Then the Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They worshipped the Baals and the Ashtoreths, the gods of Aram, Sidon, and Moab, and the gods of the Ammonites and the Philistines. They abandoned the Lord and did not worship him.
The king also defiled the high places that were opposite Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Destruction, which King Solomon of Israel had built for Ashtoreth, the abhorrent idol of the Sidonians; for Chemosh, the abhorrent idol of Moab; and for Milcom, the detestable idol of the Ammonites.
For they have abandoned me; they have bowed down to Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, to Chemosh, the god of Moab, and to Milcom, the god of the Ammonites. They have not walked in my ways to do what is right in my sight and to carry out my statutes and my judgements as his father David did.
Samuel told them, ‘If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, get rid of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths that are among you, set your hearts on the Lord, and worship only him. Then he will rescue you from the Philistines.’
Then they cried out to the Lord and said, “We have sinned, for we abandoned the Lord and worshipped the Baals and the Ashtoreths. Now rescue us from the power of our enemies, and we will serve you.”
Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They clung to other gods and bowed in worship to them and served them. Because of this, he brought all this ruin on them.’
He burned incense in Ben Hinnom Valley and burned his children in , the fire, imitating the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites.
He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had torn down and re-established the altars for the Baals. He made Asherah poles, and he bowed in worship to all the stars in the sky and served them.
For long ago I broke your yoke; I tore off your chains. You insisted, ‘I will not serve! ’ On every high hill and under every green tree you lay down like a prostitute.
Then you will answer them, “Because your ancestors abandoned me #– #this is the Lord’s declaration #– #and followed other gods, served them, and bowed in worship to them. Indeed, they abandoned me and did not keep my instruction.