So Jacob worked for seven years to acquire Rachel. But they seemed like only a few days to him because his love for her was so great.

Let me take my wives and my children whom I have acquired by working for you. Then I’ll depart, because you know how hard I’ve worked for you.”

for they will turn your sons away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will erupt against you and he will quickly destroy you.

If it accepts your terms and submits to you, all the people found in it will become your slaves.

But you must not turn away from all the commandments I am giving you today, to either the right or left, nor pursue other gods and worship them.

The Israelites cried out for help to the Lord: “We have sinned against you. We abandoned our God and worshiped the Baals.”

They threw away the foreign gods they owned and worshiped the Lord. Finally the Lord grew tired of seeing Israel suffer so much.

You rescue me from a hostile army; you preserve me as a leader of nations; people over whom I had no authority are now my subjects.

The Lord was with him; he succeeded in all his endeavors. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to submit to him.

You rescue me from a hostile army; you make me a leader of nations; people over whom I had no authority are now my subjects.

Know for sure that I will then enable the nations to give me acceptable praise. All of them will invoke the Lord’s name when they pray, and will worship him in unison.

The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight. They worshiped the Baals and the Ashtars, as well as the gods of Syria, Sidon, Moab, the Ammonites, and the Philistines. They abandoned the Lord and did not worship him.

But Martha was distracted with all the preparations she had to make, so she came up to him and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the work alone? Tell her to help me.”

Then you are to clothe Aaron with the holy garments and anoint him and sanctify him so that he may minister as my priest.

Do you see a person skilled in his work? He will take his position before kings; he will not take his position before obscure people.

“You are to clothe them – your brother Aaron and his sons with him – and anoint them and ordain them and set them apart as holy, so that they may minister as my priests.

“‘If your brother becomes impoverished with regard to you so that he sells himself to you, you must not subject him to slave service.

You must by all means destroy all the places where the nations you are about to dispossess worship their gods – on the high mountains and hills and under every leafy tree.

The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They forgot the Lord their God and worshiped the Baals and the Asherahs.

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.