The Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the temple of Dagon, where they positioned it beside Dagon.

He also tore down the altar in Bethel ¹  at the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who encouraged Israel to sin. ²  He burned all the combustible items at that high place and crushed them to dust; including the Asherah pole. ³ 

A carpenter takes measurements; ¹  he marks out an outline of its form; ²  he scrapes ³  it with chisels, and marks it with a compass. He patterns it after the human form, ⁴  like a well-built human being, and puts it in a shrine. ⁵ 

So he returned to Judah and said, “I couldn’t find her. Moreover, the men of the place said, ‘There has been no cult prostitute here.’”

There must never be a sacred prostitute ¹  among the young women ²  of Israel nor a sacred male prostitute ³  among the young men ⁴  of Israel.

They worshiped ¹  Micah’s carved image ²  the whole time God’s authorized shrine ³  was in Shiloh.

They placed Saul’s armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths ¹  and hung his corpse on the city wall of Beth Shan.

The Lord is God and he has delivered us. ¹  Tie the offering ²  with ropes to the horns of the altar! ³ 

A song of ascents. ²  Attention! ³  Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who serve ⁴  in the Lord’s temple during the night.

So I said to them, What is this high place you go to?’” (So it is called “High Place” ¹  to this day.)

You will pick up your images ¹  of Sikkuth, ²  your king, ³  and Kiyyun, ⁴  your star god, which you made for yourselves,

Don’t prophesy at Bethel ¹  any longer, for a royal temple and palace are here!” ² 

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and steadfast, which reaches inside behind the curtain, ¹ 

When you enter the town, you can find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. The people won’t eat until he arrives, for he must bless the sacrifice. Once that happens, those who have been invited will eat. Now go on up, for ¹  this is the time when you can find him!”

Samuel replied to Saul, “I am the seer! Go up in front of me to the high place! Today you will eat with me and in the morning I will send you away. I will tell you everything that you are thinking. ¹ 

Afterward you will go to Gibeah of God, where there are Philistine officials. ¹  When you enter the town, you will meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place. They will have harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres, and they will be prophesying.

When he finished offering the burnt sacrifice, Jehu ordered the royal guard ¹  and officers, “Come in and strike them down! Don’t let any escape!” So the royal guard and officers struck them down with the sword and left their bodies lying there. ²  Then they entered the inner sanctuary of the temple of Baal. ³ 

I will not punish your daughters when they commit prostitution, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery. For the men consort with harlots, they sacrifice with temple prostitutes. It is true: ¹  “A people that lacks understanding will come to ruin!”

I saw the sovereign One ¹  standing by the altar ²  and he said, “Strike the tops of the support pillars, ³  so the thresholds shake! Knock them down on the heads of all the people, ⁴  and I will kill the survivors ⁵  with the sword. No one will be able to run away; ⁶  no one will be able to escape. ⁷ 

Joshua wrote these words in the Law Scroll of God. He then took a large stone and set it up there under the oak tree near the Lord’s shrine.