Deuteronomy 12:3

Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the idols of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place.

Majority Standard Bible

In The King James Version

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.

In Context

2Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.

4You shall not worship the LORD your God in this way.

Read all of Deuteronomy 12

Cross References

Exodus 23:13Pay close attention to everything I have said to you. You must not invoke the names of other gods; they must not be heard on your lips.

Deuteronomy 7:5Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their idols in the fire.

1 Kings 15:13He also removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made a detestable Asherah pole. Asa chopped down the pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley.

2 Kings 23:14He smashed the sacred pillars to pieces, cut down the Asherah poles, and covered the sites with human bones.

2 Chronicles 14:3He removed the foreign altars and high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and chopped down the Asherah poles.

2 Chronicles 31:1When all this had ended, the Israelites in attendance went out to the cities of Judah and broke up the sacred pillars, chopped down the Asherah poles, and tore down the high places and altars throughout Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the Israelites returned to their cities, each to his own property.

Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 12:2-5

Relics of Idolatry to Be Destroyed. ( b. c. 1451.) 1 These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the Lord God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth. 2 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: 3 And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Deuteronomy 12:3