The Israelites did evil before ¹  the Lord by worshiping ²  the Baals.

The Philistines left ¹  their idols ²  there, so David ordered that they be burned.

They will all be ashamed and embarrassed; those who fashion idols will all be humiliated. ¹ 

Their children are always thinking about ¹  their ²  altars and their sacred poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah, ³  set up beside the green trees on the high hills

They set up their disgusting idols in the temple which I have claimed for my own ¹  and defiled it.

Ephraim will be oppressed, ¹  crushed ²  under judgment, ³  because he was determined to pursue worthless idols. ⁴ 

I have appointed a time to reap judgment ¹  for you also, O Judah!Whenever I want to restore the fortunes of my people, ² 

You who tell others not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor ¹  idols, do you rob temples?

Am I saying that idols or food sacrificed to them amount to anything?

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 

When all this was over, the Israelites ¹  who were in the cities of Judah went out and smashed the sacred pillars, cut down the Asherah poles, and demolished ²  all the high places and altars throughout Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh. ³  Then all the Israelites returned to their own homes in their cities. ⁴ 

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

The Israelites cried out for help to the Lord: “We have sinned against you. We abandoned our God and worshiped ¹  the Baals.”

He removed the male cultic prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the disgusting idols ¹  his ancestors ²  had made.

I still have left in Israel seven thousand followers who have not bowed their knees to Baal or kissed the images of him.” ¹ 

Jeroboam ¹  appointed his own priests to serve at the worship centers ²  and to lead in the worship of the goat idols and calf idols he had made. ³ 

The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed in his ancestor ¹  David’s footsteps at the beginning of his reign. ²  He did not seek the Baals,

He was committed to following the Lord; ¹  he even removed the high places and Asherah poles from Judah.

Nevertheless you have done some good things; ¹  you removed ²  the Asherah poles from the land and you were determined to follow the Lord.” ³ 

They shed innocent blood – the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. The land was polluted by bloodshed. ¹