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One-sentence summary: King Josiah of Judah does right in the Lord's sight and repents for the sins of Judah; he restores the book of the law and makes a covenant to obey it- destroying all the altars and high places- but the Lord still vows to punish and cut off Judah, only not in his lifetime.
Josiah becomes king at age eight and reigns 31 years in Jerusalem. He does what is right in the Lord's sight and walks in the way of David, not turning aside to the right or the left. In the 18th year of his reign, he sends a scribe to the house of the Lord to the high priest and asks him to count the money for the house of the Lord and give it to the overseers in the house- to give to those doing the work of the Lord who are repairing the damages, and for the materials. He says they do not need to even account for the money because "they deal faithfully." Hilkiah the high priest tells the scribe he has found the book of the law in the Lord's house, and he brings it to the king. H reads the words of the book of the law before the king, who tears his clothes and commands the priest, scribe, and a few others to inquire of the Lord concerning the book, because He says the Lord's wrath is against for not obeying all that is written in the book. They do this and go to a prophetess in Jerusalem, who she tells them that the Lord says He will bring calamity and all the words He has read on Judah, since they served other gods and provoked him to anger. The Lord says His anger will not be quenched. However, as for the king of Judah, because his heart was tender and he humbled himself before the Lord and tore his clothes and wept before Him, the Lord has heard him and will surely gather him to his fathers in peace; he will not see the calamity with his own eyes.
The king gathers all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem, and all the priests and prophets with the people, small and great, and he reads them all the words in the book of the covenant. He makes a covenant before the Lord to keep His commandments with all his heart and soul and to perform all the words of the covenant, and all the people agree. He also brings out all the articles of the false gods from the house of the Lord, and he burns them in Jerusalem. He removes the idolatrous priests that had been put in place and the wooden image from the house of the Lord and burns it and grinds it to ashes. He tears down the booths of the perverted person from the house of the Lord and breaks down all the high places at the gates. He is thorough in removing or destroying things consecrated to the false gods. He sees the tombs on the mountains and burns the bones of the tombs of the idolaters according to the word of the Lord that the man of God proclaimed. He inquires about a gravestone, and when he finds it is a man of God, he tells his men to let him alone and not move his bones or those of another prophet. Then, he returns to Jerusalem and commands the people to keep the passover, and it says that "such a passover had never been held since the day of the judges.. nor since the day of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah." He puts away all who consult mediums and spiritists and all who seek idols to perform all the words of the Lord. And it says there was no king like him before who turned to the Lord will his heart, soul, and might, according to all the law of Moses, nor was there one after him. Yet, the Lord still does not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath against Judah because of all the provocations with which Manasseh provoked Him. He says He will remove Judah from before Him like He did Israel.
Pharaoh king of Egypt helps the king of Assyria to wage war against another nation, and Josiah comes against him. Pharaoh kills him, and his servants bring him to Jerusalem and bury him. The people make his son Jehoahaz king in his father's place at 23. However, he reigns only three months in Jerusalem, because he does evil in God's sight. Pharaoh puts him in prison and imposes a tribute on the land. Then, Pharaoh makes Josiah's son Eliakim king in place of him and changes his name to Jehoiakim. He takes Jehoahaz to Egypt, and he dies there. Jehoiakim taxes the people to give tribute to Pharaoh. He is 25 years old when he becomes king, reigns 11 years, and does evil.
The story of Josiah is told twice, once in the book of the Kings and once in the book of Chronicles. It says he sought God in the eighth year of his reign while he was still young and that in his twelfth year, he began destroying all the altars and images. It says that in Josiah's days, he made all in Israel serve the Lord, and they did not depart from following Him all his days.
Josiah sets the priests in their place and tells the Levites to put the holy ark in the house which David built and to serve the Lord and the people and consecrate themselves, following the instructions of David and Solomon. He gives the laypeople lambs and goats to make offerings with from his own possession, and the leaders give willingly to the people, priests, and Levites. They hold a passover like had never been seen before. Then, the king of Egypt comes up to fight against a nation by the Euphrates, and Josiah goes to fight against him. Pharaoh tells him the Lord told him to make haste and fight and tells him not to meddle, but Josiah disguises himself and fights against him and is shot by an archer. The king asks his servants to take him away as he is severely wounded, and they bring him to Jerusalem where he dies, and Judah and Jerusalem mourn for him, along with the prophet Jeremiah.
Thoughts/discussion questions:
Thank God the Lord doesn't act according to our sins when we truly repent under the New Covenant, but there are consequences that can last for generations.