Back to high places or similar

11-1KI/13.usfm

@@ -71,10 +71,10 @@
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 \v 31 After they had buried him, the old man said to his sons, "When I die, bury my corpse in the grave where we buried the prophet from Judah. Lay my corpse next to his corpse.
-\v 32 And do not forget what he said, things that Yahweh told him to say about the altar in Bethel, and what Yahweh told him to say about the shrines at the towns in Samaria. Those things will surely happen."
+\v 32 And do not forget what he said, things that Yahweh told him to say about the altar in Bethel, and what Yahweh told him to say about the places where they worshiped idols on the hills around the towns in Samaria. Those things will surely happen."
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-\v 33 But King Jeroboam still did not turn away from continuing to do the evil things that he was doing. Instead, he appointed more priests from men who were not descended from Levi. He appointed as priest anyone who agreed to become one, in order that he could offer sacrifices at the shrines.
+\v 33 But King Jeroboam still did not turn away from continuing to do the evil things that he was doing. Instead, he appointed more priests from men who were not descended from Levi. He appointed as priest anyone who agreed to become one, in order that he could offer sacrifices on the hill tops.
 \v 34 Because he committed that sin, a few years later God got rid of most of Jeroboam's descendants and did not allow them to become kings of Israel.
 
 

11-1KI/22.usfm

@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@
 \v 42 Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he started to rule, and he ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.
 
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-\v 43 Jehoshaphat was a good king, just like his father Asa had been. He did things that pleased Yahweh. But while he was king, he did not remove all the pagan altars at the shrines. So the people continued to offer sacrifices to idols on those altars and burned incense there.
+\v 43 Jehoshaphat was a good king, just like his father Asa had been. He did things that pleased Yahweh. But while he was king, he did not remove all the pagan altars that had been built upon the hills. So the people continued to offer sacrifices to idols on those altars and burned incense there.
 \v 44 Jehoshaphat also made a peace treaty with the king of Israel.
 
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12-2KI/17.usfm

@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 \v 8 They imitated the things that the pagan peoples around them practiced. Those were the very peoples that Yahweh had driven out as the Israelites occupied their land. The people of Israel also did the evil things that most of the kings of Israel showed them.
 
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-\v 9 The Israelite people also secretly did many things that were not pleasing to Yahweh their God. They built shrines to worship idols in all their cities, including small towns and big cities with walls around them.
+\v 9 The Israelite people also secretly did many things that were not pleasing to Yahweh their God. They built places to worship their idols on the hills around all their cities, including small towns and big cities with walls around them.
 \v 10 They set up stone pillars to honor gods, and poles to worship the goddess Asherah at the top of every high hill and under every big tree.
 
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@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@
 
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-\v 29 But all those people continued to make their own idols. They placed them in the shrines that the Israelites had built. The people belonging to each people group living in Samaria made idols in the cities in which they were living.
+\v 29 But all those people continued to make their own idols. They took their idols and placed them in the houses that the Samaritan people had built upon the hills all around. Each group of people made their own gods that they worshiped, and each of the gods had a name.
 \v 30 The people from Babylon made idols to represent their god Succoth Benoth. The people from Cuthah made idols to represent their god Nergal. The people from Hamath made idols to represent their god Ashima.
 \v 31 The people from Avva made idols to represent their gods Nibhaz and Tartak. The people from Sepharvaim sacrificed their own children. They completely burned them on altars to be offerings to their gods Adrammelech and Anammelech.
 

12-2KI/21.usfm

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
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 \v 1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to rule. He ruled Judah for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother was Hephzibah.
 \v 2 He did many things that Yahweh said were evil. He imitated the disgusting things that were formerly done by the people of the nations that Yahweh had driven out from the land of Israel as his people advanced through the land.
-\v 3 He commanded his workers to rebuild the shrines for worshiping Yahweh that his father Hezekiah had destroyed because they were not in the place that Yahweh had said they should worship him, in the temple. He directed his workers to build altars for worshiping Baal. He made a statue of the goddess Asherah, as Ahab the king of Israel had done previously. And Manasseh worshiped the stars.
+\v 3 He commanded his workers to rebuild the places of idol worship built on the hills. Those were the very high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He directed his workers to build altars to offer sacrifices of living creatures to Baal. Manasseh made a statue of the goddess Asherah, as Ahab the king of Israel had done previously. And Manasseh worshiped the stars and he served them.
 
