Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law

8 ^yAnd Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the 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, he tore his clothes. 12 And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and ^zAhikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, 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 the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to ^ado according to all that is written concerning us.”

14 ^bSo Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the ^cprophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the ^dSecond 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, ^eBehold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, ^fall the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. 17 Because they have ^gforsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my 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 because your heart was penitent, and you ^hhumbled yourself before the Lord, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have 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 ⁱyou 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 ^jThen 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 he ^kread in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord. 3 And the king ^lstood by the pillar and ^mmade a covenant before the Lord, to ⁿwalk 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 of the ^osecond order and the ^pkeepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven. He ^qburned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to ^rBethel. 5 And he deposed the ^spriests 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 ^tburned incense to Baal, to the ^usun and the moon and the constellations and all the host of the heavens. 6 And he brought out the Asherah ^vfrom the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron and beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves of the common people. 7 And he broke down the houses of the ^wmale cult prostitutes who were in the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the 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 Geba 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 However, 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 ^xTopheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no one might ^yburn his son or his daughter as an offering ^zto Molech.¹ 11 And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the ^asun, 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 ^bon the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and ^cthe altars that 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 into the brook Kidron. 13 And the king defiled ^dthe high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 14 And he broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with the bones of men.

15 Moreover, the ^ealtar at Bethel, the high place erected by Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, that 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, ^faccording 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, “It is the tomb of the ^gman 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, ^hwith the bones of the ⁱprophet who came out of Samaria. 19 And Josiah removed all the ^jshrines also of the high places that were in 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 he ^ksacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Josiah Restores the Passover

21 ^lAnd the king commanded all the people, “Keep the ^mPassover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who ⁿjudged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. 23 But in the ^oeighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem.

24 Moreover, Josiah put away the ^pmediums and the necromancers and the household gods and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. 25 ^qBefore him there was no king like him, ^rwho ^sturned 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, because of all the provocations with which ^tManasseh had provoked him. 27 And the Lord said, “I will ^uremove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have ^vchosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, ^wMy name shall be there.”

Pe

Greeting

1 Paul, an ^aapostle of Christ Jesus ^bby the will of God according to the ^cpromise of the life that is in Christ Jesus,

2 To Timothy, my beloved ^dchild:

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

Guard the Deposit Entrusted to You

3 ^fI thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a ^gclear conscience, as I ^hremember you ⁱconstantly in my prayers ^jnight and day. 4 As I remember ^kyour tears, ^lI long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your ^msincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in ⁿyour grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the ^ogift of God, which is in you through the ^playing on of my hands, 7 for God gave us ^qa spirit not of fear but of power and love and ^rself-control.

8 Therefore do not be ^sashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his ^tprisoner, but ^ushare in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, 9 who saved us and ^vcalled us to¹ a holy calling, ^wnot because of our works but because of his own ^xpurpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus ^ybefore the ages began,² 10 and which now has been ^zmanifested through the ^aappearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished ^bdeath and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11 for which I was ^cappointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, 12 which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and ^dI am convinced that ^ehe is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.³ 13 ^fFollow the pattern of the ^gsound⁴ words that you have heard from me, ^hin the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 By the Holy Spirit who ⁱdwells within us, guard the good deposit ^jentrusted to you.

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

A Good Soldier of Christ Jesus

1 You then, my child, ⁿbe strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses ^oentrust to faithful men,⁵ who will be able to teach others also. 3 ^pShare in suffering as a good ^qsoldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. 5 An athlete is not ^rcrowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 ^sIt is the 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, ^trisen from the dead, the ^uoffspring of David, as preached in my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. ^vBut the word of God is not bound! 10 Therefore I ^wendure everything ^xfor the sake of the ^yelect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 11 ^zThe saying is trustworthy, for:

for he cannot deny himself.

A Worker Approved by God

14 Remind them of these things, and ^dcharge them before God⁶ not to ^equarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. 15 Do your best to ^fpresent yourself to God as one approved,⁷ a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the ^gword of truth. 16 But ^havoid ⁱirreverent babble, for it will lead people into ^jmore and more ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are ^kHymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have ^lswerved from the truth, ^msaying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. 19 But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: ⁿ“The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who ^onames the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

20 Now in a great ^phouse there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, ^qsome for honorable use, some for dishonorable. 21 Therefore, ^rif 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, ^sready for every good work.

22 So ^tflee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, ^ulove, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 23 Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant ^vcontroversies; you know that they breed quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant⁹ must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 ^wcorrecting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the ^xsnare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.