² By the word of the Lord he cried out against the altar: “Altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: ‘A son named Josiah^(A) will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places^(B) who make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.’”

³ In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God^(A) of his father David. In his twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of high places, Asherah poles and idols.