Following the prohibition to intermarry comes the command to destroy the idols and places of worship of the peoples of Canaan.

Break down their altars: altars, on which sacrifices were offered, were made of stone and dirt. Many modern cultures have similar elevated structures for sacrificing animals and offering gifts to a deity. Sometimes this is a stone or wood platform or table. Terms for such structures may be used here. However, in cultures where altars are unknown, we may say, for example, “place [or, platform] for sacrificing animals.”

Dash in pieces their pillars: these pillars were made of stone, erected near the shrines of Baal, the chief god of the Canaanites. Such pillars were symbols of this god. Good News Translation has “sacred stone pillars.” An alternative model may be “stone pillars dedicated to the male god Baal.”

Hew down their Asherim: these were wooden poles, dedicated to Asherah, the goddess of fertility and the partner or female counterpart of Baal. Good News Translation has “cut down their symbols of the goddess Asherah”; but Contemporary English Version is clearer, with “cut down the poles that they use in worshiping the goddess Asherah.” “Goddess” may also be rendered as “female god.”

Burn their graven images: these were wooden idols. For graven images see also 4.16.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .