Josiah Repairs the Temple

³ In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent the court secretary Shaphan son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, to the Lord’s temple,^(A) saying, ⁴ “Go up to the high priest Hilkiah so that he may total up the silver brought into the Lord’s temple—the silver the doorkeepers have collected from the people.^{(B) 5} It is to be given to those doing the work—those who oversee the Lord’s temple. They in turn are to give it to the workmen in the Lord’s temple to repair the damage.^{(C) 6} They are to give it to the carpenters, builders, and masons to buy timber and quarried stone to repair the temple.^{(D) 7} But no accounting is to be required from them for the silver given to them since they work with integrity.”^(E)

The Book of the Law Found

⁸ The high priest Hilkiah told the court secretary Shaphan, “I have found the book of the law^(F) in the Lord’s temple,” and he gave the book to Shaphan, who read it.

⁹ Then the court secretary Shaphan went to the king and reported,^[a] “Your servants have emptied out the silver that was found in the temple and have given it to those doing the work—those who oversee the Lord’s temple.” ¹⁰ Then the court secretary Shaphan told the king, “The priest Hilkiah has given me a book,” and Shaphan read it in the presence of the king.^(G)

¹¹ When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes.^{(H) 12} Then he commanded the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam^(I) son of Shaphan, Achbor^(J) son of Micaiah, the court secretary Shaphan, and the king’s servant Asaiah, ¹³ “Go and inquire of the Lord for me, for the people, and for all Judah about the words in this book that has been found. For great is the Lord’s wrath that is kindled against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this book in order to do everything written about us.”^(K)

Huldah’s Prophecy of Judgment

¹⁴ So^(L) the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the prophetess^(M) Huldah, wife of Shallum son of Tikvah,^(N) son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem in the Second District.^(O) They spoke with her.

Josiah’s Repair of the Temple

⁸ In the eighteenth year of his reign,^(A) in order to cleanse the land and the temple, Josiah sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, along with Maaseiah the governor^(B) of the city and the court historian Joah son of Joahaz, to repair the temple of the Lord his God.

⁹ So they went to the high priest Hilkiah^(C) and gave him the silver brought into God’s temple. The Levites and the doorkeepers had collected it from Manasseh, Ephraim,^(D) and from the entire remnant of Israel, and from all Judah, Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ They gave it to those doing the work—those who oversaw the Lord’s temple. They gave it to the workmen who were working in the Lord’s temple, to repair and restore the temple; ¹¹ they gave it to the carpenters and builders and also used it to buy quarried stone and timbers—for joining and making beams—for the buildings that Judah’s kings had destroyed.

¹² The men were doing the work with integrity. Their overseers were Jahath and Obadiah, Levites from the Merarites, and Zechariah and Meshullam from the Kohathites as supervisors. The Levites were all skilled with musical instruments.^{(E) 13} They were also over the porters and were supervising all those doing the work task by task. Some of the Levites were secretaries, officers, and gatekeepers.

The Recovery of the Book of the Law

¹⁴ When they brought out the silver that had been deposited in the Lord’s temple, the priest Hilkiah found the book of the law of the Lord written by the hand of Moses.^{(F) 15} Consequently,^(G) Hilkiah told the court secretary Shaphan, “I have found the book of the law in the Lord’s temple,” and he gave the book to Shaphan.

¹⁶ Shaphan took the book to the king, and also reported, “Your servants are doing all that was placed in their hands. ¹⁷ They have emptied out the silver that was found in the Lord’s temple and have given it to the overseers and to those doing the work.” ¹⁸ Then the court secretary Shaphan told the king, “The priest Hilkiah gave me a book,” and Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.^(H)

¹⁹ When the king heard the words of the law, he tore his clothes.^{(I) 20} Then he commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, the court secretary Shaphan, and the king’s servant Asaiah,

³ He sent the letter with Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah,^(A) whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The letter stated: