Idolatry in the Bible

1Now king Solomon loved many foreign women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites;

2of the nations concerning which Yahweh said to the children of Israel, You shall not go among them, neither shall they come among you; for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon joined to these in love.

3He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.

4For it happened, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with Yahweh his God, as was the heart of David his father.

5For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

6Solomon did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and didn`t go fully after Yahweh, as did David his father.

7Then did Solomon build a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the mountain that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the children of Ammon.

8So did he for all his foreign wives, who burnt incense and sacrificed to their gods.

9Yahweh was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from Yahweh, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,

10and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he didn`t keep that which Yahweh commanded.

11Therefore Yahweh said to Solomon, Because this is done of you, and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant.

12Notwithstanding in your days I will not do it, for David your father`s sake: but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.

13However I will not tear away all the kingdom; but I will give one tribe to your son, for David my servant`s sake, and for Jerusalem`s sake which I have chosen.

26Jeroboam said in his heart, Now will the kingdom return to the house of David:

27if this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of Yahweh at Jerusalem, then will the heart of this people turn again to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me, and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.

28Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold; and he said to them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: see your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

29He set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.

30This thing became a sin; for the people went [to worship] before the one, even to Dan.

31He made houses of high places, and made priests from among all the people, who were not of the sons of Levi.

32Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that is in Judah, and he went up to the altar; so did he in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made.

33He went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart: and he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and went up to the altar, to burn incense.

1Behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of Yahweh to Beth- el: and Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense.

2He cried against the altar by the word of Yahweh, and said, altar, altar, thus says Yahweh: Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and on you shall he sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men`s bones shall they burn on you.

3He gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which Yahweh has spoken: Behold, the altar shall be torn, and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out.

33After this thing Jeroboam didn`t return from his evil way, but made again from among all the people priests of the high places: whoever would, he consecrated him, that there might be priests of the high places.

34This thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the surface of the earth.

2Only the people sacrificed in the high places, because there was no house built for the name of Yahweh until those days.

3Solomon loved Yahweh, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.

6But if you shall turn away from following me, you or your children, and not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;

7then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all peoples.

8Though this house is so high, yet shall everyone who passes by it be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why has Yahweh done thus to this land, and to this house?

9and they shall answer, Because they forsook Yahweh their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore has Yahweh brought all this evil on them.

1Now the Philistines had taken the ark of God, and they brought it from Eben-ezer to Ashdod.

2The Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.

3When they of Ashdod arose early on the next day, behold, Dagon was fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh. They took Dagon, and set him in his place again.

4When they arose early on the next day morning, behold, Dagon was fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands [lay] cut off on the threshold; only [the stump of] Dagon was left to him.

5Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any who come into Dagon`s house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod, to this day.

6But the hand of Yahweh was heavy on them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and struck them with tumors, even Ashdod and the borders of it.

7When the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us; for his hand is sore on us, and on Dagon our god.

3They said, "If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, don`t send it empty; but by all means return him a trespass-offering: then you shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you."

4Then they said, "What shall be the trespass-offering which we shall return to him?" They said, "Five golden tumors, and five golden mice, [according to] the number of the lords of the Philistines; for one plague was on you all, and on your lords.

5Therefore you shall make images of your tumors, and images of your mice that mar the land; and you shall give glory to the God of Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land.

6Why then do you harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When he had worked wonderfully among them, didn`t they let the people go, and they departed?

3Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, If you do return to Yahweh with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, and direct your hearts to Yahweh, and serve him only; and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.

4Then the children of Israel did put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and served Yahweh only.

8According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, in that they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also to you.

15and he appointed him priests for the high places, and for the male goats, and for the calves which he had made.

1It happened, when the kingdom of Rehoboam was established, and he was strong, that he forsook the law of Yahweh, and all Israel with him.

11and they burn to Yahweh every morning and every evening burnt offerings and sweet incense: the show bread also [set they] in order on the pure table; and the lampstand of gold with the lamps of it, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of Yahweh our God; but you have forsaken him.

8Now you think to withstand the kingdom of Yahweh in the hand of the sons of David; and you are a great multitude, and there are with you the golden calves which Jeroboam made you for gods.

9Haven`t you driven out the priests of Yahweh, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made you priests after the manner of the peoples of [other] lands? so that whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams, the same may be a priest of [those who are] no gods.

19But if you turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;

20then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.

21This house, which is so high, everyone who passes by it shall be astonished, and shall say, Why has Yahweh done thus to this land, and to this house?

22They shall answer, Because they forsook Yahweh, the God of their fathers, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore has he brought all this evil on them.

22They shall answer, Because they forsook Yahweh, the God of their fathers, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore has he brought all this evil on them.

2Ahaziah fell down through the lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said to them, Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover of this sickness.

3But the angel of Yahweh said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and tell them, Is it because there is no God in Israel, that you go to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?

4Now therefore thus says Yahweh, You shall not come down from the bed where you are gone up, but shall surely die. Elijah departed.

18Jehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu will serve him much.

19Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his worshippers, and all his priests; let none be wanting: for I have a great sacrifice [to do] to Baal; whoever shall be wanting, he shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtlety, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal.

20Jehu said, Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal. They proclaimed it.

21Jehu sent through all Israel: and all the worshippers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that didn`t come. They came into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was filled from one end to another.

22He said to him who was over the vestry, Bring forth vestments for all the worshippers of Baal. He brought them forth vestments.

23Jehu went, and Jehonadab the son of Rechab, into the house of Baal; and he said to the worshippers of Baal, Search, and look that there be here with you none of the servants of Yahweh, but the worshippers of Baal only.

24They went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had appointed him eighty men outside, and said, If any of the men whom I bring into your hands escape, [he who lets him go], his life shall be for the life of him.

25It happened, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, Go in, and kill them; let none come forth. They struck them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the captains cast them out, and went to the city of the house of Baal.

26They brought forth the pillars that were in the house of Baal, and burned them.

27They broke down the pillar of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal, and made it a draught-house, to this day.

28Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.

17Jehoiada made a covenant between Yahweh and the king and the people, that they should be Yahweh`s people; between the king also and the people.

18All the people of the land went to the house of Baal, and broke it down; his altars and his images broke they in pieces thoroughly, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. The priest appointed officers over the house of Yahweh.

2Jehoash did that which was right in the eyes of Yahweh all his days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him.

3However the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.

2He did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin; he didn`t depart therefrom.

3The anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, continually.

7The prince of the eunuchs gave names to them: to Daniel he gave [the name of] Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, [of] Shadrach; and to Mishael, [of] Meshach; and to Azariah, [of] Abed-nego.

38But in his place shall he honor the god of fortresses; and a god whom his fathers didn`t know shall he honor with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.

39He shall deal with the strongest fortresses by the help of a foreign god: whoever acknowledges [him] he will increase with glory; and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for a price.

46Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an offering and sweet odors to him.

47The king answered to Daniel, and said, Of a truth your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing you have been able to reveal this secret.

14Nebuchadnezzar answered them, Is it on purpose, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, that you don`t serve my god, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?

15Now if you are ready whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music to you fall down and worship the image which I have made, [well]: but if you don`t worship, you shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that god that shall deliver you out of my hands?

16Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego answered the king, Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.

17If it be [so], our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.

18But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up.

1Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits, and the breadth of it six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

2Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the satraps, the deputies, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

3Then the satraps, the deputies, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

4Then the herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, peoples, nations, and languages,

5that whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up;

6and whoever doesn`t fall down and worships shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

7Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

28Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who has sent his angel, and delivered his servants who trusted in him, and have changed the king`s word, and have yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.

22You his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this,

23but have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which don`t see, nor hear, nor know; and the God in whose hand your breath is, and whose are all your ways, you have not glorified.

2Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, might drink therefrom.

3Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, drank from them.

4They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

16Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;

17and the anger of Yahweh be kindled against you, and he shut up the sky, so that there shall be no rain, and the land shall not yield its fruit; and you perish quickly from off the good land which Yahweh gives you.

15Take therefore good heed to yourselves; for you saw no manner of form on the day that Yahweh spoke to you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire.

16Lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself an engraved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

17the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky,

18the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth;

19and lest you lift up your eyes to the sky, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the host of the sky, you be drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which Yahweh your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky.

25When you shall father children, and children`s children, and you shall have been long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make an engraved image in the form of anything, and shall do that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh your God, to provoke him to anger;

26I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto you go over the Jordan to possess it; you shall not prolong your days on it, but shall utterly be destroyed.

27Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you shall be left few in number among the nations, where Yahweh shall lead you away.

28There you shall serve gods, the work of men`s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

7You shall have no other gods before me.

8"You shall not make an engraved image for yourself, [nor] any likeness [of anything] that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

9you shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them; for I, Yahweh, your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me;

10and showing lovingkindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

14You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples who are round about you;

15for Yahweh your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; lest the anger of Yahweh your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.

25The engraved images of their gods shall you burn with fire: you shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it to you, lest you be snared therein; for it is an abomination to Yahweh your God.

26You shall not bring an abomination into your house, and become a devoted thing like it: you shall utterly detest it, and you shall utterly abhor it; for it is a devoted thing.

19It shall be, if you shall forget Yahweh your God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish.

12For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and animal. Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am Yahweh.

3You shall have no other gods before me.

4"You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

5you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me,

6and showing lovingkindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

24You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor follow their practices, but you shall utterly overthrow them and demolish their pillars.

19It happened, as soon as he came near to the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing: and Moses` anger grew hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mountain.

20He took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, ground it to powder, and scattered it on the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.

1When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don`t know what has become of him."

2Aaron said to them, "Take off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to me."

3All the people took off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.

4He received what they handed him, and fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it a molten calf; and they said, "These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt."

5When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation, and said, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to Yahweh."

6They rose up early on the next day, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace-offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

7Yahweh spoke to Moses, "Go, get down; for your people, who you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves!

8They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, `These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.`"

13but you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and you shall cut down their Asherim;

14for you shall worship no other god: for Yahweh, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

15Don`t make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, lest they play the prostitute after their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and one call you and you eat of his sacrifice;

16and you take of their daughters to your sons, and their daughters play the prostitute after their gods, and make your sons play the prostitute after their gods.

17You shall make no cast idols for yourselves.

17Therefore say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.

18They shall come there, and they shall take away all the detestable things of it and all the abominations of it from there.

19I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh;

20that they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

21But as for them whose heart walks after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their way on their own heads, says the Lord Yahweh.

13You shall know that I am Yahweh, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, on every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the places where they offered sweet savor to all their idols.

14I will stretch out my hand on them, and make the land desolate and waste, from the wilderness toward Diblah, throughout all their habitations: and they shall know that I am Yahweh.

3and say, You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh: Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys: Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places.

4Your altars shall become desolate, and your sun-images shall be broken; and I will cast down your slain men before your idols.

5I will lay the dead bodies of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars.

6In all your dwelling-places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your sun-images may be hewn down, and your works may be abolished.

7The slain shall fall in the midst of you, and you shall know that I am Yahweh.

8Yet will I leave a remnant, in that you shall have some that escape the sword among the nations, when you shall be scattered through the countries.

9Those of you that escape shall remember me among the nations where they shall be carried captive, how that I have been broken with their lewd heart, which has departed from me, and with they eyes, which play the prostitute after their idols: and they shall loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.

10They shall know that I am Yahweh: I have not said in vain that I would do this evil to them.