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 \v 4 He directed his workers to build altars for worshiping foreign gods in the temple of Yahweh, even though Yahweh had said, "It is here in Jerusalem where I want people to worship me, forever."

12-2KI/23.usfm

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
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 \v 4 Then the king gave a command to Hilkiah, the high priest, to all the other priests who assisted him, and to the men who guarded the entrance to the temple. He told them to bring out from the temple all the items that people had been using to worship Baal, the goddess Asherah, and the stars. After they carried them out, they burned all those things outside the city in the Kidron Valley. Then they took all the ashes to Bethel.
-\v 5 There were many pagan priests whom the previous kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense on the altars scattered throughout the region of Judah. They had been offering sacrifices to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, the planets, and the stars. The king stopped them from doing those things.
+\v 5 There were many pagan priests whom the previous kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense on the altars scattered throughout the region of Judah and to worship on the high places that were build on the hills. They had been offering sacrifices to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, the planets, and the stars. The king stopped them from doing those things.
 
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 \v 6 He commanded that the statue of the goddess Asherah be taken out of the temple. Then they took it outside Jerusalem, down to the Kidron Valley, and burned it. Then they pounded the ashes to powder and scattered that over the graves of ordinary people.
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 
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-\v 8-9 Josiah also brought to Jerusalem all the priests who were offering sacrifices in the other cities of Judah. He also desecrated the places where the priests had burned incense to honor idols, from Geba in the north to Beersheba in the south. Those priests were not allowed to offer sacrifices in the temple, but they were allowed to eat the unleavened bread that the priests who worked in the temple ate. He also commanded that the altars that were near the gate built by Joshua, the mayor of Jerusalem, be destroyed. Those altars were at the left of the main gate into the city.
+\v 8-9 Josiah also brought to Jerusalem all the priests who were offering sacrifices in the other cities of Judah. He also desecrated the places on the hills where the priests had burned incense to honor idols, from Geba in the north to Beersheba in the south. Those priests were not allowed to offer sacrifices in the temple, but they were allowed to eat the unleavened bread that the priests who worked in the temple ate. He also commanded that the altars that were near the gate built by Joshua, the mayor of Jerusalem, be destroyed. Those altars were at the left of the main gate into the city.
 
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@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
 
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-\v 15 Furthermore, he commanded them to tear down the place of worship that was near the city of Bethel, the very same place of worship that had been built by King Jeroboam (whose father was Nebat, the same man who made Israel to sin against Yahweh). Josiah led the people of Israel to tear down that altar and they also burned the wooden pole used in the worship of the idol that had the name "Asherah."
+\v 15 Furthermore, he commanded them to tear down the place of worship that was near the city of Bethel, the very same place of worship that had been built by King Jeroboam (whose father was Nebat, the same man who made Israel to sin against Yahweh). Josiah led the people of Israel to tear down that altar that was on the high hill, and they also burned the wooden pole used in the worship of the idol that had the name "Asherah."
 \v 16 Then Josiah looked around and saw some tombs on the hill. He commanded his men to take the bones out of those tombs and burn them on the altar. By doing that, he desecrated the altar. These events were predicted many years before when Yahweh gave his word to Israel by his prophet, who was known as "the man of God." 
 
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@@ -48,8 +48,8 @@
 
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-\v 19 In every city in Israel, at Josiah's command, they tore down the shrines that had been built by the previous kings of Israel, which had caused Yahweh to become very angry. He did to all those shrines the same thing that he had done to the altars at Bethel.
-\v 20 He ordered that all the priests who offered sacrifices on the different altars to be killed on those altars. Then he burned human bones on every one of those altars to desecrate them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
+\v 19 In every city in Israel, at Josiah's command, they tore down the houses build on hills to worship idols. The ones that had been built by the previous kings of Israel, which had caused Yahweh to become very angry. He did to all those places of idols worship the same thing that he had done to the altars at Bethel.
+\v 20 He ordered that all the priests who offered sacrifices on the places built on the hills where they worshiped idols, and they were to be killed on those altars. Then he burned human bones on every one of those altars to desecrate them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
 
 
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14-2CH/11.usfm

@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
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 \v 13 The priests and other descendants of Levi throughout Israel supported Rehoboam.
 \v 14 The descendants of Levi abandoned their property and their pastureland, and they came to Jerusalem and to other places in Judah, because Jeroboam and his sons would not allow them to do the work of priests of Yahweh.
-\v 15 Instead, Jeroboam appointed the priests that he wanted to work at the altars he commanded to be built at various shrines, to offer sacrifices to the idols that he commanded to be made that resembled goats and calves.
+\v 15 Instead, Jeroboam appointed the priests that he wanted to work at the altars he commanded to be built on the hills all around the cities, to offer sacrifices to the idols that he commanded to be made that resembled goats and calves.
 
