2 Kings 23:4–8

JOSIAH’S REFORMS

⁴Then the king commanded the high priest Hilkiah^ad and the priests of the second rank^ae 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.^af He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel.^{ag 5}Then he did away with the idolatrous priests the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense at the high places^a in the cities of Judah and in the areas surrounding Jerusalem. They had burned incense to Baal, and to the sun, moon, constellations, and all the stars in the sky.^{b 6}He brought out the Asherah pole^c from the Lord’s temple to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem. He burned it at the Kidron Valley,^d beat it to dust,^e and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.^{Ef 7}He also tore down the houses of the male cult prostitutes^g that were in the Lord’s temple, in which the women were weaving tapestries^F for Asherah.^h

⁸Then Josiah brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and he defiled the high placesⁱ from Geba^j to Beer-sheba,^k where the priests had burned incense. He tore down the high places of the city gates at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city (on the left at the city gate).