6 He did the same in the citiesy of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far as Naphtali and on their surrounding mountain shrines.E 7 He tore down the altars, and he smashed the Asherah poles and the carved images to powder. He chopped down all the shrines throughout the land of Israel and returned to Jerusalem.z

JOSIAH’S REPAIR OF THE TEMPLE

8 In the eighteenth year of his reign,a in order to cleanse the land and the temple, Josiah sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, along with Maaseiah the governorb of the city and the court historian Joah son of Joahaz, to repair the temple of the Lord his God.

9 So they went to the high priest Hilkiahc and gave him the silver brought into God’s temple. The Levites and the doorkeepers had collected it from Manasseh, Ephraim,d and from the entire remnant of Israel, and from all Judah, Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.