16He brought me into the inner court of Yahweh`s house; and see, at the door of the temple of Yahweh, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs toward the temple of Yahweh, and their faces toward the east; and they were worshipping the sun toward the east.

17Then he said to me, Have you seen [this], son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have turned again to provoke me to anger: and, behold, they put the branch to their nose.

18Therefore will I also deal in wrath; my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.

5Then said he to me, Son of man, lift up your eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up my eyes the way toward the north, and see, northward of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.

6He said to me, Son of man, see you what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel do commit here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but you shall again see yet other great abominations.

8Then said he to me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had dug in the wall, behold, a door.

9He said to me, Go in, and see the wicked abominations that they do here.

10So I went in and saw; and see, every form of creeping things, and abominable animals, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed on the wall round about.

11There stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel; and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, every man with his censer in his hand; and the odor of the cloud of incense went up.

12Then said he to me, Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his chambers of imagery? for they say, Yahweh doesn`t see us; Yahweh has forsaken the land.

13He said also to me, You shall again see yet other great abominations which they do.

11Then he sweeps by like the wind, and goes on. He is indeed guilty, whose strength is his god."

16Therefore he sacrifices to his net, and burns incense to his dragnet, because by them his life is luxurious, and his food is good.

18"What value does the engraved image have, that its maker has engraved it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he who fashions its form trusts in it, to make mute idols?

19Woe to him who says to the wood, `Awake!` or to the mute stone, `Arise!` Shall this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.

20But Yahweh is in his holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before him!"

3God came from Teman, The Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, And his praise filled the earth.

4His splendor is like the sunrise. Rays shine from his hand, where his power is hidden.

8Was Yahweh displeased with the rivers? Was your anger against the rivers, Or your wrath against the sea, That you rode on your horses, On your chariots of salvation?

1Israel is a luxuriant vine, that puts forth his fruit: according to the abundance of his fruit he has multiplied his altars; according to the goodness of their land they have made goodly pillars.

2Their heart is divided; now shall they be found guilty: he will strike their altars, he will destroy their pillars.

1When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died.

2Now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, even idols according to their own understanding, all of them the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves.

8For she did not know that I gave her the grain, and the new wine, and the oil, and multiplied to her silver and gold, which they used for Baal.

12My people ask counsel at their stock, and their staff declares to them; for the spirit of prostitution has caused them to err, and they have played the prostitute, [departing] from under their God.

13They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains, and burn incense on the hills, under oaks and poplars and terebinths, because the shadow of it is good: therefore your daughters play the prostitute, and your brides commit adultery.

14I will not punish your daughters when they play the prostitute, nor your brides when they commit adultery; for [the men] themselves go apart with prostitutes, and they sacrifice with the prostitutes; and the people that does not understand shall be overthrown.

4They have set up kings, but not by me; they have made princes, and I didn`t know it: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off.

5He has cast off your calf, Samaria; my anger is kindled against them: how long will it be before they attain to innocence?

6For from Israel is even this; the workman made it, and it is no God; yes, the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.

18The idols shall utterly pass away.

19Men shall go into the caves of the rocks, and into the holes of the earth, from before the terror of Yahweh, and from the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake mightily the earth.

20In that day men shall cast away their idols of silver, and their idols of gold, which have been made for them to worship, to the moles and to the bats;

21to go into the caverns of the rocks, and into the clefts of the ragged rocks, from before the terror of Yahweh, and from the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake mightily the earth.

7Their land is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land also is full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots.

8Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.

9Man is bowed down, and mankind is humbled; therefore don`t forgive them.

22You shall defile the overlaying of your engraved images of silver, and the plating of your molten images of gold: you shall cast them away as an unclean thing; you shall tell it, Get you hence.

18To whom then will you liken God? or what likeness will you compare to him?

19The image, a workman has cast [it], and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts [for it] silver chains.

20He who is too impoverished for [such] an offering chooses a tree that will not rot; he seeks to him a skillful workman to set up an engraved image, that shall not be moved.

9Those who fashion an engraved image are all of them vanity; and the things that they delight in shall not profit; and their own witnesses don`t see, nor know: that they may be put to shame.

10Who has fashioned a god, or molten an image that is profitable for nothing?

11Behold, all his fellows shall be put to shame; and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; they shall fear, they shall be put to shame together.

12The smith [makes] an ax, and works in the coals, and fashions it with hammers, and works it with his strong arm: yes, he is hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water, and is faint.

13The carpenter stretches out a line; he marks it out with a pencil; he shapes it with planes, and he marks it out with the compasses, and shapes it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house.

14He cuts down cedars for himself, and takes the cypress and the oak, and strengthens for himself one among the trees of the forest: he plants a fir-tree, and the rain nourishes it.

15Then shall it be for a man to burn; and he takes of it, and warms himself; yes, he kindles it, and bakes bread: yes, he makes a god, and worships it; he makes it an engraved image, and falls down to it.

16He burns part of it in the fire; with part of it he eats flesh; he roasts roast, and is satisfied; yes, he warms himself, and says, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire.

17The residue of it he makes a god, even his engraved image; he falls down to it and worships, and prays to it, and says, Deliver me; for you are my god.

18They don`t know, neither do they consider: for he has shut their eyes, that they can`t see; and their hearts, that they can`t understand.

19None calls to mind, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yes, also I have baked bread on the coals of it; I have roasted flesh and eaten it: and shall I make the residue of it an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?

20He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside; and he can`t deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?

1Bel bows down, Nebo stoops; their idols are on the animals, and on the cattle: the things that you carried about are made a load, a burden to the weary [animal].

2They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity.

3Listen to me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, that have been borne [by me] from their birth, that have been carried from the womb;

4and even to old age I am he, and even to gray hairs will I carry you. I have made, and I will bear; yes, I will carry, and will deliver.

5To whom will you liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?

6Some pour out gold from the bag, and weigh silver in the balance. They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god. They fall down -- yes, they worship.

7They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it, and set it in its place, and it stands, from its place it shall not move: yes, one may cry to it, yet it can not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.

3But draw near here, you sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the prostitute.

4Against whom do you sport yourselves? against whom make you a wide mouth, and put out the tongue? Aren`t you children of disobedience, a seed of falsehood,

5you who inflame yourselves among the oaks, under every green tree; who kill the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?

6Among the smooth [stones] of the valley is your portion; they, they are your lot; even to them have you poured a drink-offering, you have offered an offering. Shall I be appeased for these things?

7On a high and lofty mountain have you set your bed; there also went you up to offer sacrifice.

8Behind the doors and the posts have you set up your memorial: for you have uncovered [yourself] to another than me, and are gone up; you have enlarged your bed, and made you a covenant with them: you loved their bed where you saw it.

1Hear you the word which Yahweh speaks to you, house of Israel:

2thus says Yahweh, "Don`t learn the way of the nations, and don`t be dismayed at the signs of the sky; for the nations are dismayed at them.

3For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the ax.

4They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it not move.

5They are like a palm-tree, of turned work, and don`t speak: they must be carried, because they can`t go. Don`t be afraid of them; for they can`t do evil, neither is it in them to do good.

8But they are together brutish and foolish: the instruction of idols! it is but a stock.

9There is silver beaten into plates, which is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the artificer and of the hands of the goldsmith; blue and purple for their clothing; they are all the work of skillful men.

10But Yahweh is the true God; he is the living God, and an everlasting King: at his wrath the earth trembles, and the nations are not able to abide his indignation.

11Thus shall you say to them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth, and from under the heavens.

12He has made the earth by his power, he has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding has he stretched out the heavens:

13when he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he makes lightnings for the rain, and brings forth the wind out of his treasuries.

