Exodus 20:4

The second commandment forbids making idols or images to represent God. He must be worshiped as He is, not reduced to crafted forms.

Cross-references · 32

• 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.
• 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 4:15–19So since you saw no form of any kind on the day the LORD spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb, be careful
• Ps 97:7All worshipers of images are put to shame—those who boast in idols. Worship Him, all you gods!
• Lev 19:4Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods. I am the LORD your God.
• Acts 17:29Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination.
• Rev 16:2So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and loathsome, malignant sores broke out on those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.
• Deut 27:15‘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!’
• Ps 115:4–8Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
• Jer 10:14–16Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.
• Rom 1:23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
• Ps 135:15–18The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
• Isa 42:8I am the LORD; that is My name! I will not yield My glory to another or My praise to idols.
• Isa 45:16They will all be put to shame and humiliated; the makers of idols will depart together in disgrace.
• Jer 10:8–9But they are altogether senseless and foolish, instructed by worthless idols made of wood!
• Ezek 8:10So I went in and looked, and engraved all around the wall was every kind of crawling creature and detestable beast, along with all the idols of the house of Israel.
• Deut 4:23–25Be careful that you do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God that He made with you; do not make an idol for yourselves in the form of anything He has forbidden you.
• Jer 10:3–5For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut down a tree from the forest; it is shaped with a chisel by the hands of a craftsman.
• Acts 19:26–35And you can see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in nearly the whole province of Asia, Paul has persuaded a great number of people to turn away. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all.
• Isa 44:9–20All 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.
• Rev 14:9–11And a third angel followed them, calling out in a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image, and receives its mark on his forehead or on his hand,
• Rev 9:20Now the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk.
• Isa 46:5–8To whom will you liken Me or count Me equal? To whom will you compare Me, that we should be alike?
• Isa 40:18–20To whom will you liken God? To what image will you compare Him?
• 2 Chr 33:7Manasseh even took the carved image he had made and set it up in the house of God, of which God had said to David and his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will establish My Name forever.
• Rev 13:14–15Because of the signs it was given to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived those who dwell on the earth, telling them to make an image to the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet had lived.
• Exod 32:1Now 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!”
• 1 Kgs 12:28After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”
• Isa 42:17But those who trust in idols and say to molten images, ‘You are our gods!’ will be turned back in utter shame.
• Exod 34:17You shall make no molten gods for yourselves.
• Exod 32:8How quickly they have turned aside from the way that I commanded them! They have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it. They have sacrificed to it and said, ‘These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’”
• Exod 32:23They told me, ‘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!’

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.