⁴ He removed^(A) the high places,^(B) smashed the sacred stones^(C) and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake^(D) Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.^[a])

⁵ Hezekiah trusted^(E) in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him.

¹⁵ The person with the Spirit^(A) makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,

⁷ “Be strong and courageous.^(A) Do not be afraid or discouraged^(B) because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him.^{(C) 8} With him is only the arm of flesh,^(D) but with us^(E) is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.”^(F) And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said.

31 When all this had ended, the Israelites who were there went out to the towns of Judah, smashed the sacred stones and cut down^(A) the Asherah poles. They destroyed the high places and the altars throughout Judah and Benjamin and in Ephraim and Manasseh. After they had destroyed all of them, the Israelites returned to their own towns and to their own property.