This page gives you ready-made study questions for 2 Chronicles 34, the chapter where young King Josiah cleans up Judah’s worship, finds the lost book of the law, and leads the nation into a renewed covenant with God. Use it for a small group, a Sunday class, or your own personal reading. Each question comes with a leader’s note you can read aloud or adapt.
2 Chronicles 34 at a Glance
The chapter moves in three stages. First, Josiah begins to seek God at sixteen and, at twenty, starts tearing down idols and altars across Judah and the surrounding northern territories. Second, during repairs to the temple, the high priest Hilkiah discovers the book of the law, which is read to the king, who is shaken by how far the nation has drifted. Third, the king consults the prophetess Huldah, receives a word of judgment tempered by mercy for himself, and then gathers the people to renew the covenant.
The chapter is about what happens when a leader pays attention to God’s word. Repentance starts with the king, spreads to the people, and reshapes the whole nation’s practice of faith.
Observation Questions
Start here to get the group into the text. These questions ask what the chapter actually says before anyone begins to explain it. Read the passage slowly, and let people answer from the words on the page before offering opinions.
2 Chronicles 34:2
He did that which was right in the LORD’s eyes, and walked in the ways of David his father, and didn’t turn away to the right hand or to the left.
(WEB)
Read this at the start of the session to set the tone for the whole chapter. It describes Josiah as a king who did what was right and kept to the path of his godly ancestor David. It gives the group a clear picture of the kind of leader the story celebrates.
2 Chronicles 34:18-19
18 Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has delivered me a book.” Shaphan read from it to the king. 19 When the king had heard the words of the law, he tore his clothes.
(WEB)
These verses describe the moment the law is read to the king and his reaction to hearing it. Reading them aloud helps the group feel the weight of that scene and prepares them for the discussion of repentance that follows.
2 Chronicles 34:27
Because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God, when you heard his words against this place, and against its inhabitants, and have humbled yourself before me, and have torn your clothes, and wept before me, I also have heard you,” says the LORD.
(WEB)
This verse records God’s response to Josiah’s tender heart and humility. Reading it aloud reminds the group that God pays attention to the posture of the heart, and it opens the question of how mercy and judgment can both be present in one message.
2 Chronicles 34:30-31
30 The king went up to the LORD’s house, with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests, the Levites, and all the people, both great and small; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the LORD’s house. 31 The king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book.
(WEB)
These verses show the king reading the covenant publicly and committing to walk with the LORD. Reading them together helps the group see the public and personal sides of renewal, which is a good foundation for application questions.
2 Chronicles 34:33
Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that belonged to the children of Israel, and made all who were found in Israel to serve, even to serve the LORD their God. All his days they didn’t depart from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.
(WEB)
This verse closes the chapter with the summary that the people did not depart from following the LORD during Josiah’s days. Ending the reading on this note gives the group a hopeful picture of what faithful leadership can produce.
Memory Verse for 2 Chronicles 34
2 Chronicles 34:31
The king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book.
(WEB)
This verse captures the heart of the chapter in one sentence: a king who commits himself to walk after the LORD with all his heart. Memorizing it gives you a short, portable summary of Josiah’s covenant and a reminder to keep your own commitments wholehearted.
A Closing Prayer for the Group
Father, thank you for the story of Josiah and for showing us a leader who listened when your word was read to him. Soften our hearts the way you softened his, so that we respond with humility rather than defensiveness when your truth confronts us. Help us clear out whatever competes with our devotion to you, and give us the courage to read your word to the people around us. Make our commitments wholehearted, and let our faithfulness outlast the season of our own enthusiasm. Amen.
