So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years.
And also he removed Maacah, the mother of Asa the king, from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah. And Asa cut down her image, and made dust of it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.
And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus says LORD, the God of David thy father, Because thou have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah,
Thou shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works, but thou shall utterly overthrow them, and break their pillars in pieces.
And ye shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn their Asherim with fire. And ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and ye shall destroy their name out of that place.
Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and broke in pieces the pillars, and hewed down the Asherim, and broke down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin,
And he broke down the altars, and beat the Asherim and the graven images into powder, and hewed down all the sun-images throughout all the land of Israel, and returned to Jerusalem.