1. Josiah was eight years old when he had begun to reign, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem.
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. 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. 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. 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. Then too, in the cities of Manasseh, and of Ephraim, and of Simeon, even to Naphtali, he overturned everything.
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. 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. 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 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. 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. 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. Truly, scribes and teachers, from among the Levites who were porters, were over those who were carrying burdens for various uses.
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. 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. 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 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. After this, Hilkiah the priest gave to me this book." And when he had read it in the presence of the king,
19. and he had heard the words of the law, he tore his garments.
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 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."