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18 But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.
19[And the wives said] When we burned incense to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make cakes [in the shape of a star] to represent and honor her and pour out drink offerings to her without [the knowledge and approval of] our husbands? AMP
Jeremiah 44:25
25 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You and your wives have both declared with your mouths and fulfilled it with your hands, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her. [Surely] then confirm your vows and [surely] perform your vows! [If you will defy all My warnings to you, then, by all means, go ahead!] AMP
The goddess Asherah (1 Kings 15:13; 2 Chronicles 15:16; Asherahs, Judges 3:7) was portrayed as the wife of El (or sometimes Baal) in Canaanite mythology. Asherah was a favorite deity of women. Some of the wives of David and Solomon worshiped her (1 Kings 15:13), as Ahab's wife, Jezebel, also probably did (1 Kings 16:31-33). King Asa suppressed the worship of Asherah (1 Kings 15:13), and King Josiah destroyed "the articles that were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven" (2 Kings 23:4).
1 Kings 15:13
13 Also Maacah his mother he removed from being queen mother, because she had an image made for [the goddess] Asherah. Asa destroyed her image, burning it by the brook Kidron. AMP
2 Chronicles 15:16
16 Also Maacah, King Asa's mother, he removed from being queen mother, because she had made an abominable image for [the goddess] Asherah. Asa cut down her idol, crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron. AMP
Judges 3:7
7 And the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord and forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. [Judges 2:13.] AMP
1 Kings 15:13
13 Also Maacah his mother he removed from being queen mother, because she had an image made for [the goddess] Asherah. Asa destroyed her image, burning it by the brook Kidron. AMP
1 Kings 16:31-33
31 As if it had been a light thing for Ahab to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, he took for a wife Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and served Baal and worshiped him.
32 He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal which he built in Samaria.
33 And Ahab made an Asherah [idolatrous symbol of the goddess Asherah]. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel before him. AMP
1 Kings 15:13
13 He even deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made an obscene Asherah pole. He cut down the pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley. NLT
2 Kings 23:4
4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second rank and the keepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels made for Baal, for [the goddess] Asherah, and for all the hosts of the heavens; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel [where Israel's idolatry began]. [1 Kings 12:28,29.] AMP
The word asherah also refers to a wooden pole, or cult pillar, that stood at Canaanite places of worship-perhaps the trunk of a tree with the branches chopped off-and associated with the worship of the goddess Asherah.
Other pagan gods in addition to Baal and his companions were worshiped by the Canaanites. Molech was the national deity of the Ammonites (Leviticus 18:21; Jeremiah 32:35), whose worship was accompanied by the burning of children offered as a sacrifice by their own parents. The god Molech also appears in the Old Testament as Milcom (2 Kings 23:13; Zephaniah 1:5; Malcham, KJV) and in the New Testament as Moloch (Acts 7:43).
Leviticus 18:21
21 You shall not give any of your children to pass through the fire and sacrifice them to Molech [the fire god], nor shall you profane the name of your God [by giving it to false gods]. I am the Lord. AMP
Jeremiah 32:35
35 And they built the high places [for worship] of Baal in the Valley of Ben-hinnom [son of Hinnom] to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire [in worship also of and] to Molech � which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind or heart that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin. [Jeremiah 7:30-31.]
AMP
2 Kings 23:13
13 And the king defiled the high places east of Jerusalem, south of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abominable [goddess] of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abominable god of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abominable [god] of the Ammonites. AMP
Zephaniah 1:5
5 And those who worship the starry host of the heavens upon their housetops and those who [pretend to] worship the Lord and swear by and to Him and yet swear by and to [the heathen god Molech or] Malcam [their idol king], AMP
Acts 7:43
43[No!] You took up the tent (the portable temple) of Moloch and carried it [with you], and the star of the god Rephan, the images which you [yourselves] made that you might worship them; and I will remove you [carrying you away into exile] beyond Babylon. [Amos 5:25-27.] AMP
Chemosh (Judges 11:24; 2 Kings 23:13) was the national god of the Moabites and Ammonites. This deity was apparently compounded with Athtar, the Venus star, and so is thought to be a pagan god associated with the heavenly bodies. Chemosh has been identified with Baal of Peor, Baal-Zebub, Mars, and Saturn, as the star of ill-omen. Dibon (Numbers 21:30), a town in Moab north of the River Arnon, was the chief seat of its worship.
