Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



They abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God; they made two metal calves and an Asherah pole, bowed down to all the stars in the sky, and worshiped Baal.

He also removed Maacah his grandmother from her position as queen because she had made a loathsome Asherah pole. Asa cut down her Asherah pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley.

Now send out messengers and assemble all Israel before me at Mount Carmel, as well as the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah whom Jezebel supports.

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

The Lord will attack Israel, making it like a reed that sways in the water. He will remove Israel from this good land he gave to their ancestors and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they angered the Lord by making Asherah poles.

They even built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.

But they did not repudiate the sinful ways of the family of Jeroboam, who encouraged Israel to sin; they continued in those sins. There was even an Asherah pole standing in Samaria.

They set up sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.

He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he set up altars for Baal and made an Asherah pole just like King Ahab of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the stars in the sky and worshiped them. He built altars in the Lord's temple, about which the Lord had said, "Jerusalem will be my home." In the two courtyards of the Lord's temple he built altars for all the stars in the sky. read more.
He passed his son through the fire and practiced divination and omen reading. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits, and appointed magicians to supervise it. He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. He put an idol of Asherah he had made in the temple, about which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, "This temple in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will be my permanent home.

They abandoned the temple of the Lord God of their ancestors, and worshiped the Asherah poles and idols. Because of this sinful activity, God was angry with Judah and Jerusalem.

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


They even built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.

They sacrifice on the mountaintops, and burn offerings on the hills; they sacrifice under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is so pleasant. As a result, your daughters have become cult prostitutes, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery!


Furthermore, on the hill east of Jerusalem Solomon built a high place for the detestable Moabite god Chemosh and for the detestable Ammonite god Milcom.

But each of these nations made its own gods and put them in the shrines on the high places that the people of Samaria had made. Each nation did this in the cities where they lived.

They have also built places of worship in a place called Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that they can sacrifice their sons and daughters by fire. That is something I never commanded them to do! Indeed, it never even entered my mind to command such a thing!

He built temples on the high places and appointed as priests people who were not Levites.

He followed in his father Asa's footsteps and was careful to do what the Lord approved. However, the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places.

The Israelites said things about the Lord their God that were not right. They built high places in all their cities, from the watchtower to the fortress.

They even built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.

Then on the next morning Balak took Balaam, and brought him up to Bamoth Baal. From there he saw the extent of the nation.

The high places were not eliminated, yet Asa was wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord throughout his lifetime.


Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord. They made him more jealous by their sins than their ancestors had done. They even built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.


They even built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.


They even built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.


Now Rehoboam son of Solomon ruled in Judah. He was forty-one years old when he became king and he ruled for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord chose from all the tribes of Israel to be his home. His mother was an Ammonite woman named Naamah. Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord. They made him more jealous by their sins than their ancestors had done. They even built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. read more.
There were also male cultic prostitutes in the land. They committed the same horrible sins as the nations that the Lord had driven out from before the Israelites. In King Rehoboam's fifth year, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. He took away the treasures of the Lord's temple and of the royal palace; he took everything, including all the golden shields that Solomon had made. King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned them to the officers of the royal guard who protected the entrance to the royal palace. Whenever the king visited the Lord's temple, the royal guard carried them and then brought them back to the guardroom. The rest of the events of Rehoboam's reign, including his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. Rehoboam and Jeroboam were continually at war with each other. Rehoboam passed away and was buried with his ancestors in the city of David. His mother was an Ammonite named Naamah. His son Abijah replaced him as king.


Now Rehoboam son of Solomon ruled in Judah. He was forty-one years old when he became king and he ruled for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord chose from all the tribes of Israel to be his home. His mother was an Ammonite woman named Naamah. Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord. They made him more jealous by their sins than their ancestors had done. They even built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. read more.
There were also male cultic prostitutes in the land. They committed the same horrible sins as the nations that the Lord had driven out from before the Israelites. In King Rehoboam's fifth year, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. He took away the treasures of the Lord's temple and of the royal palace; he took everything, including all the golden shields that Solomon had made. King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned them to the officers of the royal guard who protected the entrance to the royal palace. Whenever the king visited the Lord's temple, the royal guard carried them and then brought them back to the guardroom. The rest of the events of Rehoboam's reign, including his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. Rehoboam and Jeroboam were continually at war with each other. Rehoboam passed away and was buried with his ancestors in the city of David. His mother was an Ammonite named Naamah. His son Abijah replaced him as king.

