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Josiah
Succeeds Amon in Judah |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:1 |
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Josiah was eight years old when he became king,
and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:2 |
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He did right in the sight of the LORD, and walked
in the ways of his father David and did not turn aside to the right or to the
left. |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:3 |
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For in the eighth year of his reign while he
was still a youth, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth
year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, the
carved images and the molten images. |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:4 |
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They tore down the altars of the Baals in his
presence, and the incense altars that were high above them he chopped down; also
the Asherim, the carved images and the molten images he broke in pieces and ground
to powder and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:5 |
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Then he burned the bones of the priests on their
altars and purged Judah and Jerusalem. |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:6 |
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In the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon,
even as far as Naphtali, in their surrounding ruins, |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:7 |
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he also tore down the altars and beat the Asherim
and the carved images into powder, and chopped down all the incense altars throughout
the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem. |
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Josiah
Repairs the Temple |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:8 |
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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 an official of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to
repair the house of the LORD his God. |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:9 |
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They came to Hilkiah the high priest and delivered
the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the doorkeepers,
had collected from Manasseh and Ephraim, and from all the remnant of Israel, and
from all Judah and Benjamin and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:10 |
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Then they gave it into the hands of the workmen
who had the oversight of the house of the LORD, and the workmen who were working
in the house of the LORD used it to restore and repair the house. |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:11 |
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They in turn gave it to the carpenters and to
the builders to buy quarried stone and timber for couplings and to make beams
for the houses which the kings of Judah had let go to ruin. |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:12 |
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The men did the work faithfully with foremen
over them to supervise: Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites of the sons of Merari,
Zechariah and Meshullam of the sons of the Kohathites, and the Levites, all who
were skillful with musical instruments. |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:13 |
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They were also over the burden bearers, and
supervised all the workmen from job to job; and some of the Levites were scribes
and officials and gatekeepers. |
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Hilkiah
Discovers Lost Book of the Law |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:14 |
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When they were bringing out the money which
had been brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the book
of the law of the LORD given by Moses. |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:15 |
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Hilkiah responded and said to Shaphan the scribe,
"I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD." And Hilkiah gave
the book to Shaphan. |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:16 |
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Then Shaphan brought the book to the king and
reported further word to the king, saying, "Everything that was entrusted to your
servants they are doing. |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:17 |
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They have also emptied out the money which was
found in the house of the LORD, and have delivered it into the hands of the supervisors
and the workmen." |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:18 |
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Moreover, Shaphan the scribe told the king saying,
"Hilkiah the priest gave me a book." And Shaphan read from it in the presence
of the king. |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:19 |
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When the king heard the words of the law, he
tore his clothes. |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:20 |
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Then the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the
son of Shaphan, Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king's
servant, saying, |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:21 |
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"Go, inquire of the LORD for me and for those
who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book which has
been found; for great is the wrath of the LORD which is poured out on us because
our fathers have not observed the word of the LORD, to do according to all that
is written in this book." |
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Huldah,
the Prophetess, Speaks |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:22 |
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So Hilkiah and those whom the king had told
went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, the son
of Hasrah, the keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second
Quarter); and they spoke to her regarding this. |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:23 |
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She said to them, "Thus says the LORD, the God
of Israel, 'Tell the man who sent you to Me, |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:24 |
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thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am bringing evil
on this place and on its inhabitants, even all the curses written in the book
which they have read in the presence of the king of Judah. |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:25 |
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Because they have forsaken Me and have burned
incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works
of their hands; therefore My wrath will be poured out on this place and it shall
not be quenched."' |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:26 |
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But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire
of the LORD, thus you will say to him, 'Thus says the LORD God of Israel regarding
the words which you have heard, |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:27 |
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Because your heart was tender and you humbled
yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its
inhabitants, and because you humbled yourself before Me, tore your clothes and
wept before Me, I truly have heard you," declares the LORD. |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:28 |
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Behold, I will gather you to your fathers and
you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, so your eyes will not see all the
evil which I will bring on this place and on its inhabitants."'" And they brought
back word to the king. |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:29 |
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Then the king sent and gathered all the elders
of Judah and Jerusalem. |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:30 |
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The king went up to the house of the LORD and
all the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests, the Levites and
all the people, from the greatest to the least; and he read in their hearing all
the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD. |
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Josiah's
Good Reign |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:31 |
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Then 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 written in this book. |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:32 |
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Moreover, he made all who were present in Jerusalem
and Benjamin to stand with him. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according
to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. |
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| 2 Chronicles 34:33 |
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Josiah removed all the abominations from all
the lands belonging to the sons of Israel, and made all who were present in Israel
to serve the LORD their God. Throughout his lifetime they did not turn from following
the LORD God of their fathers. |
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