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 \v 16 And people from every tribe in Israel who wanted to worship Yahweh, the God to whom the Israelites belonged, went with the descendants of Levi to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to Yahweh, the God whom their ancestors worshiped.

14-2CH/15.usfm

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 \v 16 King Asa's grandmother Maacah had made a disgusting pole for worshiping the goddess Asherah. So Asa commanded his workers to cut down that pole, chop it into pieces, and burn it in the Kidron Valley. He did not allow Maacah to continue to influence the people because she was the mother of the previous king.
-\v 17 Although Asa's workers did not get rid of the shrines in Israel, he was determined to do what pleased Yahweh all during the years that he was alive.
+\v 17 Although Asa's workers did not get rid of places where people worshiped idols, and those high places remained on the hills throughout Asa's reign. But still, Asa was determined to do what pleased Yahweh all during the years that he was alive.
 
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 \v 18 He ordered his workers to bring into God's temple all the silver and gold and other valuable items that he and his father had dedicated to God.

14-2CH/20.usfm

@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@
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 \v 31 Jehoshaphat continued to rule Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother's name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.
 \v 32 He did things that were pleasing to Yahweh, like his father Asa had done, and he did not stop doing those things.
-\v 33 But he did not get rid of the shrines in the countryside, and many of the people still were not serious about obeying the God whom their ancestors had worshiped.
+\v 33 But he did not get rid of the places where idols were worshiped on the hills in the countryside, and most of the people still not erious about obeying the God whom their ancestors had worshiped.
 
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14-2CH/28.usfm

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 
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 \v 3 He burned incense in the Valley of Ben Hinnom. He even killed some of his own sons in fires as sacrifices. That imitated the disgusting customs that the people groups who previously lived there had done, people whom Yahweh had drive out when the Israelites were advancing through the land.
-\v 4 He offered sacrifices to idols at various shrines on hilltops and under every big green tree.
+\v 4 He offered sacrifices to idols at the houses built upon hilltops and under every big green tree.
 
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@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@
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 \v 24 Ahaz gathered all the furnishings that were used in the temple and broke them into pieces. He locked the doors of the temple and set up altars for worshiping idols at every street corner in Jerusalem.
-\v 25 In every city in Judah, his workers built shrines to burn sacrifices to other gods, and that caused Yahweh, the God whom their ancestors worshiped, to be very angry.
+\v 25 In every city in Judah, his workers built houses on the hill tops, and there they burned sacrifices to other gods, and that caused Yahweh, the God whom their ancestors worshiped, to be very angry with them.
 
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14-2CH/33.usfm

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 \v 1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became the king of Judah, and he ruled from Jerusalem for fifty-five years.
 \v 2 He did many things that Yahweh said were evil. He imitated the disgusting things that were formerly done by the people groups that Yahweh had expelled from Israel as his people advanced into the land.
-\v 3 He commanded his workers to rebuild the shrines for worshiping idols that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He told them to set up poles to honor the god Baal, and to make poles to honor the goddess Asherah. He also bowed down to worship all the stars.
+\v 3 He commanded his workers to rebuild the high places upon the hills for worshiping idols, the same ones that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He told them to set up poles to honor the god Baal, and to make poles to honor the goddess Asherah. He also bowed down to worship all the stars.
 
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 \v 4 He directed his workers to build altars for foreign gods in the temple itself, about which Yahweh had said, "It is here in Jerusalem that I want people to worship me, forever."
@@ -35,12 +35,12 @@
 
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 \v 16 Then he told them to repair the altar of Yahweh, and he offered sacrifices to restore fellowship with Yahweh and to thank him. And he told the people of Judah that they must worship only Yahweh.
-\v 17 The people continued to offer sacrifices at the shrines, but only to Yahweh their God.
+\v 17 The people continued to offer sacrifices at the high places on the hills, but only to Yahweh their God.
 
