6 Josiah did the same for the towns in the areas of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and all the way to Naphtali. He did the same for the ruins near all those towns. {\cf2\super [425]}
King Hezekiah sent messages to all the people of Israel and Judah. He wrote letters to the people of Ephraim and Manasseh {\cf2\super [361]} also. Hezekiah invited all those people to come to the Lord’s temple {\cf2\super [362]} in Jerusalem so they all could celebrate the Passover {\cf2\super [363]} for the Lord God of Israel.
The Passover {\cf2\super [377]} celebration was finished. The people of Israel that were in Jerusalem for Passover went out to the towns of Judah. Then they smashed the stone idols that were in those towns. Those stone idols were used to worship false gods. Those people also cut down the Asherah Poles. {\cf2\super [378]} And they destroyed the high places {\cf2\super [379]} and the altars {\cf2\super [380]} all through the areas of Judah and Benjamin. The people did the same things in the area of Ephraim and Manasseh. The people did these things until they destroyed all the things used for worshiping the false gods. Then all the Israelites went back home to their own towns.
People once worked and grew food on these hills. But at that time, people will not go there. The land will be filled with weeds and thorns. Only sheep and cattle will go to those places.”