ll ye the man that sent you to Me, Thus saith the Lord,
Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants
thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath
read; because they have forsaken Me, and have burnt incense unto other
gods . . . My wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not
be quenched. But to the king of Judah, which sent you to inquire of
the Lord, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
as touching the words which thou hast heard; because thine heart was
tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou
heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants
thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast
rent thy clothes, and wept before Me; I also have heard thee, saith the
Lord. Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou
shall be gathered into thy grave in peace: and thine eyes shall not see
all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the
king word again."

How King Josiah conducted himself after this message I need not
describe at any length. We have heard it in the First Lesson of this
Service[18]. He assembled all Judah at Jerusalem, and publicly read
the words of the Book of the Law, then he made all the people renew the
covenant with the God of their fathers; then he proceeded more exactly
in the work of reformation in Judah and Israel, keeping closely to the
directions of the Law; and after that he held his celebrated passover.
Thus his greater knowledge was followed by stricter obedience: his
accurate attention to the whole ritual is the very praise bestowed on
his passover; "Surely there was not holden such a passover from the
days of the judges[19]." Whatever he did, he did it with all his
heart: "Like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the
Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might,
according to all the Law of Moses[20]."

Passing by the particulars of his reformation, let us come to the
fulfilment of the promise made to him by Huldah, as the reward of his
obedience. "Behold therefore, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and
thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall
not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place." His reward
was an early death; the event proved that it was a violent one also.
The king of Egypt came up against the king of Assyri