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1 Then the king summoned all the elders of Judah (praised) and Jerusalem (city of peace). 2 And he went up to the house of the LORD {YHWH} with all the people of Judah (praised) and Jerusalem (city of peace), as well as the priests and the prophets—all the people small and great—and in their hearing he read all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the LORD. 3 So the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD {YHWH} to follow the LORD and to keep His commandments, decrees, and statutes with all his heart and all his soul, and to carry out the words of the covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant. 4 Then the king commanded Hilkiah (my portion is YHWH) the high priest, the priests second in rank, and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the LORD {YHWH} all the articles made for Baal (lord), Asherah (goddess), and all the host of heaven. And he burned them outside Jerusalem (city of peace) in the fields of Kidron (dark) and carried their ashes to Bethel (house of God). 5 Josiah also did away with the idolatrous priests ordained by the kings of Judah (praised) to burn incense on the high places of the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem (city of peace)—those who had burned incense to Baal (lord), to the sun and moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven. 6 He brought the Asherah pole (goddess) from the house of the LORD {YHWH} to the Kidron (dark) Valley outside Jerusalem (city of peace), and there he burned it, ground it to powder, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people. 7 He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the house of the LORD {YHWH}, where the women had woven tapestries for Asherah (goddess). 2 Kings 23:1-7, Berean Annotated Bible. Public domain.
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