56 When they found the Law scrolls, they tore them to pieces and burned them.
57 If anyone was caught in possession of a copy of the covenant scroll or if anyone kept to the Law, that person was condemned to death by royal decree.
58 They were unrelenting in attacking Israelites, all those who were identified as law-observant month after month throughout the towns.
59 On the twenty-fifth day of the month they offered sacrifice on the altar built over the altar for entirely burned offerings.
60 In keeping with the decree, they killed women who had circumcised their sons.
61 They hanged the infant boys from their mothers’ necks. The king’s agents also killed the families of the women as well as those who had performed the circumcisions.
62 But many in Israel stood strong, and they resolved in their hearts not to eat impure food.