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 Bethel.
Josiah also removed all the shrines on the hills that were in the cities of Samaria. The kings of Israel had built these places to make the Lord angry. Josiah destroyed them just like he had destroyed the ones in Bethel.
King Josiah continued his religious reform by destroying all the illegal worship sites that previous kings had built, showing his complete commitment to following God's commands.
📚 Historical Context
During the reign of King Josiah in the 7th century BC, he led a widespread religious reform in Judah to remove idols and pagan worship sites, as the nation had strayed from God's commands. The high places in Samaria were built by the kings of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, which had provoked God's anger and led to their conquest and exile by Assyria. Josiah extended his reforms to Samaria, destroying these sites just as he had done in Bethel, to restore pure worship of the Lord across the divided kingdoms.
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