1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right or to the left. 3 Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the scribe, Shaphan son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the house of the LORD, saying, 4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him count the money that has been brought into the house of the LORD, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people. 5 And let them deliver it into the hands of the supervisors of those doing the work on the house of the LORD, who in turn are to give it to the workmen repairing the damages to the house of the LORD— 6 to the carpenters, builders, and masons—to buy timber and dressed stone to repair the temple. 7 But they need not account for the money put into their hands, since they work with integrity.” 8 Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD!” And he gave it to Shaphan, who read it. 9 And Shaphan the scribe went to the king and reported, “Your servants have paid out the money that was found in the temple and have put it into the hands of the workers and supervisors of the house of the LORD.” 10 Moreover, Shaphan the scribe told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it in the presence of the king. 11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes 12 and commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the servant of the king: 13 “Go and inquire of the LORD for me, for the people, and for all Judah concerning the words in this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that burns against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book by doing all that is written about us.” 14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went and spoke to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the Second District. 15 And Huldah said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Tell the man who sent you 16 that this is what the LORD says: I am about to bring calamity on this place and on its people, according to all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read, 17 because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. My wrath will be kindled against this place and will not be quenched.’ 18 But as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, tell him that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘As for the words that you heard, 19 because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its people, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and because you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I have heard you,’ declares the LORD. 20 ‘Therefore I will indeed gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all the calamity that I will bring on this place.’” So they brought her answer back to the king.
2 Kings · Majority Standard Bible
2 Kings 22 Majority Standard Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Achbor
Son of Micaiah, one of those Josiah sent to inquire of the LORD about the Book of the Law.
Cited in the guide: 2 Kings 22:12; 2 Kings 22:14; 2 Chronicles 34:20
Adaiah
Named as the father of Jedidah, the mother of King Josiah.
Cited in the guide: 2 Kings 22:1
Ahikam
Son of Shaphan, sent by Josiah with Hilkiah to inquire of the LORD, and named as the father of Gedaliah.
Cited in the guide: 2 Kings 22:12; 2 Kings 22:14; 2 Kings 25:22
Asaiah
The servant of the king, sent with Hilkiah and others to inquire of the LORD about the Book of the Law.
Cited in the guide: 2 Kings 22:12; 2 Kings 22:14; 2 Chronicles 34:20
Azaliah
Named as the father of Shaphan the scribe and the son of Meshullam.
Cited in the guide: 2 Kings 22:3; 2 Chronicles 34:8
Harhas
Named as the father of Tikvah and grandfather of Shallum, Huldah's husband.
Cited in the guide: 2 Kings 22:14; 2 Chronicles 34:22
Hilkiah
High priest in Josiah's reign who found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD; 1 Chronicles 6:13 lists him as son of Shallum in Aaron's priestly line.
Cited in the guide: 2 Kings 22:4; 2 Kings 22:8; 2 Kings 22:12
Huldah
A prophetess living in Jerusalem's Second District, the wife of Shallum the keeper of the wardrobe, who told Josiah's envoys that calamity would come but that he would be gathered…
Cited in the guide: 2 Kings 22:14; 2 Kings 22:15; 2 Chronicles 34:22
Jedidah
Daughter of Adaiah from Bozkath and mother of King Josiah of Judah.
Cited in the guide: 2 Kings 22:1
Josiah
The boy king who rediscovered the Law and led Judah's last great reform.
Cited in the guide: 2 Kings 22-23; 2 Chron. 34-35; Matt. 1:10-11
Meshullam
Named as the father of Azaliah and grandfather of Shaphan the scribe.
Cited in the guide: 2 Kings 22:3
Micaiah
Named as the father of Achbor, one of Josiah's officials.
Cited in the guide: 2 Kings 22:12; 2 Chronicles 34:20
Shallum
Son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the keeper of the wardrobe and husband of the prophetess Huldah.
Cited in the guide: 2 Kings 22:14; 2 Chronicles 34:22
Shaphan
Son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe whom Josiah sent to Hilkiah and who read the newly found Book of the Law to the king.
Cited in the guide: 2 Kings 22:3; 2 Kings 22:8; 2 Kings 22:10
Tikvah
Named as the father of Shallum, Huldah's husband, and the son of Harhas.
Cited in the guide: 2 Kings 22:14; 2 Chronicles 34:22
Cross references (19)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Joshua 15:39; 2 Chronicles 34:1–33; Ecclesiastes 10:16; Matthew 1:10; 2 Kings 11:21
- 2 Deuteronomy 5:32; Joshua 1:7; 2 Kings 18:3; 1 Kings 3:6; 2 Chronicles 29:2
- 3 2 Chronicles 34:3–33
- 4 2 Kings 12:4; 1 Chronicles 26:13–19; 2 Chronicles 24:8–12; 2 Kings 12:8–11; 1 Chronicles 6:13
- 5 2 Kings 12:11–14; 2 Kings 12:5; 2 Chronicles 24:27; 2 Chronicles 24:12–13; Ezra 3:7
- 7 2 Kings 12:15; 1 Corinthians 4:2; 2 Corinthians 8:20–21; Proverbs 28:20; 2 Chronicles 24:14
- 8 Deuteronomy 31:24–26; 2 Chronicles 34:14–28
- 9 2 Kings 18:18; Jeremiah 40:11; Ezekiel 8:11; 2 Kings 22:12; Jeremiah 39:14
- 10 Jeremiah 36:21; Jeremiah 36:6; Deuteronomy 31:9–13; Nehemiah 8:18; Jeremiah 13:18
- 11 2 Chronicles 34:19; Joel 2:13; Jonah 3:6–7; 2 Kings 22:19; Jeremiah 36:24
- 12 Jeremiah 26:24; 2 Kings 25:22; 2 Kings 19:2–3; 2 Chronicles 34:19–21; Isaiah 37:1–4
- 13 Nehemiah 9:3; Deuteronomy 31:17–18; Jeremiah 37:17; James 1:22–25; Exodus 20:5
- 14 2 Chronicles 34:22; Judges 4:4; Luke 1:41–56; Zephaniah 1:10; Micah 6:4
- 15 Jeremiah 23:28; 2 Kings 1:6; 2 Kings 1:16
- 16 Daniel 9:11–14; Joshua 23:15; Deuteronomy 31:16–18; Deuteronomy 29:18–23; Deuteronomy 28:15–68
- 17 2 Kings 21:22; Isaiah 33:14; Psalm 115:4–8; Jeremiah 7:20; Jeremiah 17:27
- 18 Malachi 3:16–17; Isaiah 3:10; 2 Chronicles 34:26–28
- 19 Psalm 51:17; 1 Kings 21:29; Exodus 10:3; Isaiah 57:15; 1 Peter 5:5–6
- 20 Psalm 37:37; Isaiah 57:1–2; 1 Chronicles 17:11; Genesis 25:8; Jeremiah 22:15–16
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences