The Lord will attack Israel, making it like a reed that sways in the water. ¹  He will remove Israel from this good land he gave to their ancestors ²  and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, ³  because they angered the Lord by making Asherah poles. ⁴ 

There were also male cultic prostitutes ¹  in the land. They committed the same horrible sins as the nations ²  that the Lord had driven out from before the Israelites.

But they did not repudiate ¹  the sinful ways of the family ²  of Jeroboam, who encouraged Israel to sin; they continued in those sins. ³  There was even an Asherah pole ⁴  standing in Samaria.

They abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God; they made two metal calves and an Asherah pole, bowed down to all the stars in the sky, ¹  and worshiped ²  Baal.

These were the areas where Aaron’s descendants lived: ¹  The following belonged to the Kohathite clan, for they received the first allotment: ² 

The rest of Kohath’s descendants were allotted ten cities in the territory of the half-tribe of Manasseh. ¹ 

The clans of Gershom’s descendants received thirteen cities within the territory of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Manasseh (in Bashan). ¹ 

Some of them were in charge of the equipment and articles of the sanctuary, ¹  as well as the flour, wine, olive oil, incense, and spices.

They also took care of ¹  the bread that is displayed, the flour for offerings, the unleavened wafers, the round cakes, the mixing, and all the measuring. ² 

They abandoned the temple of the Lord God of their ancestors, ¹  and worshiped ²  the Asherah poles and idols. Because of this sinful activity, God was angry with Judah and Jerusalem.

Hezekiah ordered the burnt sacrifice to be offered on the altar. As they began to offer the sacrifice, they also began to sing to the Lord, accompanied by the trumpets and the musical instruments of King David of Israel.

they brought in the contributions, tithes, ¹  and consecrated items that had been offered. ²  Konaniah, a Levite, was in charge of all this, assisted by his brother Shimei.

Kore son of Imnah, a Levite and the guard on the east side, was in charge of the voluntary offerings made to God and disbursed the contributions made to the Lord and the consecrated items.

He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he set up altars for the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the stars in the sky ¹  and worshiped ²  them.

he tore down the altars and Asherah poles, demolished the idols, and smashed all the incense altars throughout the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Then the priests and the Levites took charge of ¹  the silver, the gold, and the vessels that had been weighed out, to transport them to Jerusalem to the temple of our God.

¹ Be careful what you do ²  when you go to the temple ³  of God; draw near to listen ⁴  rather than to offer a sacrifice ⁵  like fools, ⁶  for they do not realize that they are doing wrong.

Do not bring any more meaningless ¹  offerings; I consider your incense detestable! ²  You observe new moon festivals, Sabbaths, and convocations, but I cannot tolerate sin-stained celebrations! ³ 

He will become a sanctuary, ¹  but a stone that makes a person trip, and a rock that makes one stumble – to the two houses of Israel. ²  He will become ³  a trap and a snare to the residents of Jerusalem. ⁴ 

They will no longer trust in ¹  the altars their hands made, or depend on the Asherah poles and incense altars their fingers made. ²