The Collection for the Priests^(A)

31 When the Passover celebration was finished, all the Israelites in Jerusalem went out to the towns of Judah. There they smashed the ·stone [sacred] pillars [^Cused in pagan worship]. They cut down the Asherah ·idols [poles; 14:3] and destroyed the altars and ·places for worshiping gods [^Lhigh places; 11:15] in all of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh. After they had destroyed all of them, the Israelites returned to their own towns and ·homes [properties].

⁴ He removed the ·places where gods were worshiped [^Lhigh places; 12:3]. He smashed the stone pillars and ·cut down [smashed; broke] the Asherah ·idols [poles; ^Ca sacred tree or pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah; 13:6]. Also the ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel] had been burning incense to Nehushtan, the bronze ·snake [serpent] Moses had made [Num. 21:9]. But Hezekiah broke it into pieces.

⁵ Hezekiah trusted 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. ⁶ Hezekiah ·was loyal [clung; held fast; remained faithful/devoted] to the Lord and did not ·stop [depart from] following him; he ·obeyed [kept] the commands the Lord had given Moses. ⁷ And the Lord was with Hezekiah, so he ·had success [prospered] in everything he did. He ·turned [rebelled] against the king of Assyria and stopped serving him [^Cstopped paying tribute]. ⁸ Hezekiah defeated the Philistines ·all the way to [as far as] Gaza and its ·borders [territory], ·including [from] the watchtowers and the ·strong, walled [fortified] cities.