2 Chronicles 24:18
New International Version
They abandoned the temple of the LORD, the God of their ancestors, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols. Because of their guilt, God’s anger came on Judah and Jerusalem.

New Living Translation
They decided to abandon the Temple of the LORD, the God of their ancestors, and they worshiped Asherah poles and idols instead! Because of this sin, divine anger fell on Judah and Jerusalem.

English Standard Version
And they abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.

Berean Standard Bible
They abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherah poles and idols. So wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.

King James Bible
And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass.

New King James Version
Therefore they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served wooden images and idols; and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem because of their trespass.

New American Standard Bible
And they abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols; so wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.

NASB 1995
They abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols; so wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guilt.

NASB 1977
And they abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols; so wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guilt.

Legacy Standard Bible
And they forsook the house of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols; so wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guilt.

Amplified Bible
They abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols; so [God’s] wrath came on Judah and Jerusalem for their sin and guilt.

Christian Standard Bible
and they abandoned the temple of the LORD, the God of their ancestors, and served the Asherah poles and the idols. So there was wrath against Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
and they abandoned the temple of Yahweh, the God of their ancestors and served the Asherah poles and the idols. So there was wrath against Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.

American Standard Version
And they forsook the house of Jehovah, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guiltiness.

Contemporary English Version
The people of Judah soon stopped worshiping in the temple of the LORD God and started worshiping idols and the symbols of the goddess Asherah. These sinful things made the LORD God angry with the people of Judah and Jerusalem,

English Revised Version
And they forsook the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guiltiness.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
They abandoned the temple of the LORD God of their ancestors and worshiped idols and the poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah. This offense of theirs brought God's anger upon Judah and Jerusalem.

Good News Translation
And so the people stopped worshiping in the Temple of the LORD, the God of their ancestors, and began to worship idols and the images of the goddess Asherah. Their guilt for these sins brought the LORD's anger on Judah and Jerusalem.

International Standard Version
They abandoned the LORD's Temple and the God of their fathers, and they served Asherim and idols. As a result this guilt of theirs resulted in wrath coming upon Judah and Jerusalem.

Majority Standard Bible
They abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherah poles and idols. So wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.

NET Bible
They abandoned the temple of the LORD God of their ancestors, and worshiped the Asherah poles and idols. Because of this sinful activity, God was angry with Judah and Jerusalem.

New Heart English Bible
They forsook the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols: and wrath came on Judah and Jerusalem for this their guiltiness.

Webster's Bible Translation
And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass.

World English Bible
They abandoned the house of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherah poles and the idols, so wrath came on Judah and Jerusalem for this their guiltiness.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
and they forsake the house of YHWH, God of their fathers, and serve the Asherim and the idols, and there is wrath on Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.

Young's Literal Translation
and they forsake the house of Jehovah, God of their fathers, and serve the shrines and the idols, and there is wrath upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guilt.

Smith's Literal Translation
And they will forsake the house of Jehovah the God of their fathers, and they will serve the statues and the images: and wrath will be upon Judah and Jerusalem in this their trespass.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And they forsook the temple of the Lord the God of their fathers, and served groves and idols, and wrath came upon Juda and Jerusalem for this sin.

Catholic Public Domain Version
And they abandoned the temple of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and they served sacred groves and graven images. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem because of this sin.

New American Bible
They abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their ancestors, and began to serve the asherahs and the idols; and because of this crime of theirs, wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem.

New Revised Standard Version
They abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their ancestors, and served the sacred poles and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and went and served images and idols; and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem because they committed this sin.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And they left the house of LORD JEHOVAH God of their fathers and they went and they served images and idols, and there was wrath on Yehuda and upon Jerusalem because they had sinned this sin.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
And they forsook the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols; and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guiltiness.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And they forsook the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and served the Astartes and idols: and there was wrath upon Juda and Jerusalem in that day.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Wickedness of Joash
17After the death of Jehoiada, however, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them. 18They abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherah poles and idols. So wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs. 19Nevertheless, the LORD sent prophets to bring the people back to Him and to testify against them; but they would not listen.…

Cross References
Judges 2:11-13
And the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. / Thus they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they followed after various gods of the peoples around them. They bowed down to them and provoked the LORD to anger, / for they forsook Him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.

1 Kings 18:18
“I have not troubled Israel,” Elijah replied, “but you and your father’s house have, for you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and have followed the Baals.

2 Kings 17:16-17
They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves two cast idols of calves and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the host of heaven and served Baal. / They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.

