4. The king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring out of the Lord’s temple all the vessels that were made for Baal, for the Asherah, and for all the army of the sky, and he burnt them outside of Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel.
5. He got rid of the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places around Jerusalem; those also who burnt incense to Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the army of the sky.
6. He brought out the Asherah from the Lord’s house, outside of Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burnt it at the brook Kidron, and beat it to dust, and cast its dust on the graves of the common people.
7. He broke down the houses of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the Lord’s house, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah.
8. He brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burnt incense, from Geba to Beersheba; and he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man’s left hand at the gate of the city.
9. Nevertheless the priests of the high places didn’t come up to the Lord’s altar in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread amongst their brothers.
10. He defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.
11. He took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the Lord’s house, by the room of Nathan Melech the officer, who was in the court; and he burnt the chariots of the sun with fire.
12. The king broke down the altars that were on the roof of the upper room of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the Lord’s house, and beat them down from there, and cast their dust into the brook Kidron.
13. The king defiled the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mountain of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon.
14. He broke in pieces the pillars, cut down the Asherah poles, and filled their places with men’s bones.
15. Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he broke down; and he burnt the high place and beat it to dust, and burnt the Asherah.
16. As Josiah turned himself, he spied the tombs that were there in the mountain; and he sent, and took the bones out of the tombs, and burnt them on the altar, and defiled it, according to the Lord’s word which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things.
17. Then he said, “What monument is that which I see?”The men of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God, who came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that you have done against the altar of Bethel.”
18. He said, “Let him be! Let no one move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria.