Leviticus 26:1
New King James Version
Promise of Blessing and Retribution(A)
26 ‘You shall (B)not make idols for yourselves;
neither a carved image nor a sacred pillar shall you rear up for yourselves;
nor shall you set up an engraved stone in your land, to bow down to it;
for I am the Lord your God.
Leviticus 19:4
New King James Version
4 (A)‘Do not turn to idols, (B)nor make for yourselves [a]molded gods: I am the Lord your God.
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- Leviticus 19:4 molten
Exodus 23:24
New King James Version
24 You shall not (A)bow down to their gods, nor serve them, (B)nor do according to their works; (C)but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars.
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Deuteronomy 27:15
New King James Version
15 (A)‘Cursed is the one who makes a carved or molded image, [a]an abomination to the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’
(B)“And all the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen!’
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- Deuteronomy 27:15 a detestable thing
Numbers 33:52
New King James Version
52 (A)then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their engraved stones, destroy all their molded images, and demolish all their [a]high places;
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- Numbers 33:52 Places for pagan worship
Revelation 13:14-15
New King James Version
14 (A)And he deceives [a]those who dwell on the earth (B)by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword (C)and lived. 15 He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak (D)and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
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- Revelation 13:14 M my own people
1 Corinthians 10:19-20
New King James Version
19 What am I saying then? (A)That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? 20 Rather, that the things which the Gentiles (B)sacrifice (C)they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.
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Exodus 20:4-5
New King James Version
4 (A)“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 (B)you shall not bow down to them nor [a]serve them. (C)For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, (D)visiting[b] the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
Footnotes
- Exodus 20:5 worship
- Exodus 20:5 punishing
Jeremiah 10:3-8
New King James Version
3 For the customs of the peoples are [a]futile;
For (A)one cuts a tree from the forest,
The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.
4 They decorate it with silver and gold;
They (B)fasten it with nails and hammers
So that it will not topple.
5 They are upright, like a palm tree,
And (C)they cannot speak;
They must be (D)carried,
Because they cannot go by themselves.
Do not be afraid of them,
For (E)they cannot do evil,
Nor can they do any good.”
6 Inasmuch as there is none (F)like You, O Lord
(You are great, and Your name is great in might),
7 (G)Who would not fear You, O King of the nations?
For this is Your rightful due.
For (H)among all the wise men of the nations,
And in all their kingdoms,
There is none like You.
8 But they are altogether (I)dull-hearted and foolish;
A wooden idol is a [b]worthless doctrine.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 10:3 Lit. vanity
- Jeremiah 10:8 vain teaching
Deuteronomy 16:21-22
New King James Version
21 (A)“You shall not plant for yourself any tree, as a [a]wooden image, near the altar which you build for yourself to the Lord your God. 22 (B)You shall not set up a sacred pillar, which the Lord your God hates.
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- Deuteronomy 16:21 Or Asherah
Exodus 20:23
New King James Version
23 You shall not make anything to be (A)with Me—gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves.
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Revelation 22:15
New King James Version
15 [a]But (A)outside are (B)dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.
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- Revelation 22:15 NU, M omit But
Romans 2:22-23
New King James Version
22 You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, (A)do you rob temples? 23 You who (B)make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?
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Acts 17:29
New King James Version
29 Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, (A)we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising.
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Isaiah 48:5-8
New King James Version
5 Even from the beginning I have declared it to you;
Before it came to pass I proclaimed it to you,
Lest you should say, ‘My idol has done them,
And my carved image and my molded image
Have commanded them.’
6 “You have heard;
See all this.
And will you not declare it?
I have made you hear new things from this time,
Even hidden things, and you did not know them.
7 They are created now and not from the beginning;
And before this day you have not heard them,
Lest you should say, ‘Of course I knew them.’
8 Surely you did not hear,
Surely you did not know;
Surely from long ago your ear was not opened.
For I knew that you would deal very treacherously,
And were called (A)a transgressor from the womb.
Isaiah 44:9-20
New King James Version
Idolatry Is Foolishness
9 (A)Those who make an image, all of them are useless,
And their precious things shall not profit;
They are their own witnesses;
(B)They neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed.
10 Who would form a god or mold an image
(C)That profits him nothing?
11 Surely all his companions would be (D)ashamed;
And the workmen, they are mere men.
Let them all be gathered together,
Let them stand up;
Yet they shall fear,
They shall be ashamed together.
12 (E)The blacksmith with the tongs works one in the coals,
Fashions it with hammers,
And works it with the strength of his arms.
Even so, he is hungry, and his strength fails;
He drinks no water and is faint.
13 The craftsman stretches out his rule,
He marks one out with chalk;
He fashions it with a plane,
He marks it out with the compass,
And makes it like the figure of a man,
According to the beauty of a man, that it may remain in the house.
14 He cuts down cedars for himself,
And takes the cypress and the oak;
He [a]secures it for himself among the trees of the forest.
He plants a pine, and the rain nourishes it.
15 Then it shall be for a man to burn,
For he will take some of it and warm himself;
Yes, he kindles it and bakes bread;
Indeed he makes a god and worships it;
He makes it a carved image, and falls down to it.
16 He burns half of it in the fire;
With this half he eats meat;
He roasts a roast, and is satisfied.
He even warms himself and says,
“Ah! I am warm,
I have seen the fire.”
17 And the rest of it he makes into a god,
His carved image.
He falls down before it and worships it,
Prays to it and says,
“Deliver me, for you are my god!”
18 (F)They do not know nor understand;
For (G)He has [b]shut their eyes, so that they cannot see,
And their hearts, so that they cannot (H)understand.
19 And no one (I)considers in his heart,
Nor is there knowledge nor understanding to say,
“I have burned half of it in the fire,
Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals;
I have roasted meat and eaten it;
And shall I make the rest of it an abomination?
Shall I fall down before a block of wood?”
20 He feeds on ashes;
(J)A deceived heart has turned him aside;
And he cannot deliver his soul,
Nor say, “Is there not a (K)lie in my right hand?”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 44:14 Lit. appropriates
- Isaiah 44:18 Lit. smeared over
Deuteronomy 5:8-9
New King James Version
8 (A)‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 9 you shall not (B)bow[a] down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, [b]visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 5:9 worship them
- Deuteronomy 5:9 punishing
Deuteronomy 4:16-19
New King James Version
16 lest you (A)act corruptly and (B)make for yourselves a carved image in the [a]form of any figure: (C)the likeness of male or female, 17 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, 18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or the likeness of any fish that is in the water beneath the earth. 19 And take heed, lest you (D)lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, (E)all the host of heaven, you feel driven to (F)worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has [b]given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage.
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- Deuteronomy 4:16 similitude
- Deuteronomy 4:19 divided
Exodus 34:17
New King James Version
17 (A)“You shall make no molded gods for yourselves.
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Isaiah 2:20
New King James Version
20 In that day a man will cast away his idols of silver
And his idols of gold,
Which they made, each for himself to worship,
To the moles and bats,
Psalm 115:4-8
New King James Version
4 (A)Their idols are silver and gold,
The work of men’s hands.
5 They have mouths, but they do not speak;
Eyes they have, but they do not see;
6 They have ears, but they do not hear;
Noses they have, but they do not smell;
7 They have hands, but they do not handle;
Feet they have, but they do not walk;
Nor do they mutter through their throat.
8 (B)Those who make them are like them;
So is everyone who trusts in them.
Psalm 97:7
New King James Version
7 (A)Let all be put to shame who serve carved images,
Who boast of idols.
(B)Worship Him, all you gods.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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