1 AND the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.
2 And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord.
3 And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.
4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Beth-el.
5 And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.
6 And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.
7 And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove.
8 And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beer-sheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man’s left hand at the gate of the city.
9 Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren.
10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.
11 And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire.
12 And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, did the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.
13 And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.
14 And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.
15 Moreover the altar that was at Beth-el, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove.
16 And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.
17 Then he said, What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Beth-el.
18 And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.
19 And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Beth-el.
20 And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men’s bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.
21 And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the Lord your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant.
22 Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;
23 But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to the Lord in Jerusalem.
24 Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord.
25 And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.
26 Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal.
27 And the Lord said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.
28 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
29 In his days Pharaoh-nechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he slew him at Megiddo, when he had seen him.
30 And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s stead.
31 Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
32 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.
33 And Pharaoh-nechoh put him in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to a tribute of an hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.
34 And Pharaoh-nechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away: and he came to Egypt, and died there.
35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh: he exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every one according to his taxation, to give it unto Pharaoh-nechoh.
36 Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.
37 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.

1And the king sent, and they gathered vnto him all the Elders of Iudah, and of Ierusalem.

2And the king went vp into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Iudah, and all the inhabitants of Ierusalem with him, and the Priestes, and the Prophets, and all the people both small and great: and he read in their eares all the wordes of the booke of the Couenant which was found in the house of the Lord.

3 And the King stood by a pillar, and made a Couenant before the Lord, to walke after the Lord, and to keepe his Commaundements, and his Testimonies, & his Statutes, with all their heart, and all their soule, to performe the words of this Couenant, that were written in this booke: and all the people stood to the Couenant.

4And the king commanded Hilkiah the high Priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the doore to bring forth out of the Temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the groue, and for all the hoste of heauen: and he burnt them without Ierusalem in the fields of Kidron, and caried the ashes of them vnto Bethel.

5And hee put downe the idolatrous priests whome the kings of Iudah had ordeined to burne incense in the high places, in the cities of Iudah and in the places round about Ierusalem: them also that burnt incense vnto Baal, to the Sunne, and to the Moone, and to the Planets, and to all the hoste of heauen.

6And he brought out the groue from the house of the Lord, without Ierusalem, vnto the brooke Kidron, and burnt it at the brooke Kidron, and stampt it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof vpon the graues of the children of the people.

7And he brake downe the houses of the Sodomites that were by the house of the Lord, where the women woue hangings for the groue.

8And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Iudah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burnt incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and brake downe the hie places of the gates that were in the entring in of the gate of Ioshua the gouernour of the citie, which were on a mans left hand at the gate of the citie.

9Neuerthelesse, the priests of the high places came not vp to the Altar of the Lord in Ierusalem, but they did eate of the vnleauened bread among their brethren.

10And he defiled Topheth which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his sonne or his daughter to passe through the fire to Molech.

11And he tooke away the horses that the kings of Iudah had giuen to the Sunne, at the entring in of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlaine, which was in the suburbs, and burnt the charets of the Sunne with fire,

12And the altars that were on the top of the vpper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Iudah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, did the king beat downe, and brake them downe from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brooke Kidron.

13And the high places that were before Ierusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth, the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milchom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.

14And he brake in pieces the images, and cut downe the groues, and filled their places with the bones of men.

15 Moreouer the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Ieroboam the sonne of Nebat, who made Israel to sinne, had made, both that altar, and the high place he brake downe, and burnt the high place, and stampt it small to powder, and burnt the groue.

16And as Iosiah turned himselfe, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount, and sent, & tooke the bones out of the sepulchres, and burnt them vpon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.

17Then hee said, What title is that that I see? and the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Iudah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel.

18And he said, Let him alone: let no man moue his bones: so they let his bones alone, with the bones of the Prophet that came out of Samaria.

19And all the houses also of the hie places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to prouoke the Lord to anger, Iosiah tooke away, and did to them according to all the actes that hee had done in Bethel.

20And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there, vpon the altars, and burnt mens bones vpon them, and returned to Ierusalem.

21 And the King commanded all the people saying, Keepe the Passeouer vnto the Lord your God, as it is written in this booke of the Couenant.

22Surely there was not holden such a Passeouer, from the daies of the Iudges that iudged Israel, nor in all the dayes of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Iudah:

23But in the eighteenth yeere of king Iosiah, wherein this Passeouer was holden to the Lord in Ierusalem.

24 Moreouer the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idoles, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Iudah, and in Ierusalem, did Iosiah put away, that he might performe the wordes of the lawe, which were written in the booke that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord.

25And like vnto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soule, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, neither after him arose there any like him.

26 Notwithstanding, the Lord turned not from the fiercenesse of his great wrath, wherwith his anger was kindled against Iudah, because of all the prouocations that Manasseh had prouoked him withall.

27And the Lord said, I will remoue Iudah also out of my sight, as I haue remoued Israel, and will cast off this citie Ierusalem, which I haue chosen, and the house of which I sayd, My name shall be there.

28Now the rest of the actes of Iosiah, and all that hee did, are they not written in the booke of the chronicles of the kings of Iudah?

29 In his dayes, Pharaoh Nechoh king of Egypt, went vp against the king of Assyria to the riuer Euphrates: and king Iosiah went against him, and hee slew him at Megiddo, when he had seene him.

30And his seruants caried him in a charet dead from Megiddo, & brought him to Ierusalem, and buried him in his owne sepulchre: and the people of the land tooke Iehoahaz the sonne of Iosiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his fathers stead.

31 Iehoahaz was twenty and three yeeres olde when he beganne to reigne, and hee reigned three moneths in Ierusalem: and his mothers name was Hamital, the daughter of Ieremiah, of Libnah.

32And hee did that which was euill in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.

33And Pharaoh Nechoh put him in bandes at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reigne in Ierusalem, and put the land to a tribute of an hundred talents of siluer, and a talent of golde.

34And Pharaoh Nechoh made Eliakim the sonne of Iosiah king, in the roume of Iosiah his father, and turned his name to Iehoiakim, and tooke Iehoahaz away: and hee came to Egypt, and died there.

35And Iehoiakim gaue the siluer, and the golde to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to giue the money according to the commandement of Pharaoh: hee exacted the siluer and the golde of the people of the land, of euery one according to his taxation, to giue it vnto Pharaoh Nechoh.

36 Iehoiakim was twentie and fiue yeere olde when he began to reigne, and he reigned eleuen yeeres in Ierusalem: and his mothers name was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.

37And he did that which was euill in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.

I == 2nd Chr 34:29-30

II == 2nd Kings 22:8

 

 

 

 

 

III == 2nd Kings 11:14 , 17

 

 

 

 

IV == 2nd Kings 21:3

 

 

 

 

 

V == 2nd Kings 21:3

 

 

 

 

 

VI == 2nd Kings 21:7 ; 2nd Chr 34:4

 

 

VII == 1st Kings 14:24 ; 15:12 ; Ezek 16:16

 

VIII == 1st Kings 15:22

 

 

 

 

IX == 1st Sam 2:36 ; Ezek 44:10-14

 

X == Lev 18:21 ; Detu 18:10 ; Josh 15:8 ; Isa 30:33 ; Jer 7:31 ; 19:6 , 11-13 ; Ezek 23:37 , 39

 

 

 

 

 

XII == 2nd Kings 21:5 ; Jer 19:13 ; Zeph 1:5

 

 

 

XIII == 1st Kings 11:7

 

 

 

 

 

XIV == Ex 23:24 ; Deut 7:5 , 25

 

XV == 1st Kings 12:28 , 33

 

 

 

XVI == 1st Kings 13:2

 

 

 

 

 

XVII == 1st Kings 13:1 , 30

 

 

 

XVIII == 1st Kings 13:31

 

XIX == 2nd Chr 34:6-7

 

 

 

XX == Ex 22:20 ; 1st Kings 13:2 ; 18:40 ; 2nd Kings 11:18 ; 2nd Chr 34:5

XXI == Ex 12:3 ; Lev 23:5 ; Num 9:2 ; Deut 16:2 ; 2nd Chr 35:1

XXII == 2nd Chr 35:18-19

 

 

 

XXIV == Gen 31:19 ; Lev 19:31 ; 20:27 ; Deut 18:11 ; 2nd Kings 21:6

 

 

XXV == 2nd Kings 18:5

 

 

 

 

XXVI == 2nd Kings 21:11-12 ; 24:3-4 ; Jer 15:4

 

 

XXVII == 1st Kings 8:29 ; 9:3 ; 2nd Kings 17:18 , 20 ; 18:11 ; 21:4 , 7 , 13

 

 

 

XXIX == 2nd Kings 14:8 ; 2nd Chr 35:20 ; Zech 12:11

 

XXX == 2nd Chr 35:24 ; 36:1

 

 

 

 

XXXI == 2nd Kings 24:18 ; 1st Chr 3:15 ; Jer 22:11

 

 

 

XXXIII == 2nd Kings 25:6 ; Jer 52:27

 

 

XXXIV == 2nd Kings 24:17 ; 2nd Chr 36:4 ; Jer 22:11-12 ; Ezek 19:3-4 ; Dan 1:7 ; Matt 1:11

XXXV == 2nd Kings 23:33

 

XXXVI == 2nd Chr 36:5

1 The king then had all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem summoned together before him.

2 The king went up to the temple of the LORD with all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: priests, prophets, and all the people, small and great. He had the entire contents of the book of the covenant that had been found in the temple of the LORD, read out to them.

3 Standing by the column, the king made a covenant before the LORD that they would follow him and observe his ordinances, statutes and decrees with their whole hearts and souls, thus reviving the terms of the covenant which were written in this book. And all the people stood as participants in the covenant.

4 Then the king commanded the high priest Hilkiah, his vicar, and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the LORD all the objects that had been made for Baal, Asherah, and the whole host of heaven. He had these burned outside Jerusalem on the slopes of the Kidron and their ashes carried to Bethel.

5 He also put an end to the pseudo-priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the vicinity of Jerusalem, as well as those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, moon, and signs of the Zodiac, and to the whole host of heaven.

6 From the temple of the LORD he also removed the sacred pole, to the Kidron Valley, outside Jerusalem; there he had it burned and beaten to dust, which was then scattered over the common graveyard.

7 He tore down the apartments of the cult prostitutes which were in the temple of the LORD, and in which the women wove garments for the Asherah.

8 He brought in all the priests from the cities of Judah, and then defiled, from Geba to Beer-sheba, the high places where they had offered incense. He also tore down the high place of the satyrs, which was at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua, governor of the city, to the left as one enters the city gate.

9 The priests of the high places could not function at the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem; but they, along with their relatives, ate the unleavened bread.

10 The king also defiled Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, so that there would no longer be an immolation of sons or daughters by fire in honor of Molech.

11 He did away with the horses which the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun; these were at the entrance of the temple of the LORD, near the chamber of Nathan-melech the eunuch, which was in the large building. The chariots of the sun he destroyed by fire.

12 He also demolished the altars made by the kings of Judah on the roof (the roof terrace of Ahaz), and the altars made by Manasseh in the two courts of the temple of the LORD. He pulverized them and threw the dust into the Kidron Valley.

13 The king defiled the high places east of Jerusalem, south of the Mount of Misconduct, which Solomon, king of Israel, had built in honor of Astarte, the Sidonian horror, of Chemosh, the Moabite horror, and of Milcom, the idol of the Ammonites.

14 He broke to pieces the pillars, cut down the sacred poles, and filled the places where they had been with human bones.

15 Likewise the altar which was at Bethel, the high place built by Jeroboam, son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin - this same altar and high place he tore down, breaking up the stones and grinding them to powder, and burning the Asherah.

16 When Josiah turned and saw the graves there on the mountainside, he ordered the bones taken from the graves and burned on the altar, and thus defiled it in fulfillment of the word of the LORD which the man of God had proclaimed as Jeroboam was standing by the altar on the feast day. When the king looked up and saw the grave of the man of God who had proclaimed these words,

17 he asked, "What is that tombstone I see?" The men of the city replied, "It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted the very things you have done to the altar of Bethel."

18 "Let him be," he said, "let no one move his bones." So they left his bones undisturbed together with the bones of the prophet who had come from Samaria.

19 Josiah also removed all the shrines on the high places near the cities of Samaria which the kings of Israel had erected, thereby provoking the LORD; he did the very same to them as he had done in Bethel.

20 He slaughtered upon the altars all the priests of the high places that were at the shrines, and burned human bones upon them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

21 The king issued a command to all the people to observe the Passover of the LORD, their God, as it was prescribed in that book of the covenant.

22 No Passover such as this had been observed during the period when the Judges ruled Israel, or during the entire period of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah,

23 until the eighteenth year of king Josiah, when this Passover of the LORD was kept in Jerusalem.

