And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the
countries that [pertained] to the children of Israel
All their idols, as related in ( 2 Kings 23:4 )
and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the
Lord their God;
by his edicts, and by his example:
and all his days they departed not from following the Lord God of their
fathers;
not publicly and universally; otherwise there were great declensions and corruptions among them, as the prophecies of Jeremiah and Zephaniah show.