⁴ The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the high-ranking priests,^[a] and the guards^[b] to bring out of the Lord’s temple all the items that were used in the worship of^[c] Baal, Asherah, and all the stars of the sky.^[d] The king^[e] burned them outside of Jerusalem in the terraces^[f] of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. ⁵ He eliminated^[g] the pagan priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to offer sacrifices^[h] on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the area right around Jerusalem. (They offered sacrifices^[i] to Baal, the sun god, the moon god, the constellations, and all the stars in the sky.) ⁶ He removed the Asherah pole from the Lord’s temple and took it outside Jerusalem to the Kidron Valley, where he burned it.^[j] He smashed it to dust and then threw the dust in the public graveyard.^[k]