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2 Kings 22-23

The Book Was Found

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The Book Was Found

2 Kings 22-23

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The Book Was Found

2 Kings 22-23

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About this song

About this song

This song belongs to the 2 Kings collection. 8 recordings are available to play here, with the complete lyrics below.

Bible book
2 Kings
Collection
2 Kings
[Verse 1] Workers repaired the neglected house, Silver was counted and placed in their hand. Hilkiah found what the years had concealed: The Book of the Law and the old command. Shaphan read words to the king in the chamber; Josiah tore garments and trembled with dread. Great wrath was kindled because their fathers Had not done all that the covenant said. [Chorus] The book was found, But the words found them. Dust left the scroll, And truth entered men. The book was found, And the king bowed low; What generations buried Began to overthrow. [Verse 2] Huldah confirmed that the judgment was coming, Yet Josiah's heart had been tender and torn. He gathered the elders and people together, Read every word from the night into morn. A covenant followed before the Lord's pillar; The people stood to it with voice and will. Idols were broken, high places polluted, False priests removed from the valley and hill. [Bridge] Passover rose as it had not for ages, Memory returned at the table of grace. No king before him turned with such devotion, With heart, soul, and might toward the covenant place. [Final Chorus] The book was found, And reform swept the land. Yet judgment long planted Still waited at hand. The book was found; Let every age know: Truth may lie covered, But never cease to glow.

Named in this songJosiah

About the passage

2 Kings 22: The repair work uncovers a greater breach

Josiah begins with a familiar problem: the temple needs repair. Money is gathered, trustworthy workers are paid, and carpenters, builders, and masons address the building's breaches. Then Hilkiah finds the book of the law, and the chapter's center of gravity shifts. Shaphan reads it to the king, Josiah tears his clothes, and what looked like a maintenance project becomes a covenant crisis. The delegation goes to Huldah, whose authority is accepted without hesitation in the account. Her first message confirms judgment on Jerusalem for abandonment of the LORD. Her second distinguishes Josiah's tender response, tears, and humility. He will not see the coming disaster, though the sentence itself remains. The reform to come therefore begins under a word that is both personally merciful and nationally unresolved.

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2 Kings 23: A covenant renewed before the judgment falls

Josiah takes the book out of the palace and makes its words public. King, priests, prophets, elders, and people hear the covenant, and the response becomes visible across the land. Temple vessels for rival worship are burned, high places are defiled, Topheth is disabled, solar objects and old royal altars are removed, and the reform reaches Bethel, where an oracle from 1 Kings 13 is fulfilled. Passover then shows the positive side of the covenant response, not merely the destruction of forbidden things. Josiah receives exceptional praise for turning to the LORD with heart, soul, and might. Then comes the chapter's terrible hinge: “Notwithstanding.” Judgment on Judah remains. Josiah dies at Megiddo, and his sons quickly fall under Egyptian control, ending the chapter with tribute, renaming, and a return to adverse royal assessments.

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