You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you are going to dispossess serve their gods, on the (A)high mountains, on the hills, and under every leafy tree. And (B)you shall tear down their altars and smash their memorial stones to pieces, and burn their [a]Asherim in the fire, and cut to pieces the carved images of their gods; and you shall (C)eliminate their name from that place. You shall not act this way toward the Lord your God. (D)But you shall seek the Lord at the place which the Lord your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and you shall come there.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 12:3 I.e., wooden symbols of a female deity (Asherah)

Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains,(A) on the hills and under every spreading tree,(B) where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. Break down their altars, smash(C) their sacred stones and burn(D) their Asherah(E) poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names(F) from those places.

You must not worship the Lord your God in their way.(G) But you are to seek the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name(H) there for his dwelling.(I) To that place you must go;

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(A)He removed the high places and smashed the memorial stones to pieces, and cut down the [a]Asherah. He also crushed to pieces (B)the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel had been burning incense to it; and it was called [b]Nehushtan. (C)He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; and (D)after him there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who came before him.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 18:4 I.e., a wooden symbol of a female deity
  2. 2 Kings 18:4 I.e., a bronze sculpture

He removed(A) the high places,(B) smashed the sacred stones(C) and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake(D) Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.[a])

Hezekiah trusted(E) in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 18:4 Nehushtan sounds like the Hebrew for both bronze and snake.