³ In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek after the God of his father David. In the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, the Asherah poles, and the carved and molten images. ⁴ They tore down the altars of the Baal in his presence and chopped down the sun-images that were above them. Also the Asherah poles and the carved and molten images he smashed into pieces, ground into dust, and scattered upon the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. ⁵ Then he burned the bones of the priests on their altars—so he purged Judah and Jerusalem.