³ In his eighth year as king while he was still young, Josiah began to ·obey [seek] the God of his ·ancestor [father] David. In his twelfth year as king, Josiah began to ·remove [purge; rid] from Judah and Jerusalem the ·places for worshiping gods [^Lhigh places; 11:15], the Asherah ·idols [poles; 14:3], and the ·wooden [carved] and ·metal [cast; molten] ·idols [images]. ⁴ The people tore down the altars for the Baal gods ·as Josiah directed [or in his presence]. Then Josiah cut down the incense altars that were above them. He broke up the Asherah ·idols [poles; 14:3] and the wooden and ·metal [cast; molten] idols and ·beat [ground; crushed] them into powder. Then he sprinkled the powder on the ·graves [tombs] of the people who had ·offered [sacrificed] sacrifices to these gods. ⁵ He burned the bones of their priests on their own altars. So Josiah ·removed idol worship from [purged; purified] Judah and Jerusalem, ⁶ and from the towns in the areas of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon all the way to Naphtali, and in the ·ruins [or regions] near these towns. ⁷ Josiah broke down the altars and Asherah ·idols [poles; 14:3] and ·beat [ground; crushed] the ·idols [carved images] into powder. He ·cut down [chopped up; smashed] all the incense altars in all of Israel. Then he went back to Jerusalem.