So Judas obtained a squad of soldiers ¹  and some officers of the chief priests and Pharisees. ²  They came to the orchard ³  with lanterns ⁴  and torches and weapons.

One of the high priest’s slaves, ¹  a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, ²  said, “Did I not see you in the orchard ³  with him?” ⁴ 

Rather you must destroy their altars, smash their images, and cut down their Asherah poles. ¹ 

They camped by the Jordan, from Beth-jeshimoth as far as Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab.

The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. ¹  They forgot the Lord their God and worshiped the Baals and the Asherahs. ² 

They set up sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.

when my steps ¹  were bathed ²  with butter ³  and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil! ⁴ 

I will uproot your images of Asherah ¹  from your midst, and destroy your idols. ² 

Then ¹  they went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus ²  said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”

He eliminated the high places, smashed the sacred pillars to bits, and cut down the Asherah pole. ¹  He also demolished the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for up to that time ²  the Israelites had been offering incense to it; it was called Nehushtan. ³ 

In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his ancestor ¹  David. In his twelfth year he began ridding ²  Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, Asherah poles, idols, and images.

So Abram moved his tents and went to live ¹  by the oaks ²  of Mamre in Hebron, and he built an altar to the Lord there.

A fugitive ¹  came and told Abram the Hebrew. ²  Now Abram was living by the oaks ³  of Mamre the Amorite, the brother ⁴  of Eshcol and Aner. (All these were allied by treaty ⁵  with Abram.) ⁶ 

The Lord appeared to Abraham ¹  by the oaks ²  of Mamre while ³  he was sitting at the entrance ⁴  to his tent during the hottest time of the day.

You must by all means destroy ¹  all the places where the nations you are about to dispossess worship their gods – on the high mountains and hills and under every leafy tree. ² 

You must not plant any kind of tree as a sacred Asherah pole ¹  near the altar of the Lord your God which you build for yourself.

You will have olive trees throughout your territory but you will not anoint yourself with olive oil, because the olives will drop off the trees while still unripe. ¹ 

Bright and early the next morning Joshua and the Israelites left Shittim and came to the Jordan. ¹  They camped there before crossing the river. ² 

So David asked the Lord what he should do. ¹  This time ²  the Lord ³  said to him, “Don’t march straight up. Instead, circle around behind them and come against them opposite the trees. ⁴ 

They even built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.