He placed the symbol of the goddess Asherah in the Temple, the place about which the LORD had said to David and his son Solomon: "Here in Jerusalem, in this Temple, is the place that I have chosen out of all the territory of the twelve tribes of Israel as the place where I am to be worshiped.

The people of Israel forgot the LORD their God; they sinned against him and worshiped the idols of Baal and Asherah.

They built places of worship for false gods and put up stone pillars and symbols of Asherah to worship on the hills and under shady trees.

He also put up an image of the goddess Asherah. He did more to arouse the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, than all the kings of Israel before him.

Your people worship at the altars and the symbols that have been set up for the goddess Asherah by every green tree and on the hilltops

He took the bull-calf which they had made, melted it, ground it into fine powder, and mixed it with water. Then he made the people of Israel drink it.

Burn their idols. Do not desire the silver or gold that is on them, and do not take it for yourselves. If you do, that will be fatal, because the LORD hates idolatry.

I took that sinful thing that you had made---that metal bull-calf---and threw it into the fire. Then I broke it in pieces, ground it to dust, and threw the dust into the stream that flowed down the mountain.

So they destroyed the sacred pillar and the temple, and turned the temple into a latrine---which it still is today.

Under his direction the altars where Baal was worshiped were smashed, and the incense altars near them were torn down. They ground to dust the images of Asherah and all the other idols and then scattered the dust on the graves of the people who had sacrificed to them.