⁴ So they gave Jacob all their pagan idols and earrings, and he buried them under the great tree near Shechem.

⁶ Then all the leading citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo called a meeting under the oak beside the pillar^[a] at Shechem and made Abimelech their king.

²⁵ So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day at Shechem, committing them to follow the decrees and regulations of the Lord. ²⁶ Joshua recorded these things in the Book of God’s Instructions. As a reminder of their agreement, he took a huge stone and rolled it beneath the terebinth tree beside the Tabernacle of the Lord.

²⁴ However, I do have one request—that each of you give me an earring from the plunder you collected from your fallen enemies.” (The enemies, being Ishmaelites, all wore gold earrings.)

²⁵ “Gladly!” they replied. They spread out a cloak, and each one threw in a gold earring he had gathered from the plunder. ²⁶ The weight of the gold earrings was forty-three pounds,^[a] not including the royal ornaments and pendants, the purple clothing worn by the kings of Midian, or the chains around the necks of their camels.

²⁷ Gideon made a sacred ephod from the gold and put it in Ophrah, his hometown. But soon all the Israelites prostituted themselves by worshiping it, and it became a trap for Gideon and his family.

²⁵ “You must burn their idols in fire, and you must not covet the silver or gold that covers them. You must not take it or it will become a trap to you, for it is detestable to the Lord your God.

⁵ This is what you must do. You must break down their pagan altars and shatter their sacred pillars. Cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols.

²⁰ He took the calf they had made and burned it. Then he ground it into powder, threw it into the water, and forced the people to drink it.