1. Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah, daughter of Adaiah, from Bozkath.
2. He did what was right in the Lord’s sight, walking in the way of David his father, not turning right or left.
3. In his eighteenth year, King Josiah sent the scribe Shaphan, son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, to the house of the Lord with these orders:
4. “Go to the high priest Hilkiah and have him calculate the valuables that have been brought to the house of the Lord, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people.
5. Then have him turn them over to the master workers in the house of the Lord, and have them give them to the ordinary workers who are in the house of the Lord to repair its breaches:
6. to the carpenters, the builders, and the masons, and to purchase wood and hewn stone.
7. No reckoning shall be asked of them regarding the funds provided to them, because they hold positions of trust.”
8. The high priest Hilkiah informed the scribe Shaphan, “I have found the book of the law in the temple of the Lord.” Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, who read it.
9. Then the scribe Shaphan went to the king and reported, “Your servants have smelted down the silver deposited in the temple and have turned it over to the master workers in the house of the Lord.”
10. The scribe Shaphan also informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book,” and then Shaphan read it in the presence of the king.