Deuteronomy 12:3
New International Version
Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places.

New Living Translation
Break down their altars and smash their sacred pillars. Burn their Asherah poles and cut down their carved idols. Completely erase the names of their gods!

English Standard Version
You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim with fire. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place.

Berean Standard Bible
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.

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place.

New American Standard Bible
And you shall tear down their altars and smash their memorial stones to pieces, and burn their Asherim in the fire, and cut to pieces the carved images of their gods; and you shall eliminate their name from that place.

NASB 1995
“You shall tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and burn their Asherim with fire, and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods and obliterate their name from that place.

NASB 1977
“And you shall tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and burn their Asherim with fire, and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods, and you shall obliterate their name from that place.

Legacy Standard Bible
And you shall tear down their altars and shatter their sacred pillars and burn their Asherim with fire, and you shall cut the graven images of their gods in pieces and destroy their name from that place.

Amplified Bible
You shall tear down their altars and smash their [idolatrous] pillars and burn their Asherim in the fire; you shall cut down the carved and sculpted images of their gods and obliterate their name from that place.

Christian Standard Bible
Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn their Asherah poles, cut down the carved images of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the carved images of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place.

American Standard Version
and ye shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn their Asherim with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods; and ye shall destroy their name out of that place.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And you shall pull down their altars and you shall break down their monuments and their carved works you shall burn in fire and their engraved gods you shall break, and you shall destroy their names from that place.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And ye shall destroy their altars, and break in pieces their pillars, and ye shall cut down their groves, and ye shall burn with fire the graven images of their gods, and ye shall abolish their name out of that place.

Contemporary English Version
Wherever these nations worship their gods, you must tear down their altars, break their sacred stones, burn the sacred poles used in worshiping the goddess Asherah, and smash their idols to pieces. Destroy these places of worship so completely that no one will remember they were ever there.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Overthrow their altars, and break down their statues, burn their groves with fire, and break their idols in pieces: destroy their names out of those places.

English Revised Version
and ye shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn their Asherim with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods; and ye shall destroy their name out of that place.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Tear down their altars, crush their sacred stones, burn their poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah, cut down their idols, and wipe out the names of their gods from those places.

Good News Translation
Tear down their altars and smash their sacred stone pillars to pieces. Burn their symbols of the goddess Asherah and chop down their idols, so that they will never again be worshiped at those places.

International Standard Version
Tear down their altars, cut down their sacred poles, and burn them. Cut down the carved images of their gods to erase their memory from that place."

JPS Tanakh 1917
And ye shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn their Asherim with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods; and ye shall destroy their name out of that place.

Literal Standard Version
and you have broken down their altars, and shattered their standing pillars, and you burn their Asherim with fire, and you cut down carved images of their gods, and have destroyed their name out of that place.

Majority Standard Bible
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.

New American Bible
Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their asherahs, and chop down the idols of their gods, that you may destroy the very name of them from that place.

NET Bible
You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars, burn up their sacred Asherah poles, and cut down the images of their gods; you must eliminate their very memory from that place.

New Revised Standard Version
Break down their altars, smash their pillars, burn their sacred poles with fire, and hew down the idols of their gods, and thus blot out their name from their places.

New Heart English Bible
and you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn their Asherim with fire; and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods; and you shall destroy their name out of that place.

Webster's Bible Translation
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.

World English Bible
You shall break down their altars, dash their pillars in pieces, and burn their Asherah poles with fire. You shall cut down the engraved images of their gods. You shall destroy their name out of that place.

Young's Literal Translation
and ye have broken down their altars, and shivered their standing pillars, and their shrines ye burn with fire, and graven images of their gods ye cut down, and have destroyed their name out of that place.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
One Place for Worship
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. 3Tear 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. 4You shall not worship the LORD your God in this way.…

Cross References
Exodus 23:13
Pay 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.

Exodus 23:24
You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces.

Exodus 34:13
Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles.

Numbers 33:52
you must drive out before you all the inhabitants of the land, destroy all their carved images and cast idols, and demolish all their high places.

Deuteronomy 7:5
Instead, 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.

Deuteronomy 7:25
You must burn up the images of their gods; do not covet the silver and gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it; for it is detestable to the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 12:4
You shall not worship the LORD your God in this way.


Treasury of Scripture

And you shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and you shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.

ye shall

Numbers 33:52
Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:

Judges 2:2
And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?

2 Chronicles 31:1
Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.

overthrow [heb] break down

1 Kings 15:13
And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron.

2 Kings 18:4
He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.

2 Kings 23:14
And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.

and destroy

Exodus 23:13
And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.

Psalm 16:4
Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.

Hosea 2:17
For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.

Jump to Previous
Altars Asherah Asherahs Asherim Ashe'rim Break Broken Burn Cut Dash Destroy Engraved Hew Holy Idols Images Names Overthrow Pieces Pillars Poles Sacred Shatter Smash Statues Stones Tear Trees
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Altars Asherah Asherahs Asherim Ashe'rim Break Broken Burn Cut Dash Destroy Engraved Hew Holy Idols Images Names Overthrow Pieces Pillars Poles Sacred Shatter Smash Statues Stones Tear Trees
Deuteronomy 12
1. Monuments of idolatry to be destroyed
4. The place of God's service to be kept
15. Blood is forbidden
17. Holy things must be eaten in the holy place
19. The Levite is not to be forsaken
20. Blood is again forbidden
26. and holy things must be eaten in the holy place
29. Idolatry is not to be enquired after














(3) Destroy the names.--The substitution in later times of bosheth for baal in the names Jerubbaal (Jerubbesheth), Eshbaal (Ishbosheth), Meribbaal (Mephibosheth), is a curious example of the literal fulfilment of this command, or, perhaps, rather of the command in Exodus 23:13, of which the spirit and purport agree with this.



Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Tear down
וְנִתַּצְתֶּ֣ם (wə·nit·taṣ·tem)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 5422: To pull down, break down

their altars,
מִזְבּחֹתָ֗ם‪‬ (miz·b·ḥō·ṯām)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 4196: An altar

smash
וְשִׁבַּרְתֶּם֙ (wə·šib·bar·tem)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 7665: To break, break in pieces

their sacred pillars,
מַצֵּ֣בֹתָ֔ם (maṣ·ṣê·ḇō·ṯām)
Noun - feminine plural construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 4676: Something stationed, a column, an idol

burn up
תִּשְׂרְפ֣וּן (tiś·rə·p̄ūn)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine plural | Paragogic nun
Strong's 8313: To be, on fire

their Asherah poles,
וַאֲשֵֽׁרֵיהֶם֙ (wa·’ă·šê·rê·hem)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine plural construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 842: A Phoenician goddess, also an image of the same

cut down
תְּגַדֵּע֑וּן (tə·ḡad·dê·‘ūn)
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - second person masculine plural | Paragogic nun
Strong's 1438: To fell a, tree, to destroy anything

the idols
וּפְסִילֵ֥י (ū·p̄ə·sî·lê)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 6456: An idol, image

of their gods,
אֱלֹֽהֵיהֶ֖ם (’ĕ·lō·hê·hem)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

and wipe out
וְאִבַּדְתֶּ֣ם (wə·’ib·baḏ·tem)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 6: To wander away, lose oneself, to perish

their names
שְׁמָ֔ם (šə·mām)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 8034: A name

from
מִן־ (min-)
Preposition
Strong's 4480: A part of, from, out of

every place.
הַמָּק֖וֹם (ham·mā·qō·wm)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4725: A standing, a spot, a condition


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OT Law: Deuteronomy 12:3 And you shall break down their altars (Deut. De Du)
Deuteronomy 12:2
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