14Every man is become brutish [and is] without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his engraved image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

15They are vanity, a work of delusion: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

16The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: Yahweh of Hosts is his name.

11Has a nation changed [its] gods, which yet are no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.

12Be astonished, you heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be you very desolate, says Yahweh.

13For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the spring of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

20For of old time I have broken your yoke, and burst your bonds; and you said, I will not serve; for on every high hill and under every green tree you did bow yourself, playing the prostitute.

21Yet I had planted you a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then are you turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine to me?

22For though you wash you with lye, and use much soap, yet your iniquity is marked before me, says the Lord Yahweh.

23How can you say, I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Baals? see your way in the valley, know what you have done: [you are] a swift dromedary traversing her ways;

24a wild donkey used to the wilderness, that snuffs up the wind in her desire; in her occasion who can turn her away? all those who seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.

25Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst: but you said, It is in vain; no, for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.

26As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets;

27who tell a stock, You are my father; and to a stone, You have brought me forth: for they have turned their back to me, and not their face; but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.

28But where are your gods that you have made you? let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble: for according to the number of your cities are your gods, Judah.

32Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.

33How trimmest you your way to seek love! therefore even the wicked women have you taught your ways.

34Also in your skirts is found the blood of the souls of the innocent poor: you did not find them breaking in; but it is because of all these things.

35Yet you said, I am innocent; surely his anger is turned away from me. Behold, I will enter into judgment with you, because you say, I have not sinned.

36Why go you about so much to change your way? you shall be ashamed of Egypt also, as you were ashamed of Assyria.

37From there also shall you go forth, with your hands on your head: for Yahweh has rejected those in whom you trust, and you shall not prosper with them.

16Therefore don`t you pray for this people, neither lift up a cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me; for I will not hear you.

17Don`t you see what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

18The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink-offerings to other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.

19Do they provoke me to anger? says Yahweh; [do they] not [provoke] themselves, to the confusion of their own faces?

20Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, my anger and my wrath shall be poured out on this place, on man, and on animal, and on the trees of the field, and on the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.

29Cut off your hair, [Jerusalem], and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights; for Yahweh has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.

30For the children of Judah have done that which is evil in my sight, says Yahweh: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it.

31They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I didn`t command, neither came it into my mind.

32Therefore, behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that it shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter: for they shall bury in Topheth, until there be no place [to bury].

33The dead bodies of this people shall be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth; and none shall frighten them away.

34Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the land shall become a waste.

13Yet you have forsaken me, and served other gods: why I will save you no more.

14Go and cry to the gods which you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.

6The children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and served the Baals, and the Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Sidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook Yahweh, and didn`t serve him.

7The anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the children of Ammon.

11The children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and served the Baals;

12and they forsook Yahweh, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the peoples who were round about them, and bowed themselves down to them: and they provoked Yahweh to anger.

13They forsook Yahweh, and served Baal and the Ashtaroth.

5The children of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites:

6and they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons and served their gods.

7The children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and forgot Yahweh their God, and served the Baals and the Asheroth.

25It happened the same night, that Yahweh said to him, Take your father`s bull, even the second bull seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is by it;

26and build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold, in the orderly manner, and take the second bull, and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.

27Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as Yahweh had spoken to him: and it happened, because he feared his father`s household and the men of the city, so that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.

28When the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah was cut down that was by it, and the second bull was offered on the altar that was built.

29They said one to another, Who has done this thing? When they inquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.

30Then the men of the city said to Joash, Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has broken down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the Asherah that was by it.

31Joash said to all who stood against him, Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? he who will contend for him, let him be put to death while [it is yet] morning: if he be a god, let him contend for himself, because one has broken down his altar.

32Therefore on that day he named him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal contend against him, because he has broken down his altar.

27Gideon made an ephod of it, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel played the prostitute after it there; and it became a snare to Gideon, and to his house.

28So Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, and they lifted up their heads no more. The land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.