²⁴ Do not bow in worship to their gods, and do not serve them. Do not imitate their practices. Instead, demolish them^[a] and smash their sacred pillars to pieces.^(A)

³ Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn their Asherah poles, cut down the carved images of their gods, and wipe out their names from every^[a] place.^(A)

⁴ He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles.^(A) He broke into pieces the bronze snake that Moses made,^(B) for until then the Israelites were burning incense to it. It was called Nehushtan.^[a]

Josiah’s Reform

³ In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still a youth, Josiah began to seek the God of his ancestor David,^(A) and in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherah poles, the carved images,^(B) and the cast images. ⁴ Then in his presence the altars of the Baals were torn down, and he chopped down the shrines^[a] that were above them. He shattered the Asherah poles, the carved images, and the cast images, crushed them to dust, and scattered^(C) them over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.^(D)