34:1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. 1 34:2 He did what the Lord approved 2 and followed in his ancestor David’s footsteps; 3 he did not deviate to the right or the left.
34:3 In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his ancestor 4 David. In his twelfth year he began ridding 5 Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, Asherah poles, idols, and images. 34:4 He ordered the altars of the Baals to be torn down, 6 and broke the incense altars that were above them. He smashed the Asherah poles, idols and images, crushed them up and sprinkled the dust over the tombs of those who had sacrificed to them. 34:5 He burned the bones of the pagan priests 7 on their altars; he purified Judah and Jerusalem. 34:6 In the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, as far as Naphtali, and in the ruins 8 around them,
1 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
2 tn Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the
3 tn Heb “and walked in the ways of David his father.”
4 tn Heb “father.”
5 tn Heb “purifying.”
6 tn Heb “and they tore down before him the altars of the Baals.”
7 tn Heb “the priests”; the qualifying adjective “pagan” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
8 tn “In their ruins” is the marginal reading (Qere) of the Hebrew text.