You must never have a foreign god; you must not bow down before a false god.
Parallel translations
- WEB There shall be no strange god in you, neither shall you worship any foreign god.
- KJV There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.
- BSB There must be no strange god among you, nor shall you bow to a foreign god.
- NKJV There shall be no foreign god among you; Nor shall you worship any foreign god.
- NASB “There shall be no strange god among you; Nor shall you worship a foreign god.
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
God commands that there be no strange or foreign god among His people. Exclusive devotion to the LORD is the foundation of the covenant.
Overview
This restates the first commandment, forbidding any rival to the LORD (Exod. 20:3). Idolatry is the root sin from which Israel's troubles flow. The call to worship God alone remains central for God's people, fulfilled in undivided devotion to the one true God revealed in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Isa 43:12I have declared, I have saved, and I have shown; and there was no strange god among you. Therefore you are my witnesses”, says Yahweh, “and I am God.
- Deut 32:12Yahweh alone led him. There was no foreign god with him.
- 1 Cor 8:5–6For though there are things that are called “gods”, whether in the heavens or on earth; as there are many “gods” and many “lords”;
- Exod 20:3–5“You shall have no other gods before me.
- Mal 2:11Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the holiness of Yahweh which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.
- Deut 6:14You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples who are around you;
- Ps 44:20If we have forgotten the name of our God, or spread out our hands to a strange god;
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 81:9 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.