Jeremiah 2:13
“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

Jeremiah 19:4-5
because they have abandoned Me and made this a foreign place. They have burned incense in this place to other gods that neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have ever known. They have filled this place with the blood of the innocent. / They have built high places to Baal on which to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I never commanded or mentioned, nor did it even enter My mind.

Hosea 4:12-13
My people consult their wooden idols, and their divining rods inform them. For a spirit of prostitution leads them astray and they have played the harlot against their God. / They sacrifice on the mountaintops and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is pleasant. And so your daughters turn to prostitution and your daughters-in-law to adultery.

Deuteronomy 31:16-18
And the LORD said to Moses, “You will soon rest with your fathers, and these people will rise up and prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake Me and break the covenant I have made with them. / On that day My anger will burn against them, and I will abandon them and hide My face from them, so that they will be consumed, and many troubles and afflictions will befall them. On that day they will say, ‘Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is no longer with us?’ / And on that day I will surely hide My face because of all the evil they have done by turning to other gods.

Isaiah 1:4
Alas, O sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who act corruptly! They have forsaken the LORD; they have despised the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on Him.

Ezekiel 20:30-31
Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: Will you defile yourselves the way your fathers did, prostituting yourselves with their abominations? / When you offer your gifts, sacrificing your sons in the fire, you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. So should I be consulted by you, O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will not be consulted by you!

Psalm 106:35-39
but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs. / They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them. / They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. ...

Romans 1:21-23
For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts. / Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools, / and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

Galatians 4:8-9
Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. / But now that you know God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you are turning back to those weak and worthless principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?

Acts 7:39-43
But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. / They said to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us! As for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’ / At that time they made a calf and offered a sacrifice to the idol, rejoicing in the works of their hands. ...

1 Corinthians 10:20-21
No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be participants with demons. / You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot partake in the table of the Lord and the table of demons too.

2 Corinthians 6:16-17
What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.” / “Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”


Treasury of Scripture

And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came on Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass.

And they left

2 Chronicles 24:4
And it came to pass after this, that Joash was minded to repair the house of the LORD.

2 Chronicles 21:13
But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father's house, which were better than thyself:

2 Chronicles 33:3-7
For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them…

wrath

2 Chronicles 19:2
And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD.

2 Chronicles 28:13
And said unto them, Ye shall not bring in the captives hither: for whereas we have offended against the LORD already, ye intend to add more to our sins and to our trespass: for our trespass is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.

2 Chronicles 29:8
Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes.

Jump to Previous
Abandoned Asherah Asherim Ashe'rim Fathers Forsake Forsook God's Groves Guilt Guiltiness House Idols Images Jerusalem Judah Pillars Poles Serve Served Shrines Sin Temple Trespass Wood Worshiped Worshippers Wrath
Jump to Next
Abandoned Asherah Asherim Ashe'rim Fathers Forsake Forsook God's Groves Guilt Guiltiness House Idols Images Jerusalem Judah Pillars Poles Serve Served Shrines Sin Temple Trespass Wood Worshiped Worshippers Wrath
2 Chronicles 24
1. Joash reigns well all the days of Jehoiada
4. He gives order for the repair of the temple
15. Jehoiada's death and honorable burial
17. Joash, falling into idolatry, slays Zechariah the son of Jehoiada
23. Joash is spoiled by the Syrians, and slain by Zabad and Jehozabad
27. Amaziah succeeds him














They abandoned the house of the LORD
The phrase "abandoned the house of the LORD" signifies a deliberate turning away from the worship and service of Yahweh, the covenant God of Israel. The Hebrew root for "abandoned" is "עָזַב" (azab), which conveys a sense of forsaking or leaving behind. This act of abandonment is not merely physical but spiritual, indicating a breach in the relationship with God. Historically, the "house of the LORD" refers to the temple in Jerusalem, the central place of worship and the symbol of God's presence among His people. The neglect of the temple reflects a broader spiritual decline and a departure from the covenantal faithfulness expected of Judah.

the God of their fathers
This phrase emphasizes the continuity of faith and the covenant relationship established with the patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The God of their fathers is a reminder of the historical and spiritual heritage that the people of Judah are forsaking. It underscores the gravity of their actions, as they are not just turning away from a deity but from the God who has been faithful to their ancestors and who has a long-standing relationship with them. This highlights the theme of covenant faithfulness that runs throughout the Old Testament.

and served the Asherah poles and idols
The "Asherah poles" and "idols" represent the pagan practices and deities that the people of Judah turned to in place of Yahweh. Asherah was a Canaanite goddess, often associated with fertility and worshiped through wooden poles or trees. The Hebrew word for "idols" is "עֲצַבִּים" (atsabbim), which can also mean "images" or "false gods." This idolatry is a direct violation of the first two commandments given to Moses and signifies a profound spiritual adultery. Archaeological findings have uncovered numerous Asherah figurines and poles, confirming the widespread nature of this worship in ancient Israel and Judah. The serving of these idols indicates a complete reversal of the religious reforms previously instituted by righteous kings.

So wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem
The "wrath" mentioned here is the divine response to the covenant unfaithfulness of Judah and Jerusalem. In Hebrew, "wrath" is "קֶצֶף" (qetseph), which conveys a sense of intense anger and indignation. This wrath is not arbitrary but is a just response to the people's guilt and rebellion against God. The historical context shows that this wrath often manifested in the form of military defeat, invasion, or other calamities, serving as both punishment and a call to repentance.

for their guilt
The term "guilt" in Hebrew is "אָשָׁם" (asham), which implies culpability and the consequences of sin. It reflects the moral and spiritual responsibility of the people for their actions. The guilt of Judah and Jerusalem is not just in their idolatry but in their conscious decision to forsake the covenant with God. This guilt necessitates divine judgment but also opens the door for repentance and restoration, a recurring theme in the prophetic literature. The acknowledgment of guilt is the first step towards reconciliation with God, highlighting the hope and redemption that is always available through repentance.

(18) And they left the house of the Lord.--They, viz., the apostate princes and their following, ceased to attend the legal worship of the Temple.

And served groves and idols.--Rather, the Ash?rim and the idols. (See Note on 2Chronicles 14:3.)

And wrath came.--2Chronicles 19:2; 2Chronicles 19:10; 1Chronicles 27:24. In this case the Divine wrath (Numbers 1:53) manifested itself in a Syrian invasion (2Chronicles 24:23, seq.). . . .

Verse 18. - Served groves; Revised Version, the Asherim, correctly (see note, 2 Chronicles 14:3). For this their trespass. Comparing the emphatic language of ver. 23," destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people," we may conclude that stress is to be laid on the pronoun "their" in the present verse. The worship of the true God was not left by the whole people, and we are not told it was by the king; but (very probably through want of moral courage) he incurred the severest sort of blame, and was without even the excuse of strong personal temptation.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
They abandoned
וַיַּֽעַזְב֗וּ (way·ya·‘az·ḇū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 5800: To loosen, relinquish, permit

the house
בֵּ֤ית (bêṯ)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1004: A house

of the LORD,
יְהוָה֙ (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

the God
אֱלֹהֵ֣י (’ĕ·lō·hê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

of their fathers,
אֲבוֹתֵיהֶ֔ם (’ă·ḇō·w·ṯê·hem)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 1: Father

and served
וַיַּֽעַבְד֥וּ (way·ya·‘aḇ·ḏū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 5647: To work, to serve, till, enslave

the Asherah poles
הָאֲשֵׁרִ֖ים (hā·’ă·šê·rîm)
Article | Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 842: A Phoenician goddess, also an image of the same

and idols.
הָֽעֲצַבִּ֑ים (hā·‘ă·ṣab·bîm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 6091: An, image

So wrath
קֶ֗צֶף (qe·ṣep̄)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7110: A splinter, rage, strife

came
וַֽיְהִי־ (way·hî-)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

upon
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

Judah
יְהוּדָה֙ (yə·hū·ḏāh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3063: Judah -- 'praised', a son of Jacob, also the southern kingdom, also four Israelites

and Jerusalem
וִיר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔ם (wî·rū·šā·lim)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 3389: Jerusalem -- probably 'foundation of peace', capital city of all Israel

for this
זֹֽאת׃ (zōṯ)
Pronoun - feminine singular
Strong's 2063: Hereby in it, likewise, the one other, same, she, so much, such deed, that,

guilt of theirs.
בְּאַשְׁמָתָ֖ם (bə·’aš·mā·ṯām)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 819: Guiltiness, a fault, the presentation of a, sin-offering


Links
2 Chronicles 24:18 NIV
2 Chronicles 24:18 NLT
2 Chronicles 24:18 ESV
2 Chronicles 24:18 NASB
2 Chronicles 24:18 KJV

2 Chronicles 24:18 BibleApps.com
2 Chronicles 24:18 Biblia Paralela
2 Chronicles 24:18 Chinese Bible
2 Chronicles 24:18 French Bible
2 Chronicles 24:18 Catholic Bible

OT History: 2 Chronicles 24:18 They forsook the house of Yahweh (2 Chron. 2Ch iiCh ii ch 2 chr 2chr)
2 Chronicles 24:17
Top of Page
Top of Page