Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem.
And he did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, and walked in the ways of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.
For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the Asherim, and the graven images, and the molten images.
And they brake down the altars of the Baalim in his presence; and the sun-images that were on high above them he hewed down; and the Asherim, and the graven images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strewed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.
And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and purged Judah and Jerusalem.
And so did he in the cities of Manasseh and Ephraim and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, {Or, as otherwise read, with their axes The Hebrew is obscure.}in their ruins round about.
And he brake down the altars, and beat the Asherim and the graven images into powder, and hewed down all the sun-images throughout all the land of Israel, and returned to Jerusalem.
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 the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the {Or, chronicler}recorder, to repair the house of Jehovah his God.
And they came to Hilkiah the high priest, and delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the keepers of the threshold, had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin, {Another reading is, and they returned to Jerusalem.}and of the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And they delivered it into the hand of the workmen that had the oversight of the house of Jehovah; and {Or, they gave it to the workmen &c. See 2 Kings 22:5.}the workmen that wrought in the house of Jehovah gave it to mend and repair the house;
even to the carpenters and to the builders gave they it, to buy hewn stone, and timber for couplings, and to make beams for the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed.
And the men did the work faithfully: and the overseers of them were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, {Or, to preside over it}to set it forward; and others of the Levites, all that were skilful with instruments of music.
Also they were over the bearers of burdens, and set forward all that did the work in every manner of service: and of the Levites there were scribes, and officers, and porters.
And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of Jehovah, Hilkiah the priest found the book of the law of Jehovah {Hebrew: by the hand of.}given by Moses.
And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of Jehovah. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan.
And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and moreover brought back word to the king, saying, All that was committed to thy servants, they are doing.
And they have {Or, poured out}emptied out the money that was found in the house of Jehovah, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and into the hand of the workmen.
And Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read therein before the king.
And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes.
And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and {In 2 Kings 22:12, Achbor the son of Micaiah.}Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying,
Go ye, inquire of Jehovah for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found; for great is the wrath of Jehovah that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of Jehovah, to do according unto all that is written in this book.
So Hilkiah, and they whom the king had commanded, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of {In 2 Kings 22:14, Tikvah.}Tokhath, the son of {In 2 Kings 22:14, Harhas.}Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the {Hebrew: Mishneh.}second quarter); and they spake to her to that effect.
And she said unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Tell ye the man that sent you unto me,
Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah.
Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore is my wrath poured out upon this place, and it shall not be quenched.
But unto the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of Jehovah, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: As touching the words which thou hast heard,
because thy heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and hast humbled thyself before me, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith Jehovah.
Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof. And they brought back word to the king.
Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.
And the king went up to the house of Jehovah, and all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, both great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of Jehovah.
And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah, 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 that were written in this book.
And he caused all that were found in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.
And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were found in Israel to serve, even to serve Jehovah their God. All his days they departed not from following Jehovah, the God of their fathers.
Querverweise zu 2. Chronika 34,13 2Chr 34,13
And, behold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber, twenty thousand {Hebrew: cors.}measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand {Hebrew: cors.}measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.
Of these, twenty and four thousand were to oversee the work of the house of Jehovah; and six thousand were officers and judges;
this Ezra went up from Babylon. And he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which Jehovah, the God of Israel, had given; and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of Jehovah his God upon him.
And, behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of Jehovah; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, in all the king's matters: also the Levites shall be officers before you. {Hebrew: Be strong and do.}Deal courageously, and Jehovah be with the good.
And he appointed, according to the ordinance of David his father, the courses of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their offices, to praise, and to minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required; the doorkeepers also by their courses at every gate: for so had David the man of God commanded.
And he set threescore and ten thousand of them to bear burdens, and fourscore thousand that were hewers in the mountains, and three thousand and six hundred overseers to set the people at work.
and four thousand were doorkeepers; and four thousand praised Jehovah with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith.
How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of Jehovah is with us? But, behold, the false pen of the scribes hath {Or, made of it falsehood}wrought falsely.
Of these, twenty and four thousand were to oversee the work of the house of Jehovah; and six thousand were officers and judges;
And the porters: Shallum, and Akkub, and Talmon, and Ahiman, and their brethren (Shallum was the chief),
And these were the chief officers of king Solomon, even two hundred and fifty, that bare rule over the people.
Then were gathered together the chief priests, and the elders of the people, unto the court of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas;
Of the Izharites, Chenaniah and his sons were for the outward business over Israel, for officers and judges.
and with them their brethren of the second degree, Zechariah, Ben, and Jaaziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, Eliab, and Benaiah, and Maaseiah, and Mattithiah, and Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, the doorkeepers.
And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall.
Of the Hebronites, Hashabiah and his brethren, men of valor, a thousand and seven hundred, had the oversight of Israel beyond the Jordan westward, for all the business of Jehovah, and for the service of the king.
and Obed-edom with their brethren, threescore and eight; Obed-edom also the son of Jeduthun and Hosah to be doorkeepers;
and with them Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those that should sound aloud, and with instruments for the songs of God; and the sons of Jeduthun to be at the gate.
For the courses of the doorkeepers: of the Korahites, {In verse 14, Shelemiah.}Meshelemiah the son of Kore, of the sons of {In chapter 9:19, Ebiasaph.}Asaph.
And Meshelemiah had sons: Zechariah the first-born, Jediael the second, Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth,
Elam the fifth, Jehohanan the sixth, Eliehoenai the seventh.
And Obed-edom had sons: Shemaiah the first-born, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, and Sacar the fourth, and Nethanel the fifth,
Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, Peullethai the eighth; for God blessed him.
Also unto Shemaiah his son were sons born, that ruled over the house of their father; for they were mighty men of valor.
The sons of Shemaiah: Othni, and Rephael, and Obed, Elzabad, whose brethren were valiant men, Elihu, and Semachiah.
All these were of the sons of Obed-edom: they and their sons and their brethren, able men in strength for the service; threescore and two of Obed-edom.
And Meshelemiah had sons and brethren, valiant men, eighteen.
Also Hosah, of the children of Merari, had sons: Shimri the chief, (for though he was not the first-born, yet his father made him chief),
Hilkiah the second, Tebaliah the third, Zechariah the fourth: all the sons and brethren of Hosah were thirteen.
Of these were the courses of the doorkeepers, even of the chief men, having {Or, wards over against their brethren}offices like their brethren, to minister in the house of Jehovah.
And they cast lots, as well the small as the great, according to their fathers' houses, for every gate.
And the lot eastward fell to {In verse 1, Meshelemiah.}Shelemiah. Then for Zechariah his son, a discreet counsellor, they cast lots; and his lot came out northward.
To Obed-edom southward; and to his sons the store-house.
To Shuppim and Hosah westward, by the gate of {That is, Casting forth.}Shallecheth, at the causeway that goeth up, watch against watch.
Eastward were six Levites, northward four a day, southward four a day, and for the store-house two and two.
For {Or, the precinct}Parbar westward, four at the causeway, and two at {Or, the precinct}Parbar.
These were the courses of the doorkeepers; of the sons of the Korahites, and of the sons of Merari.
And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinim, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.