¹³ Tear down their altars; smash their sacred stones, and cut down their asherahs.^[a]

⁴ It was he who removed the high places, shattered the pillars, cut down the asherah,^[a] and smashed the bronze serpent Moses had made, because up to that time the Israelites were burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.)^(A)

¹⁴ He broke to pieces the pillars, cut down the asherahs, and filled the places where they had been with human bones.^(A)

¹⁵ Likewise the altar which was at Bethel, the high place built by Jeroboam, son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin—this same altar and high place he tore down and burned, grinding the high place to powder and burning the asherah.^(B)

² He removed the illicit altars and the high places, smashed the sacred pillars, and cut down the asherahs.

⁶ Thus he was encouraged^[a] to follow the Lord’s ways, and once again he removed the high places and the asherahs from Judah.^(A)

Chapter 31

Liturgical Reforms. ¹ After all this was over, those Israelites who had been present went forth to the cities of Judah and smashed the sacred pillars, cut down the asherahs, and tore down the high places and altars throughout Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh, until they were all destroyed.^(A) Then the Israelites returned to their cities, each to his own possession.

⁴ In his presence, the altars of the Baals were torn down; the incense stands erected above them he broke down; the asherahs and the carved and molten images he smashed and beat into dust, which he scattered over the tombs of those who had sacrificed to them;