Israel to Destroy Idolatrous Nations

“When the Lord your God brings you into the land(A) you are entering to possess,(B) and he drives out many nations before you—the Hethites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations(C) more numerous and powerful than you(D) and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you and you defeat them, you must completely destroy(E) them. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.(F) You must not intermarry with them, and you must not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons,(G) because they will turn your sons away from me to worship other gods.(H) Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you,(I) and he will swiftly destroy you. Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles,(J) and burn their carved images.

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Driving Out the Nations

When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess(A) and drives out before you many nations(B)—the Hittites,(C) Girgashites,(D) Amorites,(E) Canaanites, Perizzites,(F) Hivites(G) and Jebusites,(H) seven nations larger and stronger than you— and when the Lord your God has delivered(I) them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy(J) them totally.[a](K) Make no treaty(L) with them, and show them no mercy.(M) Do not intermarry with them.(N) Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods,(O) and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy(P) you. This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles[b](Q) and burn their idols in the fire.(R)

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 7:2 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verse 26.
  2. Deuteronomy 7:5 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah; here and elsewhere in Deuteronomy

When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;

And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:

Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.

For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.

But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.

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Destroy completely all the places where the nations that you are driving out worship their gods(A)—on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.(B) Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn their Asherah poles, cut down the carved images of their gods, and wipe out their names from every[a] place.(C)

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Footnotes

  1. 12:3 Lit that

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.

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Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree:

And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.

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Then the king went to the Lord’s temple with all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as well as the priests and the prophets—all the people from the youngest to the oldest. He read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant(A) that had been found in the Lord’s temple.(B) Next, the king stood by the pillar[a](C) and made a covenant(D) in the Lord’s presence to follow the Lord and to keep his commands, his decrees, and his statutes with all his heart and with all his soul(E) in order to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book; all the people agreed to[b] the covenant.(F)

Josiah’s Reforms

Then the king commanded the high priest Hilkiah(G) and the priests of the second rank(H) and the doorkeepers to bring out of the Lord’s sanctuary all the articles made for Baal, Asherah, and all the stars in the sky.(I) He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel.(J) Then he did away with the idolatrous priests the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense at the high places(K) in the cities of Judah and in the areas surrounding Jerusalem. They had burned incense to Baal, and to the sun, moon, constellations, and all the stars in the sky.(L) He brought out the Asherah pole(M) from the Lord’s temple to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem. He burned it at the Kidron Valley,(N) beat it to dust,(O) and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.[c](P)

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Footnotes

  1. 23:3 2Ch 34:31 reads platform
  2. 23:3 Lit people took a stand in
  3. 23:6 Lit the sons of the people

He went up to the temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read(A) in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant,(B) which had been found in the temple of the Lord. The king stood by the pillar(C) and renewed the covenant(D) in the presence of the Lord—to follow(E) the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.

The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers(F) to remove(G) from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel. He did away with the idolatrous priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem—those who burned incense(H) to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts.(I) He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the Lord to the Kidron Valley(J) outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder(K) and scattered the dust over the graves(L) of the common people.(M)

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And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord.

And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.

And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.

And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.

And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.

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