Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law

8 And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found ⁱthe Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. 9 And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord.” 10 Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.

11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, ^jhe tore his clothes. 12 And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and ^kAhikam the son of Shaphan, and ^lAchbor the son of ^lMicaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, 13 “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is ^mthe wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

14 So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of ⁿTikvah, son of ⁿHarhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in ^othe Second Quarter), and they talked with her. 15 And she said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, 16 Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. 17 ^pBecause they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore ^mmy wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. 18 But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, 19 ^qbecause your heart was penitent, and you ^rhumbled yourself before the Lord, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become ^sa desolation and ^ta curse, and you ^uhave torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. 20 Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and ^vyou shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.’” And they brought back word to the king.

Josiah’s Reforms

1 ^wThen the king sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him. 2 And the king went up to the house of the Lord, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And ^xhe read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant ^ythat had been found in the house of the Lord. 3 And the king stood ^zby the pillar and ^amade a covenant before the Lord, ^bto walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant.

4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests ^cof the second order and the keepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels made for ^dBaal, for ^eAsherah, and for all the host of heaven. ^fHe burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 And he deposed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and the moon and the constellations ^gand all the host of the heavens. 6 And he brought out ^hthe Asherah from the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, ⁱand burned it at the brook Kidron ^jand beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves ^kof the common people. 7 And he broke down the houses of ^lthe male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the Lord, ^mwhere the women wove hangings for ^hthe Asherah. 8 And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings, from ⁿGeba to Beersheba. And he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one’s left at the gate of the city. 9 ^oHowever, the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. 10 And he defiled ^pTopheth, which is ^qin the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, ^rthat no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to ^sMolech.¹ 11 And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts.² And he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12 And the altars ^ton the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars ^uthat Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, he pulled down and broke in pieces³ and cast the dust of them ^vinto the brook Kidron. 13 And the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of ^wthe mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for ^xAshtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for ^yChemosh the abomination of Moab, and for ^zMilcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 14 And he broke in pieces the ^apillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with the bones of men.

15 Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected ^bby Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^cwho made Israel to sin, ^dthat altar with the high place he pulled down and burned,⁴ reducing it to dust. He also burned the Asherah. 16 And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it, ^eaccording to the word of the Lord that the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things. 17 Then he said, “What is that monument that I see?” And the men of the city told him, ^f“It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted⁵ these things that you have done against the altar at Bethel.” 18 And he said, “Let him be; let no man move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones ^gof the prophet who came out of Samaria. 19 And Josiah removed all the shrines also of the high places that were ^hin the cities of Samaria, which kings of Israel had made, provoking the Lord to anger. He did to them according to all that he had done at Bethel. 20 And ⁱhe sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, ^jand burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Josiah Restores the Passover

21 And the king commanded all the people, ^k“Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, ^las it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 ^mFor no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem.

24 Moreover, Josiah put away ⁿthe mediums and the necromancers and ^othe household gods and ^pthe idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish ^qthe words of the law that were written in the book ^rthat Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. 25 ^sBefore him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.

26 Still the Lord did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, ^tbecause of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. 27 And the Lord said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight, ^uas I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, ^vand the house of which I said, My name shall be there.”

Pe

Greeting

1 Paul, ^aan apostle of Christ Jesus ^bby the will of God according to ^cthe promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus,

2 To Timothy, ^dmy beloved child:

^eGrace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Guard the Deposit Entrusted to You

3 ^fI thank God ^gwhom I serve, as did my ancestors, ^hwith a clear conscience, as I remember you ⁱconstantly in my prayers night and day. 4 ^jAs I remember your tears, ^kI long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of ^lyour sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and ^myour mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you ⁿto fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us ^oa spirit not of fear but ^pof power and love and self-control.

8 Therefore ^qdo not be ashamed of ^rthe testimony about our Lord, nor of ^sme his prisoner, but ^tshare in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, 9 ^uwho saved us and ^vcalled us to¹ a holy calling, ^wnot because of our works but because of ^vhis own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus ^xbefore the ages began,² 10 and which now has ^ybeen manifested through ^zthe appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, ^awho abolished death and ^bbrought life and ^cimmortality to light through the gospel, 11 ^dfor which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, 12 ^ewhich is why I suffer as I do. But ^fI am not ashamed, for ^gI know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until ^hthat day ⁱwhat has been entrusted to me.³ 13 ^jFollow ^kthe pattern of ^lthe sound⁴ words ^mthat you have heard from me, in ⁿthe faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 By the Holy Spirit ^owho dwells within us, guard ⁱthe good deposit entrusted to you.

15 You are aware that ^pall who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 May the Lord grant mercy to ^qthe household of Onesiphorus, for he often ^rrefreshed me and was not ashamed of ^smy chains, 17 but when he arrived in Rome ^the searched for me earnestly and found me— 18 may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on ^uthat day!—and you well know all the service he ^vrendered at Ephesus.

A Good Soldier of Christ Jesus

1 You then, ^wmy child, ^xbe strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and ^ywhat you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses ^zentrust to faithful men,^{5 a}who will be able to teach others also. 3 ^bShare in suffering as ^ca good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier ^dgets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. 5 ^eAn athlete is not ^fcrowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 It is ^gthe hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. 7 Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

8 Remember Jesus Christ, ^hrisen from the dead, the ⁱoffspring of David, ^jas preached in my gospel, 9 ^kfor which I am suffering, ^lbound with chains as a criminal. But ^mthe word of God is not bound! 10 Therefore ⁿI endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain ^othe salvation that is in Christ Jesus with ^peternal glory. 11 The saying is ^qtrustworthy, for:

for ^xhe cannot deny himself.

A Worker Approved by God

14 Remind them of these things, and ^ycharge them before God^{6 z}not to quarrel about words, ^awhich does no good, but only ruins the hearers. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,⁷ a worker ^bwho has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 16 But ^cavoid ^dirreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are ^eHymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have swerved from the truth, ^fsaying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. 19 But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: ^g“The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone ^hwho names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

20 Now in ⁱa great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, ^jsome for honorable use, some for dishonorable. 21 Therefore, ^kif anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable,⁸ he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ^lready for every good work.

22 So ^mflee ⁿyouthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with ^othose who call on the Lord ^pfrom a pure heart. 23 Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant ^qcontroversies; you know that they breed quarrels. 24 And ^rthe Lord’s servant⁹ must not be quarrelsome but ^skind to everyone, ^table to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents ^uwith gentleness. God ^vmay perhaps grant them repentance ^wleading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from ^xthe snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.