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 \v 18 The other things that happened while Manasseh was ruling, including his prayer to God and the messages from Yahweh that the prophets spoke to him, are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel.
-\v 19 What Manasseh prayed and how God pitied him because of what he pleaded to God for—also his sins and ways in which he disobeyed God—also the list of places where he built shrines and set up poles to honor the goddess Asherah and other idols before he humbled himself—these are all written in what the prophets wrote.
+\v 19 What Manasseh prayed and how God pitied him because of what he pleaded to God for—also his sins and ways in which he disobeyed God—also the list of places where he built the houses on the hills for idol worship and set up poles to honor the goddess Asherah and other idols before he humbled himself—these are all written in what the prophets wrote.
 \v 20 Manasseh died and was buried in his palace. Then his son Amon became the king of Judah.
 
 

14-2CH/34.usfm

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 \v 1 Josiah was eight years old when he became the king of Judah. He ruled from Jerusalem for thirty-one years.
 \v 2 He did things that were pleasing to Yahweh, and conducted his life like his ancestor King David had done. He fully obeyed all the laws of God.
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-\v 3 When he had been ruling for almost eight years, while he was still a boy, he began to worship God as his ancestor King David had done. Four years later, he began to get rid of all the pagan shrines in Jerusalem and in other places in Judah, and the poles to honor the goddess Asherah and the carved idols and metal statues of gods.
+\v 3 When he had been ruling for almost eight years, while he was still a boy, he began to worship God as his ancestor King David had done. Four years later, he began to get rid of all the houses that were built on the hills for idol worship, and they were all around Jerusalem and in other places in Judah. They also took down the poles that were to give honor the goddess Asherah and the carved idols and metal statues of gods.
 
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 \v 4 While he directed them, his workers tore down the altars where people worshiped Baal. They smashed the altars that were near those altars, where people burned incense. They smashed the poles to honor the goddess Asherah and the idols carved from wood or stone and metal statues. They smashed them to bits and scattered the bits over the graves of those who had offered sacrifices to them.

23-ISA/15.usfm

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 \q1 In one night two important cities in Moab, Ar and Kir, will be destroyed.
 \q1
 \v 2 The people of Dibon, the capital city, will go to their temple to mourn;
-\q2 they will go to their shrines on the hilltops to weep.
+\q2 they will go to their high places set on the hilltops, and there they will weep.
 \q1 They will wail because of what happened to Nebo and Medeba in the south;
 \q2 they will all shave the hair of their heads, and the men will cut off their beards to show that they are grieving.
 

23-ISA/16.usfm

@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@
 \q2 my groaning is like a sad song played on a harp.
 \q1 I am sad in my inner being for Kir Hareseth.
 \q1
-\v 12 The people of Moab will go and pray at their sacred shrines,
+\v 12 The people of Moab will go and pray at their high places,
 \q2 but that will not help them.
 \q1 They will cry out to their gods in their temples,
 \q2 but no one will be able to rescue them.

24-JER/17.usfm

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 \q2 on the altars where they worship idols, and it is as though this list is engraved on their inner beings!
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 \v 2 Even their children fondly remember when they went to the altars for their gods, and to the poles that represent the goddess Asherah at which their parents worshiped,
-\q2 shrines that are underneath all the big trees
+\q2 at the high places on the hills, where idols are worshiped, that are underneath all the big trees
 \q2 and on all the high hills.
 
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24-JER/19.usfm

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 
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 \v 4 That will happen because you Israelite people have stopped worshiping me, and have caused this place to be a place where you worship foreign gods. You burn sacrifices to gods that neither you nor your ancestors nor even the kings of Judah ever heard about. And you have filled this place with the blood of innocent people whom you have killed.
-\v 5 You have built shrines to honor your god Baal, and at those shrines you have killed your own children and offered them to be sacrifices to Baal. I never commanded you to do that, I never spoke about doing that, and never even considered allowing that!
+\v 5 You have built houses on the top of many hills to honor your god Baal, and at those places you have killed your own children and offered them to be sacrifices to Baal. I never commanded you to do that, I never spoke about doing that, and never even considered allowing that!
 
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 \v 6 So, beware, because I, Yahweh, say that there will be a time when this garbage dump will no longer be called Topheth or Hinnom Valley; it will be called Slaughter Valley.

26-EZK/06.usfm

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
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 \v 1 Yahweh gave me another message. He said,
 \v 2 "Son of man, turn toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy about what will happen to them, and say,
-\v 3 'Mountains of Israel, listen to what Yahweh the Lord says to you! He says this to the mountains and the high hills and to the streambeds and the low valleys. He says: I am about to send enemy soldiers with swords to destroy all the shrines on your hilltops.
+\v 3 'Mountains of Israel, listen to what Yahweh the Lord says to you! He says this to the mountains and the high hills and to the streambeds and the low valleys. He says: I am about to send enemy soldiers with swords to destroy all the hilltops where you worship idols.
 
