39 Bible Verses about High Places

Most Relevant Verses

Habakkuk 3:19

The Lord God is my strength,
And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet,
And makes me walk on my high places.
For the choir director, on my stringed instruments.

Deuteronomy 32:13

“He made him ride on the high places of the earth,
And he ate the produce of the field;
And He made him suck honey from the rock,
And oil from the flinty rock,

Psalm 18:33

He makes my feet like hinds’ feet,
And sets me upon my high places.

2 Samuel 22:34

“He makes my feet like hinds’ feet,
And sets me on my high places.

Amos 4:13

For behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind
And declares to man what are His thoughts,
He who makes dawn into darkness
And treads on the high places of the earth,
The Lord God of hosts is His name.

Micah 1:3

For behold, the Lord is coming forth from His place.
He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.

1 Kings 3:2-3

The people were still sacrificing on the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days. Now Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

1 Samuel 9:12

They answered them and said, “He is; see, he is ahead of you. Hurry now, for he has come into the city today, for the people have a sacrifice on the high place today.

1 Samuel 9:13-14

As soon as you enter the city you will find him before he goes up to the high place to eat, for the people will not eat until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice; afterward those who are invited will eat. Now therefore, go up for you will find him at once.” So they went up to the city. As they came into the city, behold, Samuel was coming out toward them to go up to the high place.

1 Samuel 10:5

Afterward you will come to the hill of God where the Philistine garrison is; and it shall be as soon as you have come there to the city, that you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and a lyre before them, and they will be prophesying.

Deuteronomy 33:29

“Blessed are you, O Israel;
Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord,
Who is the shield of your help
And the sword of your majesty!
So your enemies will cringe before you,
And you will tread upon their high places.”

Isaiah 15:2

They have gone up to the temple and to Dibon, even to the high places to weep.
Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba;
Everyone’s head is bald and every beard is cut off.

Isaiah 16:12

So it will come about when Moab presents himself,
When he wearies himself upon his high place
And comes to his sanctuary to pray,
That he will not prevail.

1 Kings 12:31

And he made houses on high places, and made priests from among all the people who were not of the sons of Levi.

Leviticus 26:30

I then will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and heap your remains on the remains of your idols, for My soul shall abhor you.

Numbers 33:52

then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images and demolish all their high places;

Deuteronomy 12:2

You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree.

Ezekiel 20:28-29

When I had brought them into the land which I swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill and every leafy tree, and they offered there their sacrifices and there they presented the provocation of their offering. There also they made their soothing aroma and there they poured out their drink offerings. Then I said to them, ‘What is the high place to which you go?’ So its name is called Bamah to this day.”’

Jeremiah 17:3

O mountain of Mine in the countryside,
I will give over your wealth and all your treasures for booty,
Your high places for sin throughout your borders.

Jeremiah 32:35

They built the high places of Baal that are in the valley of Ben-hinnom to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I had not commanded them nor had it entered My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

1 Kings 11:7

Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon.

2 Chronicles 32:12

Has not the same Hezekiah taken away His high places and His altars, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, “You shall worship before one altar, and on it you shall burn incense”?

2 Kings 18:4

He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan.

2 Chronicles 31:1

Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah, broke the pillars in pieces, cut down the Asherim and pulled down the high places and the altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the sons of Israel returned to their cities, each to his possession.

2 Kings 17:11

and there they burned incense on all the high places as the nations did which the Lord had carried away to exile before them; and they did evil things provoking the Lord.

2 Kings 23:20

All the priests of the high places who were there he slaughtered on the altars and burned human bones on them; then he returned to Jerusalem.

2 Chronicles 28:25

In every city of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods, and provoked the Lord, the God of his fathers, to anger.

Ezekiel 43:7

He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the sons of Israel forever. And the house of Israel will not again defile My holy name, neither they nor their kings, by their harlotry and by the corpses of their kings when they die,

2 Chronicles 14:3

for he removed the foreign altars and high places, tore down the sacred pillars, cut down the Asherim,

2 Chronicles 17:6

He took great pride in the ways of the Lord and again removed the high places and the Asherim from Judah.

2 Kings 23:5

He did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem, also those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the constellations and to all the host of heaven.

