²⁴ Do not bow down before their gods or worship^(A) them or follow their practices.^(B) You must demolish^(C) them and break their sacred stones^(D) to pieces.

³ Break down their altars, smash^(A) their sacred stones and burn^(B) their Asherah^(C) poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names^(D) from those places.

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])

³ In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God^(A) of his father David. In his twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of high places, Asherah poles and idols. ⁴ Under his direction the altars of the Baals were torn down; he cut to pieces the incense altars that were above them, and smashed the Asherah poles^(B) and the idols. These he broke to pieces and scattered over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.^(C)