Josiah was eight years old when he started to be king.

 

He did good and right in the eyes of God, like king David did. He did what God said, not the bad ones.

 

When He had been king for 18 years he sent men to count the gold and silver that people brought as presents to thank God for being so good to them.

 

 

 

Then king Josiah had the money given to workers to make new the house of God, to fix parts that were getting old and broken.

 

 

The high priest at the house of God found the book of God’s words in the house of God and took it to the king.

When the king heard the words of the book, he tore his clothes and sent men to ask the Lord about the words in the book because Israel had been doing bad and he thought God was angry.

 

A lady named Huldah was telling Israel the words from God at this time and so Josiah sent some men to talk to her.

She said to them, Tell the man who sent you, This is what the Lord God says, I will bring bad on this place, all the bad that I wrote to you would happen if you follow the bad ones.

Because the people have turned their backs to me and won’t listen to me but they burn sweet smoke to the bad ones, making me so angry with all the stuff they do.

 

 

But tell the king who sent you, Because your heart was soft and you made your heart low before Me when you heard the words from Me,

 

 

and you tore your clothes and cried tears before Me, I will let you finish your life quietly and safely before I bring the bad back on this people.

 

 

 

Your eyes won’t see the bad things that will happen.

 

 

 

The king called all the leaders of Israel together and they stood in God’s house.

 

 

 

They read all the words of God and promised together to follow only God and do his words only.

 

 

 

 

They took all the stuff of the bad ones out of God’s house and burned them by the brook

 

 

 

 

 

and smashed them all to nothing.

 

 

They took all the stuff of the bad ones where people bowed down to them in the city. They smashed them and burned them and threw their ashes in the brook.

Then they went through the whole land and burned and smashed to nothing all the stuff of the bad ones.

 

Then they had a big party in Jerusalem to remember how good the Lord God is and how He delivered them from being slaves in Egypt.

There was no king like Josiah who did as much of what God liked at Jerusalem, ever. He turned to God with all his heart and all his soul and all his strength.

 

 

But the Lord God still had to do His word against all the bad that the people and the other kings had done.

 

 

 

 

King Josiah died in a war and his son Jehoahaz was made king in his place.