2 Kings 23:8

Then he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; and he broke down the high places of the gates which were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one’s left at the city gate.

1 Kings 15:14

But the high places were not taken away; nevertheless the heart of Asa was wholly devoted to the Lord all his days.

1 Kings 22:43

He walked in all the way of Asa his father; he did not turn aside from it, doing right in the sight of the Lord. However, the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burnt incense on the high places.

2 Kings 12:2-3

Jehoash did right in the sight of the Lord all his days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him. Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

2 Kings 14:3-4

He did right in the sight of the Lord, yet not like David his father; he did according to all that Joash his father had done. Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

2 Kings 15:3-4

He did right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

2 Chronicles 20:32-33

He walked in the way of his father Asa and did not depart from it, doing right in the sight of the Lord. The high places, however, were not removed; the people had not yet directed their hearts to the God of their fathers.

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From Thematic Bible


High places » Sometimes used for true worship

Genesis 22:2

He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”

1 Samuel 10:5

Afterward you will come to the hill of God where the Philistine garrison is; and it shall be as soon as you have come there to the city, that you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and a lyre before them, and they will be prophesying.

Genesis 31:54

Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his kinsmen to the meal; and they ate the meal and spent the night on the mountain.

1 Kings 18:19

Now then send and gather to me all Israel at Mount Carmel, together with 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

1 Kings 3:4

The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place; Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.

More verses: Judges 6:26 1 Samuel 9:12

High places » A term used to describe places of worship

Genesis 12:8

Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord.

2 Samuel 24:25

David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Thus the Lord was moved by prayer for the land, and the plague was held back from Israel.

Genesis 22:2

He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”

Genesis 31:54

Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his kinsmen to the meal; and they ate the meal and spent the night on the mountain.

1 Kings 18:38

Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

High places » Condemned

Numbers 33:52

then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images and demolish all their high places;

1 Kings 13:32

For the thing shall surely come to pass which he cried by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria.”

Jeremiah 7:31

They 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 did not command, and it did not come into My mind.

2 Chronicles 14:3

for he removed the foreign altars and high places, tore down the sacred pillars, cut down the Asherim,

Leviticus 26:30

I then will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and heap your remains on the remains of your idols, for My soul shall abhor you.

High places » Signify a place of idolatrous worship

1 Kings 11:7

Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon.

2 Kings 17:29

But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the houses of the high places which the people of Samaria had made, every nation in their cities in which they lived.

Jeremiah 7:31

They 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 did not command, and it did not come into My mind.

1 Kings 12:31

And he made houses on high places, and made priests from among all the people who were not of the sons of Levi.

1 Kings 22:43

He walked in all the way of Asa his father; he did not turn aside from it, doing right in the sight of the Lord. However, the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burnt incense on the high places.

High places » God sometimes worshipped on

1 Kings 3:4

The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place; Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.

1 Samuel 9:12

They answered them and said, “He is; see, he is ahead of you. Hurry now, for he has come into the city today, for the people have a sacrifice on the high place today.

1 Kings 3:2

The people were still sacrificing on the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days.

2 Chronicles 33:17

Nevertheless the people still sacrificed in the high places, although only to the Lord their God.

High places » Destroyed by » Asa, partially

2 Chronicles 15:17

But the high places were not removed from Israel; nevertheless Asa’s heart was blameless all his days.

2 Chronicles 14:3

for he removed the foreign altars and high places, tore down the sacred pillars, cut down the Asherim,

High places » Destroyed by » hezekiah

2 Chronicles 31:1

Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah, broke the pillars in pieces, cut down the Asherim and pulled down the high places and the altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the sons of Israel returned to their cities, each to his possession.

2 Kings 18:4

He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan.

High places » Destroyed by » Josiah

2 Chronicles 34:3

For in the eighth year of his reign while he was still a youth, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, the carved images and the molten images.

2 Kings 23:8

Then he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; and he broke down the high places of the gates which were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one’s left at the city gate.

High places » Built by » Manasseh

2 Kings 21:3

For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.

2 Chronicles 33:3

For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; he also erected altars for the Baals and made Asherim, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.

High places » The jews » Built, in all their streets

Ezekiel 16:24

that you built yourself a shrine and made yourself a high place in every square.

