2 Kings 22:1-20
22 Eight years old was Jo·siʹah+ when he began to reign, and for thirty-one years he reigned in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Je·diʹdah the daughter of A·daiʹah from Bozʹkath.+
2 And he proceeded to do what was right in Jehovah’s eyes+ and to walk in all the way of David his forefather,+ and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.+
3 And it came about in the eighteenth year of King Jo·siʹah that the king sent Shaʹphan+ the son of Az·a·liʹah the son of Me·shulʹlam the secretary* to the house of Jehovah, saying:
4 “Go up to Hil·kiʹah*+ the high priest,*+ and let him complete* the money+ that is being brought into the house of Jehovah+ that the doorkeepers+ have gathered from the people;
5 and let them put it into the hand of those doing the work,+ the appointed ones, in the house of Jehovah, that they may give it to those doing the work who are in the house of Jehovah to repair the cracks of the house,+
6 to the craftsmen and the builders and the masons, and to buy timbers and hewn stones to repair the house.+
7 Only no accounting should be taken of the money with them into whose hand it is being put,+ for it is in faithfulness+ that they are working.”
8 Later Hil·kiʹah+ the high priest* said to Shaʹphan+ the secretary:+ “The very book of the law+ I have found in the house of Jehovah.” So Hil·kiʹah gave the book to Shaʹphan, and he began to read it.
9 Then Shaʹphan the secretary came in to the king and replied to the king and said: “Your servants have poured out the money that was to be found in the house, and they keep putting it into the hand of the doers of the work, the ones appointed, in the house of Jehovah.”+
10 And Shaʹphan the secretary went on to tell the king, saying: “There is a book+ that Hil·kiʹah the priest has given me.” And Shaʹphan began to read it before the king.
11 And it came about that as soon as the king heard the words of the book of the law, he immediately ripped his garments apart.+
12 Then the king commanded Hil·kiʹah the priest and A·hiʹkam+ the son of Shaʹphan and Achʹbor the son of Mi·caiʹah and Shaʹphan the secretary and A·saiʹah+ the king’s servant, saying:
13 “Go, inquire+ of Jehovah in my own behalf and in behalf of the people and in behalf of all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is Jehovah’s rage+ that has been set afire against us over the fact that our forefathers+ did not listen to the words of this book by doing according to all that is written concerning us.”+
14 Accordingly Hil·kiʹah the priest and A·hiʹkam and Achʹbor and Shaʹphan and A·saiʹah went to Hulʹdah the prophetess+ the wife of Shalʹlum the son of Tikʹvah the son of Harʹhas, the caretaker of the garments,+ as she was dwelling in Jerusalem in the second quarter; and they proceeded to speak to her.+
15 In turn she said to them: “This is what Jehovah the God of Israel has said,+ ‘Say to the man that has sent YOU men to me:
16 “This is what Jehovah has said, ‘Here I am bringing calamity+ upon this place and upon its inhabitants,+ even all the words+ of the book that the king of Judah has read;+
17 due to the fact that they have left me and have gone making sacrificial smoke to other gods+ in order to offend me with all the work of their hands,+ and my rage has been set afire against this place and will not be extinguished.’”’+
18 And as to the king of Judah who is sending YOU to inquire of Jehovah, this is what YOU should say to him, ‘This is what Jehovah the God of Israel has said: “As regards the words that you have heard,+
19 for the reason that your heart+ was soft so that you humbled+ yourself because of Jehovah at your hearing what I have spoken against this place and its inhabitants [for it]* to become an object of astonishment and a malediction,+ and then you ripped+ your garments apart and began weeping before me, I, even I, have heard,” is the utterance of Jehovah.+
20 “That is why here I am gathering+ you to your forefathers, and you will certainly be gathered to your own graveyard* in peace,+ and your eyes will not look upon all the calamity that I am bringing upon this place.”’” And they proceeded to bring the king the reply.
Footnotes
^ Or, “the scribe.” Heb., has·so·pherʹ.
^ Meaning “My Portion Is Jehovah.” Heb., Chil·qi·yaʹhu.
^ “Complete,” M; T, “pour out.”
^ Lit., “the great priest,” MLXX; Lat., ponʹti·fex.
^ Or, “[for them].”
^ Lit., “burial places.”
