1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 31 years.
2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He lived the way King David had lived. He didn't turn away from it to the right or the left.
3 While he was still young, he began to worship the God of King David. It was the eighth year of Josiah's rule. In his 12th year he began to get rid of the high places in Judah and Jerusalem. He removed the poles that were used to worship the goddess Asherah. He also removed the wooden and metal statues of gods.
4 He ordered the altars of the gods that were named after Baal to be torn down. He cut to pieces the altars for burning incense that were above them. He smashed the Asherah poles. He also smashed the wooden and metal statues of gods. He broke all of them to pieces. He scattered the pieces over the graves of those who had offered sacrifices to those gods.
5 He burned the bones of the priests on their altars. That's the way he made Judah and Jerusalem pure and clean.
6 He went to the towns of Manasseh, Ephraim and Simeon. He went all the way to Naphtali. He also went to the destroyed places around all of those towns.
7 Everywhere he went he tore down the altars and the Asherah poles. He crushed the statues of gods to powder. He cut to pieces all of the altars for burning incense. He destroyed all of those things everywhere in Israel. Then he went back to Jerusalem.