24 Further, Josiah did away with the consultation of ghosts and spirits, with the household gods, idols, and all the other horrors to be seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, so that he might carry out the stipulations of the law written in the book that the priest Hilkiah had found in the temple of the LORD.

25 Before him there had been no king who turned to the LORD as he did, with his whole heart, his whole soul, and his whole strength, in accord with the entire law of Moses; nor could any after him compare with him.

26 Yet, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had given, the LORD did not desist from his fiercely burning anger against Judah.

27 The LORD said: "Even Judah will I put out of my sight as I did Israel. I will reject this city, Jerusalem, which I chose, and the temple of which I said, 'There shall my name be.'"

28 The rest of the acts of Josiah, with all that he did, are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah.

29 In his time Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, went up toward the river Euphrates to the king of Assyria. King Josiah set out to confront him, but was slain at Megiddo at the first encounter.

30 His servants brought his body on a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem, where they buried him in his own grave. Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz, son of Josiah, anointed him, and proclaimed him king to succeed his father.

31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother, whose name was Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah, was from Libnah.

32 He did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as his forebears had done.

33 Pharaoh Neco took him prisoner at Riblah in the land of Hamath, thus ending his reign in Jerusalem. He imposed a fine upon the land of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.

34 Pharaoh Neco then appointed Eliakim, son of Josiah, king in place of his father Josiah; he changed his name to Jehoiakim. Jehoahaz he took away with him to Egypt, where he died.

35 Jehoiakim gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh, but taxed the land to raise the amount Pharaoh demanded. He exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land, from each proportionately, to pay Pharaoh Neco.

36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zebidah, daughter of Pedaiah, from Rumah.

37 He did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as his forebears had done.

V 1,2. Includes comments from 2 Chr. 34:29,30. Josiah immediately took action and called in the elders, priests, Levites and inhabitants great and small from all over Judah. Then he read to them all the words of the book of the covenant which had been found in the house of the Lord.

v 3. Includes comments from 2 Chr. 34:31,32. Josiah stood by a pillar where it was customary for kings to stand when they addressed the people. He made a covenant to walk after the Lord and obey all his commands with his whole heart, and persuaded or required everyone present to do likewise.

v 4-10. 2 Chr. 34:33 coincides with 4-19. It is strange that Josiah had not thoroughly purged the temple when he began his earlier reforms. Perhaps this was why he was so convicted when he heard the words from the book. Apparently his first reform was somewhat superficial, with no thought that priests were offering to Baal right in the holy temple. Now he goes about the destruction of idolatry with a passion. Vessels of Baal in Manasseh’s reform had been hidden in the temple instead of being destroyed, but now they are. Idolatrous priests are deposed, probably by death. The Ashera fertility pole which Manasseh put in the temple, 21:7, was burned at the brook Kidron. The houses of the male temple prostitutes were torn down as well as the tent of the women prostitutes. Josiah reassembled all the Levitical priests of the land and broke down the high places where they worshiped. They were not permitted to enter the cleansed temple, but were allowed to eat with their brethren. Even the governor of the city had a high place which Josiah broke down.  Topheth, v 10, means drums, for the drums which had been sounded to muffle the screams of children being offered in the fire. Sun worship,

v 11-14, came from Babylon. Horses and chariots had been kept to ride out early to honor the sun, so the horses which were stabled in the temple courtyards were put to normal use and the chariots burned. (Not like the horses and chariots of fire seen around Elisha, 2 Ki 6:17.) Manasseh had made altars in the courts of the Lord, 2 Ki. 21:5, as well as on his flat roof, and these were destroyed. Solomon had built high places for the gods of his heathen wives, and those too were destroyed. In many places when pagan sacred stones and Ashera poles were removed and destroyed, human bones, probably of the pagan priests were put in the holes, making it unclean to offer sacrifices there again.

v 15-37. As northern Israel was under loose control, Josiah was again able to go up there and destroy the altars Jeroboam had built, which he was not convicted to do before. Before destroying them, he took the bones of people, some probably pagan priests, buried nearby and burned them on the altar, polluting it so the place could not be used as a place of worship again. This fulfilled the words of a man of God to Jeroboam, 1 Ki. 13:1,2, that a descendant of David named Josiah would burn priests and bones of men there. Josiah spared the tomb of that man of God who was killed by a lion and the prophet who persuaded him to stay and eat against God’s command, 1 Ki. 13:24,31. Josiah continued to destroy high places throughout Samaria, killing the pagan priests and burning their bones on the altars.