On the fifteenth day of the eighth month (a date he had arbitrarily chosen) ¹  Jeroboam ²  offered sacrifices on the altar he had made in Bethel. ³  He inaugurated a festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to offer sacrifices.

When the king heard what the prophet ¹  cried out against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam, standing at the altar, extended his hand ²  and ordered, ³  “Seize him!” The hand he had extended shriveled up ⁴  and he could not pull it back.

The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the high-ranking priests, ¹  and the guards ²  to bring out of the Lord’s temple all the items that were used in the worship of ³  Baal, Asherah, and all the stars of the sky. ⁴  The king ⁵  burned them outside of Jerusalem in the terraces ⁶  of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. ⁷ 

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 

When Herod ¹  saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he became enraged. He sent men ²  to kill all the children in Bethlehem ³  and throughout the surrounding region from the age of two and under, according to the time he had learned from the wise men.

When ¹  the angels left them and went back to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem ²  and see this thing that has taken place, that the Lord ³  has made known to us.”