³ He rebuilt the high places^(A) his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal^(B) and made an Asherah pole,^(C) as Ahab king of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the starry hosts^(D) and worshiped them.

⁷ He took the carved Asherah pole^(A) he had made and put it in the temple,^(B) of which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name^(C) forever.

⁴ The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers^(A) to remove^(B) from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel.

⁷ He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes^(A) that were in the temple of the Lord, the quarters where women did weaving for Asherah.