the stoneworkers, so that they might buy stones from the quarries, and wood for the joints of the building and for the upper floors the houses, which the kings of Judah had destroyed.
12 The men were conscientious in doing their work; their foremen were Jahath and Obadiah, Levitesdescended from Merari, and Zechariah and Meshul am, descended from Kohath, who supervised. The Levites --al of whom were skilled instrumentalists-	12 And they did everything faithfully. Now the overseers of the workers were Jahath and Obadiah, from the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, from the sons of Kohath, who were supervising the work. All were Levites who knew how to play musical instruments.
13 were in charge of the carriers and supervised al the workmen at their various jobs, while some of theLevites acted as secretaries, book-keepers and gatekeepers.	13 Truly, scribes and teachers, from among the Levites who were porters, were over those who were carrying burdens for various uses.
14 While bringing out the money contributed to the Temple of Yahweh, the priest Hilkiah found the bookof the Law of Yahweh given through Moses.	14 And when they carried out the money that had been brought into the temple of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the book of the law of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
15 Hilkiah then said to Shaphan the secretary, 'I have found the Book of the Law in the Temple ofYahweh.' And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan.	15 And he said to Shaphan, the scribe: “I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord.” And he delivered it to him.
16 Shaphan took the book to the king, reporting furthermore to him as fol ows, 'Your servants have doneeverything entrusted to them.	16 Then he took the volume to the king, and he reported to him, saying: “Behold, everything that you entrusted to your servants is completed.
17 They have melted down the silver which was in the Temple of Yahweh and have handed it over tothe supervisors and the masters of works.'	17 They have melted together the silver that was found in the house of the Lord. And it has been given to the overseers of the artisans and craftsmen for various works.
18 Shaphan the secretary also informed the king, 'The priest Hilkiah has given me a book'; andShaphan read extracts from it in the king's presence.	18 After this, Hilkiah the priest gave to me this book.” And when he had read it in the presence of the king,
19 On hearing the words of the Law, the king tore his clothes.	19 and he had heard the words of the law, he tore his garments.
20 Then the king gave the fol owing order to Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah,Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king's minister,	20 And he instructed Hilkiah, and Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Abdon, the son of Micah, and also Shaphan, the scribe, and Asaiah, the servant of the king, saying:
21 'Go and consult Yahweh on behalf of me and of those left in Israel and Judah about the words of thebook that has been discovered: for Yahweh's furious wrath has been pouring down on us because our ancestorsdid not obey the word of Yahweh by doing what this book says they ought to have done.'	21 “Go, and pray to the Lord for me, and for the remnant of Israel and Judah, concerning all the words of this book, which has been found. For the great fury of the Lord has rained down upon us, because our fathers did not keep the words of the Lord, to do all that has been written in this volume.”
22 Hilkiah and those whom the king had designated went to the prophetess Huldah wife of Shallum, sonof Tokhath, son of Hasrah, the keeper of the wardrobe; she lived in Jerusalem in the new town. They spoke toher about this,	22 Therefore, Hilkiah, and those who had been sent with him by the king, went to Huldah, the prophetess, the wife of Shallum, the son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, the keeper of the vestments. She was living in Jerusalem, in the second part. And they spoke to her the words which we explained above.
23 and she replied, 'Yahweh, God of Israel, says this, "To the man who sent you to me reply:	23 And she responded to them: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Tell the man who sent you to me:
24 Yahweh says this: I am going to bring disaster on this place and the people who live in it -- all thecurses set down in the book read in the king of Judah's presence.	24 Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will lead in evils over this place, and over its inhabitants, with all the curses that have been written in this book, which they have read before the king of Judah.
25 Because they have abandoned me and burnt incense to other gods, so as to provoke my anger bytheir every action, my wrath is about to be poured down on this place, and nothing can stop it.	25 For they have abandoned me, and they have sacrificed to foreign gods, so that they provoked me to wrath by all the works of their hands. Therefore, my fury will rain down upon this place, and it will not be extinguished.
26 As for the king of Judah who sent you to consult Yahweh, say this to him: Yahweh, God of Israel,says this: The words you have heard . . .	26 To the king of Judah, who sent you to petition before the Lord, so shall you speak: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Since you listened to the words of this volume,
27 But since your heart has been touched and you have humbled yourself before God on hearing whathe has decreed against this place and the people who live in it, have torn your clothes and wept before me, I toohave heard"-Yahweh says this.	27 and your heart was softened, and you humbled yourself in the sight of God concerning these things which have been said against this place and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and since, revering my face, you have torn your garments, and have wept before me: I also have heeded you, says the Lord.
28 "Look, when I gather you to your ancestors, you wil be gathered into your grave in peace; you wilnot live to see the great disaster that I am going to bring on this place and on the people who live in it." ' Theytook this answer to the king.	28 For now I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be brought into your sepulcher in peace. Neither shall your eyes see all the evil that I will lead in, over this place and over its inhabitants.” And so they took back to the king all that she had said.
29 The king then had al the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem summoned,	29 And he, calling together all those greater by birth of Judah and Jerusalem,
30 and the king went up to the temple of Yahweh, with al the men of Judah and al the inhabitants ofJerusalem, priests, Levites and al the people, high and low. In their hearing he read out the entire contents ofthe Book of the Covenant discovered in the Temple of Yahweh.	30 ascended to the house of the Lord, united with all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the Levites, and all the people, from the least even to the greatest. And in their hearing, in the house of the Lord, the king read all the words of the volume.
31 The king then, standing on the dais, bound himself by the covenant before Yahweh, to followYahweh, to keep his commandments, decrees and laws with al his heart and soul and to carry out the terms ofthe covenant as written in this book.	31 And standing up at his tribunal, he struck a covenant before the Lord, so that he would walk after him, and would keep his precepts and testimonies and justifications, with his whole heart and with his whole soul, and so that he would do the things that were written in that volume, which he had read.
32 He made al those present in Jerusalem and Benjamin pledge their al egiance to it. The citizens ofJerusalem took action in keeping with the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors,	32 Also, concerning this, he bound by oath all who had been found in Jerusalem and Benjamin. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem acted in accord with the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers.
33 while Josiah removed al the abominations throughout the territories belonging to the Israelites andrequired all inhabitants of Israel to serve Yahweh their God; throughout his lifetime they did not deviate fromfol owing Yahweh, God of their ancestors.	33 Therefore, Josiah took away all the abominations from all the regions of the sons of Israel. And he caused all who were remaining in Israel to serve the Lord their God. During all his days, they did not withdraw from the Lord, the God of their fathers.