1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled thirty-one years from Jerusalem. His mother Jedidah was the daughter of Adaiah from Bozkath.
2 Josiah always obeyed the Lord, just as his ancestor David had done.
3 After Josiah had been king for eighteen years, he told Shaphan, one of his highest officials:Go to the Lord's temple
4 and ask Hilkiah the high priest to collect from the guards all the money that the people have donated.
5 Tell Hilkiah to give it to the men supervising the repairs to the temple. They can use some of the money to pay
6 the workers, and with the rest of it they can buy wood and stone for the repair work.
7 They are honest, so we won't ask them to keep track of the money.