2Ki 23:5-20 | ESV | STEP | And he deposed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem ; those also who burned incense to Baal , to the sun and the moon and the constellations and all the host of the heavens .

5 And he deposed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and the moon and the constellations ^aand all the host of the heavens. 6 And he brought out ^bthe Asherah from the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, ^cand burned it at the brook Kidron ^dand beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves ^eof the common people. 7 And he broke down the houses of ^fthe male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the Lord, ^gwhere the women wove hangings for ^hthe Asherah. 8 And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings, from ⁱGeba to Beersheba. And he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one’s left at the gate of the city. 9 ^jHowever, the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. 10 And he defiled ^kTopheth, which is ^lin the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, ^mthat no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to ⁿMolech. ^{▼▼Hebrew might cause his son or daughter to pass through the fire for Molech} 11 And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts. ^{▼▼The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain} And he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12 And the altars ^qon the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars ^rthat Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, he pulled down and broke in pieces ^{▼▼Hebrew pieces from there} and cast the dust of them ^tinto the brook Kidron. 13 And the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of ^uthe mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for ^vAshtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for ^wChemosh the abomination of Moab, and for ^xMilcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 14 And he broke in pieces the ^ypillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with the bones of men.

15 Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected ^zby Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^aawho made Israel to sin, ^abthat altar with the high place he pulled down and burned, ^{▼▼Septuagint broke in pieces its stones} reducing it to dust. He also burned the Asherah. 16 And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it, ^adaccording to the word of the Lord that the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things. 17 Then he said, “What is that monument that I see?” And the men of the city told him, ^ae“It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted ^{▼▼Hebrew called} these things that you have done against the altar at Bethel.” 18 And he said, “Let him be; let no man move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones ^agof the prophet who came out of Samaria. 19 And Josiah removed all the shrines also of the high places that were ^ahin the cities of Samaria, which kings of Israel had made, provoking the Lord to anger. He did to them according to all that he had done at Bethel. 20 And ^aihe sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, ^ajand burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.