2 Kings 23:4-20

4Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, 1the priests of the second order, and the 2doorkeepers 3to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the utensils that had been made for Baal, for 4Asherah, and for all the heavenly 5lights; and 6he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5Then he did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem, as well as those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the remaining 7heavenly 8lights. 6He also brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord outside Jerusalem to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and 9ground it to dust, and 10threw its dust on the graves of the 11common people. 7And he tore down the cubicles of the 12male cult prostitutes which were in the house of the Lord, where 13the women were weaving 14hangings for the Asherah. 8Then he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from 15Geba to Beersheba; and he tore 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 one’s left at the city gate. 9Nevertheless 16the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. 1017He also defiled 18Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, 19so that no one would make his son or his daughter pass through the fire for 20Molech. 11And he did away with the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the 21sun, at the entrance of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the official, which was at the 22covered courtyard; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12The king also tore down 23the altars that were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and 24the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courtyards of the house of the Lord; and he 25smashed them there and 26threw their dust into the brook Kidron. 13And the king defiled the high places that were opposite Jerusalem, which were on the right of 27the mount of destruction which Solomon the king of Israel had built for 28Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for 29Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the sons of Ammon. 1430He also smashed to pieces the memorial stones and cut down the 31Asherim, and 32filled their places with human bones.

15Furthermore, 33the altar that was at Bethel and the 34high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who misled Israel into sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he tore down. Then he 35burned the high place, ground the remains to dust, and burned the Asherah. 16Now when Josiah turned, he saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent men and took the bones from the graves, and burned them on the altar and defiled it 36in accordance with the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, the one who proclaimed these things. 17Then he said, “What is this gravestone there that I see?” And the men of the city told him, “37It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel.” 18And he said, “Leave him alone; no one is to disturb his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed 38with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria. 19Then Josiah also removed all the houses of the high places which were 39in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had constructed, 40provoking the Lord to anger; and he did to them 41just as he had done in Bethel. 20And 42he slaughtered all the priests of the high places who were there on the altars, and burned human bones on them; then he returned to Jerusalem.