Ezekiel 16:31

When you built your shrine at the beginning of every street and made your high place in every square, in disdaining money, you were not like a harlot.

High places » The jews » Punished for

2 Kings 17:11

and there they burned incense on all the high places as the nations did which the Lord had carried away to exile before them; and they did evil things provoking the Lord.

2 Kings 17:18

So the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from His sight; none was left except the tribe of Judah.

High places » Priests ordained for

1 Kings 12:32

Jeroboam instituted a feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast which is in Judah, and he went up to the altar; thus he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves which he had made. And he stationed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.

1 Kings 13:33

After this event Jeroboam did not return from his evil way, but again he made priests of the high places from among all the people; any who would, he ordained, to be priests of the high places.

High places » Sacrifices and incense offered to idols upon

2 Kings 12:3

Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

2 Kings 16:4

He sacrificed and burned incense on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

High places » Enchantments used upon

Numbers 24:1

When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go as at other times to seek omens but he set his face toward the wilderness.

Numbers 23:3

Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you.” So he went to a bare hill.

High places » Built by » Jehoram

2 Chronicles 21:11

Moreover, he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the harlot and led Judah astray.

High places » Built by » Ahaz

2 Chronicles 28:25

In every city of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods, and provoked the Lord, the God of his fathers, to anger.

High places » The idolatrous, to be destroyed

Numbers 33:52

then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images and demolish all their high places;

Leviticus 26:30

I then will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and heap your remains on the remains of your idols, for My soul shall abhor you.

High places » Destroyed by » Jehoshaphat

2 Chronicles 17:6

He took great pride in the ways of the Lord and again removed the high places and the Asherim from Judah.

High places » The jews » Condemned for building

Ezekiel 16:23-35

"Then it came about after all your wickedness ('Woe, woe to you!' declares the Lord GOD), that you built yourself a shrine and made yourself a high place in every square. "You built yourself a high place at the top of every street and made your beauty abominable, and you spread your legs to every passer-by to multiply your harlotry. read more.
"You also played the harlot with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, and multiplied your harlotry to make Me angry. "Behold now, I have stretched out My hand against you and diminished your rations. And I delivered you up to the desire of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your lewd conduct. "Moreover, you played the harlot with the Assyrians because you were not satisfied; you played the harlot with them and still were not satisfied. "You also multiplied your harlotry with the land of merchants, Chaldea, yet even with this you were not satisfied."'" "How languishing is your heart," declares the Lord GOD, "while you do all these things, the actions of a bold-faced harlot. "When you built your shrine at the beginning of every street and made your high place in every square, in disdaining money, you were not like a harlot. "You adulteress wife, who takes strangers instead of her husband! "Men give gifts to all harlots, but you give your gifts to all your lovers to bribe them to come to you from every direction for your harlotries. "Thus you are different from those women in your harlotries, in that no one plays the harlot as you do, because you give money and no money is given you; thus you are different." Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD.

High places » The jews » Provoked God with

1 Kings 14:22-23

Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked Him to jealousy more than all that their fathers had done, with the sins which they committed. For they also built for themselves high places and sacred pillars and Asherim on every high hill and beneath every luxuriant tree.

High places » The jews » Threatened with destruction of

Leviticus 26:30

I then will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and heap your remains on the remains of your idols, for My soul shall abhor you.

High places » Used for idolatrous worship

1 Kings 11:7-8

Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon. Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

High places » Mentioned in scripture » Tophet

Jeremiah 7:31

They 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 did not command, and it did not come into My mind.

High places » Mentioned in scripture » Bamah

Ezekiel 20:29

Then I said to them, ‘What is the high place to which you go?’ So its name is called Bamah to this day.”’

High places » Mentioned in scripture » Arnon

Numbers 21:28

For a fire went forth from Heshbon,
A flame from the town of Sihon;
It devoured Ar of Moab,
The dominant heights of the Arnon.

High places » Mentioned in scripture » Baal

Numbers 22:41

Then it came about in the morning that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to the high places of Baal, and he saw from there a portion of the people.

High places » Built by » People of judah

1 Kings 14:23

For they also built for themselves high places and sacred pillars and Asherim on every high hill and beneath every luxuriant tree.

High places » Built by » Jeroboam

1 Kings 12:31

And he made houses on high places, and made priests from among all the people who were not of the sons of Levi.