Judges 11:24
24 Will you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? And all the Lord our God dispossessed before us, we will possess. AMP
2 Kings 23:13
13 And the king defiled the high places east of Jerusalem, south of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abominable [goddess] of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abominable god of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abominable [god] of the Ammonites. AMP
Numbers 21:30
30 We have shot them down; Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon, and we have laid them waste as far as Nophah, which reaches to Medeba. AMP
Like Molech, Chemosh was worshiped by the sacrifice of children as burnt offerings, but scholars believe it is incorrect to identify Chemosh directly with Molech. Solomon sanctified Chemosh as a part of his tolerance of pagan gods (1 Kings 11:7), but Josiah abolished its worship (2 Kings 23:13). Human sacrifice was made to Chemosh, according to 2 Kings 3:27, which reports that Mesha, king of Moab, offered his eldest son as a burnt offering on the wall of Kir Hareseth, the ancient capital of Moab.
1 Kings 11:7
7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abominable idol of Moab, on the hill opposite Jerusalem, and for Molech the abominable idol of the Ammonites. AMP
2 Kings 23:13
13 And the king defiled the high places east of Jerusalem, south of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abominable [goddess] of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abominable god of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abominable [god] of the Ammonites. AMP
2 Kings 3:27
27 Then he [Moab's king] took his eldest son, who was to reign in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall [in full view of the horrified enemy kings]. And there was great indignation, wrath, and bitterness against Israel; and they [his allies Judah and Edom] withdrew from [Joram] and returned to their own land. AMP
Ashtoreth (1 Kings 11:5,33; 2 Kings 23:13) was the ancient Syrian and Phoenician goddess of the moon, sexuality, sensual love, and fertililty. In the Old Testament Ashtoreth is often associated with the worship of Baal. The KJV word Ashtaroth is the plural form of Ashtoreth; the NKJV has Ashtoreths (Judges 2:13; 1 Samuel 12:10; also see Ishtar above).
1 Kings 11:5
5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abominable idol of the Ammonites! [1 Kings 9:6-9.]
AMP
1 Kings 11:33
33 Because they have forsaken Me and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and have not walked in My ways, to do what is right in My sight, keeping My statutes and My ordinances as did David his father. AMP
2 Kings 23:13
13 And the king defiled the high places east of Jerusalem, south of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abominable [goddess] of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abominable god of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abominable [god] of the Ammonites. AMP
Judges 2:13
13 And they forsook the Lord and served Baal [the god worshiped by the Canaanites] and the Ashtaroth [female deities such as Ashtoreth and Asherah]. AMP
1 Samuel 12:10
10 And they cried to the Lord, saying, We have sinned because we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth; but now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve You. AMP
Remphan (Acts 7:43; Rephan, RSV, NIV, NEB; Rompha, NASB) was an idol worshiped by Israel in the wilderness. This may be the same pagan god as Chiun (Amos 5:26; Kiyyun, NASB; Kaiwan your star-god, RSV), or Saturn.
Acts 7:43
43 No, your real interest was in your pagan gods � the shrine of Molech, the star god Rephan, and the images you made to worship them. So I will send you into captivity far away in Babylon.' NLT
Amos 5:26
26[No] but [instead of bringing Me the appointed sacrifices] you carried about the tent of your king Sakkuth and Kaiwan [names for the gods of the planet Saturn], your images of your star-god which you made for yourselves [and you will do so again]. AMP
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