Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to 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.
- BSB Do not turn to idols or make for 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 26:1Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.
- Exod 20:23Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.
- Exod 34:17Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.
- Ps 115:4–7Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
- Exod 20:3–5Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
- Deut 27:15Cursed 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.
- 1 Cor 10:14Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.
- Ps 96:5For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens.
- 1 Jn 5:21Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
- Exod 32:4And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
- Hag 2:18Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the LORD’s temple was laid, consider it.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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.