Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods. I am the LORD your God.
Parallel translations
- WEB “‘Don’t turn to idols, nor make molten gods for yourselves. I am Yahweh your God.
- KJV Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God.
- ESV Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the LORD your God.
- NKJV ‘Do not turn to idols, nor make for yourselves molded gods: I am the Lord your God.
- NASB Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves cast metal gods; I am the Lord your God.
- NLT “Do not put your trust in idols or make metal images of gods for yourselves. I am the Lord your God.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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
Israel must not turn to idols or make cast images, for Yahweh alone is their God.
Overview
Echoing the first and second commandments, this guards Israel's exclusive devotion to the Lord. Idols are dismissed as worthless counterfeits unworthy of worship. The command protects the heart of true religion: wholehearted loyalty to the one true God, which Jesus affirmed as the greatest commandment.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 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.
- Exod 20:23You are not to make any gods alongside Me; you are not to make for yourselves gods of silver or gold.
- Exod 34:17You shall make no molten gods for yourselves.
- Ps 115:4–7Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
- Exod 20:3–5You shall have no other gods before Me.
- 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!’
- 1 Cor 10:14Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
- Ps 96:5For all the gods of the nations are idols, but it is the LORD who made the heavens.
- 1 Jn 5:21Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
- Exod 32:4He took the gold from their hands, and with an engraving tool he fashioned it into a molten calf. And they said, “These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”
- Hag 2:18Consider carefully from this day forward—from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, the day the foundation of the LORD’s temple was laid—consider carefully:
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 19:4 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
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.