Editing Books of Kings (section)

=====Josiah and the religious reform (22:1–23:30)=====
Josiah begins his reign with a rebuilding of the Temple. During this effort, [[Hilkiah]], the high priest, finds a copy of the [[Book of Deuteronomy]] and has [[Shaphan]], the royal secretary, read it to the king. When Josiah hears the laws which have been broken, he becomes sorrowful and sends a delegation to the prophetess [[Huldah]] to ask what to do. Huldah tells the delegation that God will destroy Jerusalem, but not until after Josiah has died.

Josiah plans a ceremony to renew the [[Mosaic covenant]]. First, he reads to the people from the scroll and has them all renew the covenant. Then, he has Hilkiah remove all the objects dedicated to other gods from the Temple, burn them in the [[Kidron Valley]] and take the ashes to [[Bethel]]. Finally, he fires the priests of the other gods, desecrates the high places and gets rid of the male shrine prostitutes and weavers of Asherah in the temple.

While he is at Bethel, in the midst of destroying the tombs there, he finds the tomb of the prophet who prophesied his coming and spares it along with that of the Samarian prophet who had then tested him. He then instructs his people to celebrate [[Passover]], since its celebration had fallen out of use for many years. He gets rid of the [[Mediumship|mediums]] and spiritists. He is the best king in the history of Israel and Judah. Josiah goes to battle against [[Necho II]] of Egypt and the king of Assyria, but is defeated and killed by Necho at Megiddo.