3In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his ancestor David. In the twelfth year, he started to purify Judah and Jerusalem by removing the high places, the Asherah poles, the carved images, and the cast idols.
4In his presence, they tore down the altars of the Baals, and he cut down the incense altars that were above them. He shattered the Asherah poles, the carved images, and the cast idols, crushing them into powder, and he scattered the dust over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.
5He burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and he purified Judah and Jerusalem.
6He did the same in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, in their ruins all around.
7He tore down the altars and the Asherah poles, smashed the carved images into powder, and cut down all the incense altars throughout the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
8In the eighteenth year of his reign, to cleanse the land and the temple, he sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the city governor, and Joah son of Joahaz, the recorder, to restore the house of the LORD his God.