Josiah’s Reforms

⁴ Then the king commanded the high priest Hilkiah^(A) and the priests of the second rank^(B) and the doorkeepers to bring out of the Lord’s sanctuary all the articles made for Baal, Asherah, and all the stars in the sky.^(C) He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel.^(D)

⁶ He brought out the Asherah pole^(A) from the Lord’s temple to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem. He burned it at the Kidron Valley,^(B) beat it to dust,^(C) and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.^[a](D)