On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built two places for worship. One was a place to worship Chemosh, the hated god of the Moabites, and the other was a place to worship Molech, the hated god of the Ammonites.
Manasseh carved an Asherah idol and put it in the Temple. The Lord had said to David and his son Solomon about the Temple, “I will be worshiped forever in this Temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel.
Jehoram also built places to worship gods on the hills in Judah. He led the people of Jerusalem to sin, and he led the people of Judah away from the Lord.
Listen to the sound of my people. They cry from a faraway land: “Isn’t the Lord still in Jerusalem? Isn’t Jerusalem’s king still there?” But God says, “Why did the people make me angry by worshiping idols, useless foreign idols?”
But they still keep on sinning more and more. They make idols of their silver, idols that are cleverly made, the work of a craftsman. Yet the people of Israel say to each other, “Kiss those calf idols and sacrifice to them.”
I will destroy your places where gods are worshiped and cut down your incense altars. I will pile your dead bodies on the lifeless forms of your idols. I will hate you.
When you inherit the lands of these nations, you must completely destroy all the places where they serve their gods, on high mountains and hills and under every green tree.
“Anyone will be cursed who makes an idol or statue and secretly sets it up, because the Lord hates the idols people make.” Then all the people will say, “Amen!”
They used things that are not gods to make me jealous and worthless idols to make me angry. So I will use those who are not a nation to make them jealous; I will use a nation that does not understand to make them angry.
Again the Israelites did what the Lord said was wrong. They worshiped Baal and Ashtoreth, the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, and Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines. The Israelites left the Lord and stopped serving him.
But the Israelites did not listen to their judges. They were not faithful to God but worshiped other gods instead. Their ancestors had obeyed the Lord’s commands, but they quickly turned away and did not obey.
So the Lord became angry with the Israelites. He said, “These people have broken the agreement I made with their ancestors. They have not listened to me.
When he passed the statues near Gilgal, he turned around and said to Eglon, “I have a secret message for you, King Eglon.” The king said, “Be quiet!” Then he sent all of his servants out of the room.