2 Kings 23:4–8

Reforms under Josiah

⁴Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and ^athe priests of the second order and the ¹doorkeepers, ^bto bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, for ²Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and ^che burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel.

⁵He did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem, also those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the constellations and to all the ^ahost of heaven.

⁶He brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord outside Jerusalem to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and ^aground it to dust, and ^bthrew its dust on the graves of the ¹common people.

⁷He also broke down the houses of the ^amale cult prostitutes which were in the house of the Lord, where ^bthe women were weaving ¹hangings 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 ^aGeba to Beersheba; and he broke down the high places of the gates which were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one’s left at the city gate.