But thus you shall deal with them: you shall (A)destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their [a]wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 7:5 Heb. Asherim, Canaanite deities

This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles[a](A) and burn their idols in the fire.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 7:5 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah; here and elsewhere in Deuteronomy

24 You shall not (A)bow down to their gods, nor serve them, (B)nor do according to their works; (C)but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars.

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24 Do not bow down before their gods or worship(A) them or follow their practices.(B) You must demolish(C) them and break their sacred stones(D) to pieces.

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(A)You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, (B)on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. And (C)you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their [a]wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 12:3 Heb. Asherim

Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains,(A) on the hills and under every spreading tree,(B) where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. Break down their altars, smash(C) their sacred stones and burn(D) their Asherah(E) poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names(F) from those places.

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13 But you shall (A)destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and (B)cut down their wooden images

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13 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles.[a](A)

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 34:13 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah

25 Now it came to pass the same night that the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and (A)tear down the altar of (B)Baal that your father has, and (C)cut down the [a]wooden image that is beside it; 26 and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this [b]rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down.”

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 6:25 Heb. Asherah, a Canaanite goddess
  2. Judges 6:26 stronghold

25 That same night the Lord said to him, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one seven years old.[a] Tear down your father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole[b](A) beside it. 26 Then build a proper kind of[c] altar to the Lord your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second[d] bull as a burnt offering.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 6:25 Or Take a full-grown, mature bull from your father’s herd
  2. Judges 6:25 That is, a wooden symbol of the goddess Asherah; also in verses 26, 28 and 30
  3. Judges 6:26 Or build with layers of stone an
  4. Judges 6:26 Or full-grown; also in verse 28

22 (A)You shall not set up a sacred pillar, which the Lord your God hates.

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22 and do not erect a sacred stone,(A) for these the Lord your God hates.

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21 Then I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it and ground it very small, until it was as fine as dust; and I (A)threw its dust into the brook that descended from the mountain.

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21 Also I took that sinful thing of yours, the calf you had made, and burned it in the fire. Then I crushed it and ground it to powder as fine as dust(A) and threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain.(B)

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25 You shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire; you shall not (A)covet[a] the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it; for it is an abomination to the Lord your God.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 7:25 desire

25 The images of their gods you are to burn(A) in the fire. Do not covet(B) the silver and gold on them, and do not take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared(C) by it, for it is detestable(D) to the Lord your God.

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Promise of Blessing and Retribution(A)

26 ‘You shall (B)not make idols for yourselves;

neither a carved image nor a sacred pillar shall you rear up for yourselves;

nor shall you set up an engraved stone in your land, to bow down to it;

for I am the Lord your God.

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Reward for Obedience

26 “‘Do not make idols(A) or set up an image(B) or a sacred stone(C) for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone(D) in your land to bow down before it. I am the Lord your God.

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And he brought out the (A)wooden[a] image from the house of the Lord, to the Brook Kidron outside Jerusalem, burned it at the Brook Kidron and ground it to (B)ashes, and threw its ashes on (C)the graves of the common people. Then he tore down the ritual [b]booths (D)of the [c]perverted persons that were in the house of the Lord, (E)where the (F)women wove hangings for the wooden image. And he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from (G)Geba to Beersheba; also he broke down the high places at the gates which were at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were to the left of the city gate. (H)Nevertheless the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, (I)but they ate unleavened bread among their brethren.

10 And he defiled (J)Topheth, which is in (K)the Valley of the [d]Son of Hinnom, (L)that no man might make his son or his daughter (M)pass through the fire to Molech. 11 Then he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had [e]dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-Melech, the officer who was in the court; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12 The altars that were (N)on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which (O)Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, the king broke down and pulverized there, and threw their dust into the Brook Kidron. 13 Then the king defiled the [f]high places that were east of Jerusalem, which were on the [g]south of [h]the Mount of Corruption, which (P)Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the people of Ammon. 14 And he (Q)broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images, and filled their places with the bones of men.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 23:6 Heb. Asherah, a Canaanite goddess
  2. 2 Kings 23:7 Lit. houses
  3. 2 Kings 23:7 Heb. qedeshim, those practicing sodomy and prostitution in religious rituals
  4. 2 Kings 23:10 Kt. Sons
  5. 2 Kings 23:11 given
  6. 2 Kings 23:13 Places for pagan worship
  7. 2 Kings 23:13 Lit. right of
  8. 2 Kings 23:13 The Mount of Olives

He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the Lord to the Kidron Valley(A) outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder(B) and scattered the dust over the graves(C) of the common people.(D) He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes(E) that were in the temple of the Lord, the quarters where women did weaving for Asherah.

Josiah brought all the priests from the towns of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba(F) to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense. He broke down the gateway at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua, the city governor, which was on the left of the city gate. Although the priests of the high places did not serve(G) at the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.

10 He desecrated Topheth,(H) which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom,(I) so no one could use it to sacrifice their son(J) or daughter in the fire to Molek. 11 He removed from the entrance to the temple of the Lord the horses that the kings of Judah(K) had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court[a] near the room of an official named Nathan-Melek. Josiah then burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.(L)

12 He pulled down(M) the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof(N) near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts(O) of the temple of the Lord. He removed them from there, smashed them to pieces and threw the rubble into the Kidron Valley.(P) 13 The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon(Q) king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable(R) god of the people of Ammon.(S) 14 Josiah smashed(T) the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones.(U)

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 23:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.

20 (A)Then he took the calf which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder; and he scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel drink it.

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20 And he took the calf the people had made and burned(A) it in the fire; then he ground it to powder,(B) scattered it on the water(C) and made the Israelites drink it.

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