‘Cursed is the man who makes a carved idol or molten image—an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of a craftsman—and sets it up in secret.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
Parallel translations
- WEB ‘Cursed is the man who makes an engraved or molten image, an abomination to Yahweh, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ All the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’
- KJV Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen.
- NKJV ‘Cursed is the one who makes a carved or molded image, an abomination to the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ “And all the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen!’
- NASB ‘Cursed is the person who makes a carved image or cast metal image, an abomination to the Lord, the work of the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ And all the people shall reply and say, ‘Amen.’
- NLT ‘Cursed is anyone who carves or casts an idol and secretly sets it up. These idols, the work of craftsmen, are detestable to the Lord.’ And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
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
A curse falls on secret idolatry, and the people say Amen, affirming God's judgment against false worship.
Overview
The first curse strikes at idolatry, the root sin that violates the first commandments. Even secret idol-making is condemned, showing God sees the hidden heart. By saying Amen, the people willingly bind themselves to God's righteous standard, exposing the human inability to keep it perfectly apart from a Savior.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 36
- Exod 34:17You shall make no molten gods for yourselves.
- Exod 20:4You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.
- Lev 19:4Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods. I am the LORD your God.
- Lev 26:1“You must not make idols for yourselves or set up a carved image or sacred pillar; you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down to it. For I am the LORD your God.
- Deut 5:8You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.
- Deut 4:16–23that you do not act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves of any form or shape, whether in the likeness of a male or female,
- Hos 13:2–3Now they sin more and more and make for themselves cast images, idols skillfully made from their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. People say of them, “They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves!”
- 1 Cor 14:16Otherwise, if you speak a blessing in spirit, how can someone who is uninstructed say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying?
- Exod 20:23You are not to make any gods alongside Me; you are not to make for yourselves gods of silver or gold.
- 1 Kgs 11:5–7Solomon followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
- 2 Kgs 23:13The king also desecrated the high places east of Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Corruption, which King Solomon of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
- Deut 28:16–19You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.
- Num 5:22May this water that brings a curse enter your stomach and cause your belly to swell and your thigh to shrivel.’ Then the woman is to say, ‘Amen, Amen.’
- 2 Chr 33:2And he did evil in the sight of the LORD by following the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.
- Gen 9:25he said, “Cursed be Canaan! A servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”
- 2 Kgs 17:19and even Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but lived according to the customs Israel had introduced.
- Ps 44:20–21If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
- Gen 31:19Now while Laban was out shearing his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household idols.
- Exod 32:1–4Now when the people saw that Moses was delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him!”
- Gen 31:34Now Rachel had taken Laban’s household idols, put them in the saddlebag of her camel, and was sitting on them. And Laban searched everything in the tent but found nothing.
- Deut 29:17You saw the abominations and idols among them made of wood and stone, of silver and gold.
- 1 Sam 26:19Now please, may my lord the king hear the words of his servant: If the LORD has stirred you up against me, then may He accept an offering. But if men have done it, may they be cursed in the presence of the LORD! For today they have driven me away from sharing in the inheritance of the LORD, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’
- Jer 11:5This was in order to establish the oath I swore to your forefathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is to this day.” “Amen, LORD,” I answered.
- Jer 11:3You must tell them that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant,
- Isa 44:17From the rest he makes a god, his graven image. He bows down to it and worships; he prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god.”
- Jer 28:6“Amen!” Jeremiah said. “May the LORD do so! May the LORD fulfill the words you have prophesied, and may He restore the articles of His house and all the exiles back to this place from Babylon.
- Jer 23:24“Can a man hide in secret places where I cannot see him?” declares the LORD. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the LORD.
- Ezek 7:20His beautiful ornaments they transformed into pride and used them to fashion their vile images and detestable idols. Therefore I will make these into something unclean for them.
- Isa 44:19And no one considers in his heart, no one has the knowledge or insight to say, “I burned half of it in the fire, and I baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make something detestable with the rest of it? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”
- Isa 44:9–10All makers of idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Their witnesses fail to see or comprehend, so they are put to shame.
- Ezek 8:7–12Then He brought me to the entrance to the court, and I looked and saw a hole in the wall.
- Matt 24:15So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination of desolation,’ described by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand),
- Matt 6:13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
- Ezek 14:4Therefore speak to them and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘When any Israelite sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face, and then comes to the prophet, I the LORD will answer him according to his great idolatry,
- Rev 17:4–5The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. She held in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.
- Dan 11:31His forces will rise up and desecrate the temple fortress. They will abolish the daily sacrifice and set up the abomination of desolation.
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 27:15 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
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