High places » Of the canaanites to be destroyed

Numbers 33:52

then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images and demolish all their high places;

High places » Surrounded with groves

1 Kings 14:23

For they also built for themselves high places and sacred pillars and Asherim on every high hill and beneath every luxuriant tree.

High places » Adorned with tapestry

Ezekiel 16:16

You took some of your clothes, made for yourself high places of various colors and played the harlot on them, which should never come about nor happen.

High places » Jotham

2 Kings 15:35

Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord.

High places » The jews » Built, in their cities

2 Kings 17:9

The sons of Israel did things secretly which were not right against the Lord their God. Moreover, they built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city.

High places » Built by » People of israel

2 Kings 17:9

The sons of Israel did things secretly which were not right against the Lord their God. Moreover, they built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city.

High places » Built by » Solomon

1 Kings 11:7

Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon.

High places » Licentious practices at

Ezekiel 16:24-43

that you built yourself a shrine and made yourself a high place in every square. "You built yourself a high place at the top of every street and made your beauty abominable, and you spread your legs to every passer-by to multiply your harlotry. "You also played the harlot with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, and multiplied your harlotry to make Me angry. read more.
"Behold now, I have stretched out My hand against you and diminished your rations. And I delivered you up to the desire of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your lewd conduct. "Moreover, you played the harlot with the Assyrians because you were not satisfied; you played the harlot with them and still were not satisfied. "You also multiplied your harlotry with the land of merchants, Chaldea, yet even with this you were not satisfied."'" "How languishing is your heart," declares the Lord GOD, "while you do all these things, the actions of a bold-faced harlot. "When you built your shrine at the beginning of every street and made your high place in every square, in disdaining money, you were not like a harlot. "You adulteress wife, who takes strangers instead of her husband! "Men give gifts to all harlots, but you give your gifts to all your lovers to bribe them to come to you from every direction for your harlotries. "Thus you are different from those women in your harlotries, in that no one plays the harlot as you do, because you give money and no money is given you; thus you are different." Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD, "Because your lewdness was poured out and your nakedness uncovered through your harlotries with your lovers and with all your detestable idols, and because of the blood of your sons which you gave to idols, therefore, behold, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, even all those whom you loved and all those whom you hated So I will gather them against you from every direction and expose your nakedness to them that they may see all your nakedness. "Thus I will judge you like women who commit adultery or shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy. "I will also give you into the hands of your lovers, and they will tear down your shrines, demolish your high places, strip you of your clothing, take away your jewels, and will leave you naked and bare. "They will incite a crowd against you and they will stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. "They will burn your houses with fire and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women Then I will stop you from playing the harlot, and you will also no longer pay your lovers. "So I will calm My fury against you and My jealousy will depart from you, and I will be pacified and angry no more. "Because you have not remembered the days of your youth but have enraged Me by all these things, behold, I in turn will bring your conduct down on your own head," declares the Lord GOD, "so that you will not commit this lewdness on top of all your other abominations.

High places » Jehoash

2 Kings 12:3

Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

High places » Azariah

2 Kings 15:4

Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

High places » Amaziah

2 Kings 14:4

Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

High places » Mentioned in scripture » gibeon

1 Kings 3:4

The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place; Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.

High places » Mentioned in scripture » Aven

Hosea 10:8

Also the high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed;
Thorn and thistle will grow on their altars;
Then they will say to the mountains,
“Cover us!” And to the hills, “Fall on us!”

High places » Jehoshaphat destroys

2 Chronicles 17:6

He took great pride in the ways of the Lord and again removed the high places and the Asherim from Judah.

High places » Hezekiah destroys

2 Kings 18:4

He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan.

High places » Josiah destroys

2 Kings 23:8

Then he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; and he broke down the high places of the gates which were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one’s left at the city gate.

High places » Asa destroys

2 Chronicles 14:3

for he removed the foreign altars and high places, tore down the sacred pillars, cut down the Asherim,

Topics on High Places

Sacrificing On The High Places

Ezekiel 20:28

When I had brought them into the land which I swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill and every leafy tree, and they offered there their sacrifices and there they presented the provocation of their offering. There also they made their soothing aroma and there they poured out their drink offerings.

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