The Second Book of Chronicles records that Josiah was eight years old when he became king. In the eighth year of his reign, he "began to seek the God of his father David" and in the twelfth year of that reign he began a program of destruction of Baalist altars and images throughout Jerusalem and Judah. The Chronicler records in detail the execution of this program, whereas the account in 2 Kings begins with the restoration of the temple in Jerusalem, which both accounts say was initiated in the eighteenth year of his reign.