Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.

All Israel ... present went out to the cities of Judah. The solemnities of this paschal season left a deep and salutary impression on the minds of the assembled worshippers; attachment to the ancient institutions of their country was extensively revived; ardour in the service of God animated every bosom; and, under the impulse of the devout feelings inspired by the occasion, they took measures at the close of the Passover for extirpating idolatrous statues and altars out of every city, as at the beginning of the festival they had done in Jerusalem.

Judah and Benjamin - denotes the southern kingdom.

Ephraim also and Manasseh - refer to the northern kingdom. This unsparing demolition of the monuments of idolatry would receive all encouragement from the king and public authorities of the former; and the force of the popular movement was sufficient to effect the same results among the tribes of Israel, whatever opposition the power of Hoshea, or the invectives of some profane brethren, might have made. Thus, the reign of idolatry being completely overthrown, and the pure worship of God re-established throughout the land, the people returned, each one to their own home, in the confident expectation that, through the divine blessing, they would enjoy a happy future of national peace and prosperity.

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