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And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
1 Kings 15:12 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB He put away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
  • BSB He banished the male shrine prostitutes from the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
  • NKJV And he banished the perverted persons from the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
  • NASB He also removed the male cult prostitutes from the land and removed all the idols which his fathers had made.
  • NLT He banished the male and female shrine prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the idols his ancestors had made.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Asa removes the cult prostitutes and the idols his fathers had made. His reform attacks the idolatry that had spread through Judah.

Overview

Asa actively reverses the corruption introduced under Rehoboam and Abijam. Removing the cult prostitutes and idols shows concrete obedience, not mere good intentions. The verse models genuine reform as the active removal of sin, not just outward religious activity.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • 1 Kgs 22:46And the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, he took out of the land.
  • 1 Kgs 14:23–24For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.
  • 1 Kgs 11:7–8Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.
  • 2 Chr 14:2–5And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God:
  • Jude 1:7Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
  • 1 Pet 1:18Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
  • Rom 1:26–27For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
  • Zech 1:2–6The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers.
  • Ezek 20:18–19But I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols:
  • 1 Kgs 15:3And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (7)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — 1 Kings videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on 1 Kings 15:12YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on 1 KingsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.

How 1 Kings 15:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.