2He was twenty-five years old when he became king, ruling in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years; his mother's name was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah.
3He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as David his father had done.
4He had the high places taken away, and the stone pillars broken to bits, and the Asherah cut down; and the brass snake which Moses had made was crushed to powder at his order, because in those days the children of Israel had offerings burned before it, and he gave it the name Nehushtan.
5He had faith in the Lord, the God of Israel; so that there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah who were before him.
6For his heart was fixed on the Lord, not turning from his ways, and he did his orders which the Lord gave to Moses.
7And the Lord was with him; he did well in all his undertakings: and he took up arms against the king of Assyria and was his servant no longer.
8He overcame the Philistines as far as Gaza and its limits, from the tower of the watchman to the walled town.
