And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.

So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye {are}: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it. {the land cannot...: Heb. there can be no expiation for the land}

And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD. {feignedly: Heb. in falsehood}

O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?

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.

Son of man, say unto her, Thou {art} the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.

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. {slew: or, sacrificed}

And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem. {into...: Heb. to make powder}

At that time, saith the LORD, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves:

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. {slew: or, sacrificed}

The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.