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 \v 4 They will smash all your altars for worshiping idols and your pillars you use for astronomy, and they will kill many Israelite people in front of their idols.

26-EZK/16.usfm

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 \v 15 But it was as though you forgot that I made you beautiful and started acting promiscuous with every man who came along, and they all enjoyed your beauty.
-\v 16 It was as though you took some of your clothes to make beautifully decorated shrines, and that is where you slept with those men. Those things should certainly never occur!
+\v 16 It was as though you took some of your clothes to make beautifully decorated the high places, and that is where you slept with those men. Those things should certainly never occur!
 
 
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@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@
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 \v 30 I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that when you did all those things, acting like a bold prostitute, you were showing that you could not control your lust and would do anything, no matter how promiscuous, that you wanted to to satisfy your desires.
-\v 31 But when you built shrines to worship idols in every city square, you were not really like a prostitute because prostitutes charge money. You refused to take money for what you did!
+\v 31 But when you built the houses on the hills to worship idols in every city square, you were not really like a prostitute because prostitutes charge money. You refused to take money for what you did!
 
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@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@
 
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 \v 38 I will punish you like women who commit adultery and who murder people are punished. I will get revenge on you and get rid of you because I am extremely angry with you.
-\v 39 I will allow your enemies who you thought loved you break apart your shrines and pagan altars. They will strip you naked and keep your clothes and jewelry, and abandon you with nothing to cover yourself with..
+\v 39 I will allow your enemies who you thought loved you break apart your high places of idol worship and pagan altars. They will strip you naked and keep your clothes and jewelry, and abandon you with nothing to cover yourself with..
 
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 \v 40 They will bring a mob to attack you, and that mob will throw stones at you and cut you to pieces with their swords.

26-EZK/20.usfm

@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@
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 \v 27 Therefore, son of man, speak to the Israelite people. Say this to them, 'This is what Yahweh the Lord says to you: This is one way that your ancestors dishonored me by turning away from me.
 \v 28 After I brought them into the land that I had sworn to give them, every time that they saw a high hill or a big green tree, they offered sacrifices to idols there. They made offerings to them, and that caused me to become angry. They presented to those idols their fragrant incense, and they poured out wine offerings to them.
-\v 29 Then I asked them, "Who told you to worship at a shrine like this, here on this hilltop?" So they are still called Bamah, which means 'hilltop shrines'.'"
+\v 29 Then I asked them, "What is this hilltop place where you go to worship idols?" So they are still called Bamah, which means 'hilltop'.'"
 
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26-EZK/22.usfm

@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 \v 6 Think about how each of your Israelite kings have used his power to murder people.
 \v 7 Your people do not respect their parents; they have oppressed foreigners; they mistreat orphans and widows.
 \v 8 You despise my sacred places and practices, and you treat the Sabbath days like any other day.
-\v 9 Among you are men who tell lies in order to cause others to be executed. There are those who eat food offered to idols at the shrines, and they openly perform evil acts.
+\v 9 Among you are men who tell lies in order to cause others to be executed. There are those who go to the hilltops and eat food offered to idols, and they openly perform evil acts.
 
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 \v 10 There are men who sleep with their father's wife, and men who sleep with women during their monthly menstrual periods.

30-AMO/07.usfm

@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@
 
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 \q1
-\v 9 The shrines where the descendants of Isaac worship idols will be destroyed.
-\q2 And the other important shrines in Israel will also be destroyed.
+\v 9 The hilltop places of idolatry where the descendants of Isaac worship idols will be destroyed.
+\q2 And the other important holy places in Israel will also be destroyed.
 \q1 And I will enable your enemies to attack your people with swords,
 \q2 and they will get rid of King Jeroboam and all his descendants."
 

35-HAB/03.usfm

@@ -110,7 +110,8 @@
 \q2 I will be joyful because my God is the one who saves me!
 \q1
 \v 19 Yahweh the Lord is the one who gives me strength, 
-\q2 and he enables me to climb safely like a deer does.
+\q2 and he enables me to climb safely like a deer does.,
+\q2 he makes me walk on my high hills.
 \b
 \q (This message is for the choir director:
 \q2 When this prayer is sung, it is to be accompanied by people playing stringed instruments.)