When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he summoned 180,000 skilled warriors from all of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin to attack Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of Solomon. But God told Shemaiah the prophet, "Say this to King Rehoboam son of Solomon of Judah, and to all Judah and Benjamin, as well as the rest of the people, read more.
The Lord says this: "Do not attack and make war with your brothers, the Israelites. Each of you go home, for I have caused this to happen."'" They obeyed the Lord and went home as the Lord had ordered them to do.

(Rehoboam continued to rule over the Israelites who lived in the cities of Judah.) King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, the supervisor of the work crews, out after them, but the Israelites stoned him to death. King Rehoboam managed to jump into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. So Israel has been in rebellion against the Davidic dynasty to this very day. read more.
When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he summoned 180,000 skilled warriors from Judah and Benjamin to attack Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. But the Lord told Shemaiah the prophet, "Say this to King Rehoboam son of Solomon of Judah and to all the Israelites in Judah and Benjamin, The Lord says this: "Do not attack and make war with your brothers. Each of you go home, for I have caused this to happen."'" They obeyed the Lord and called off the attack against Jeroboam. Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem; he built up these fortified cities throughout Judah: Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, Beth Zur, Soco, Adullam, Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron. These were the fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin. He fortified these cities and placed officers in them, as well as storehouses of food, olive oil, and wine. In each city there were shields and spears; he strongly fortified them. Judah and Benjamin belonged to him. The priests and Levites who lived throughout Israel supported him, no matter where they resided. The Levites even left their pasturelands and their property behind and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons prohibited them from serving as the Lord's priests. Jeroboam appointed his own priests to serve at the worship centers and to lead in the worship of the goat idols and calf idols he had made. Those among all the Israelite tribes who were determined to worship the Lord God of Israel followed them to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord God of their ancestors. They supported the kingdom of Judah and were loyal to Rehoboam son of Solomon for three years; they followed the edicts of David and Solomon for three years. Rehoboam married Mahalath the daughter of David's son Jerimoth and of Abihail, the daughter of Jesse's son Eliab. She bore him sons named Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. He later married Maacah the daughter of Absalom. She bore to him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than his other wives and concubines. He had eighteen wives and sixty concubines; he fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maacah as the leader over his brothers, for he intended to name him his successor. He wisely placed some of his many sons throughout the regions of Judah and Benjamin in the various fortified cities. He supplied them with abundant provisions and acquired many wives for them. After Rehoboam's rule was established and solidified, he and all Israel rejected the law of the Lord. Because they were unfaithful to the Lord, in King Rehoboam's fifth year, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. He had 1,200 chariots, 60,000 horsemen, and an innumerable number of soldiers who accompanied him from Egypt, including Libyans, Sukkites, and Cushites. He captured the fortified cities of Judah and marched against Jerusalem. Shemaiah the prophet visited Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah who were assembled in Jerusalem because of Shishak. He said to them, "This is what the Lord says: 'You have rejected me, so I have rejected you and will hand you over to Shishak.'" The leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, "The Lord is just." When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, he gave this message to Shemaiah: "They have humbled themselves, so I will not destroy them. I will deliver them soon. My anger will not be unleashed against Jerusalem through Shishak. Yet they will become his subjects, so they can experience how serving me differs from serving the surrounding nations." King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem and took away the treasures of the Lord's temple and of the royal palace; he took everything, including the gold shields that Solomon had made. King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned them to the officers of the royal guard who protected the entrance to the royal palace. Whenever the king visited the Lord's temple, the royal guards carried them and then brought them back to the guardroom. So when Rehoboam humbled himself, the Lord relented from his anger and did not annihilate him; Judah experienced some good things. King Rehoboam solidified his rule in Jerusalem; he was forty-one years old when he became king and he ruled for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord chose from all the tribes of Israel to be his home. Rehoboam's mother was an Ammonite named Naamah. He did evil because he was not determined to follow the Lord. The events of Rehoboam's reign, from start to finish, are recorded in the Annals of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer that include genealogical records. Then Rehoboam passed away and was buried in the City of David. His son Abijah replaced him as king.


Afterward you will go to Gibeah of God, where there are Philistine officials. When you enter the town, you will meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place. They will have harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres, and they will be prophesying.

They even built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.

They sacrifice on the mountaintops, and burn offerings on the hills; they sacrifice under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is so pleasant. As a result, your daughters have become cult prostitutes, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery!

You must by all means destroy all the places where the nations you are about to dispossess worship their gods -- on the high mountains and hills and under every leafy tree.

When Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord said to me, "Jeremiah, you have no doubt seen what wayward Israel has done. You have seen how she went up to every high hill and under every green tree to give herself like a prostitute to other gods.