'Sacrifice' in the Bible

For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or [idolatrous] pillar, and without ephod or teraphim (household idols).

They sacrifice on the tops of the mountainsAnd burn incense on the hills,Under oaks, poplars, and terebinths,Because the shade is pleasant there.Therefore your daughters play the prostituteAnd your brides commit adultery.

I will not punish your daughters when they play the prostituteOr your brides when they commit adultery,For the men themselves slip away with prostitutes,And they offer sacrifices with temple prostitutes [who give their bodies in honor of the idol].So the people without understanding [stumble and fall and] come to ruin.

For I desire and delight in [steadfast] loyalty [faithfulness in the covenant relationship], rather than sacrifice,And in the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

As for My sacrificial offerings,They sacrifice the meat [as a mere formality] and eat it,But the Lord is not pleased with them and does not accept them.Now He will remember and take into account their wickedness and guilt,And punish them for their sins.They will return [in captivity] to [another] Egypt [that is, Assyria].

And now they sin more and more,And make for themselves molten images,Idols skillfully made from their silver [as it pleased them],All of them the work of the craftsmen.They say of these [very works of their hands], “Let those who sacrifice kiss and show respect to the calves [as if they were living gods]!”