Now, you can go if you must go, because you certainly are longing to go to your father's house. But why did you steal my gods?"

Now as to your gods, if you find someone has them in their possession, he's a dead man. Take our relatives as witnesses, search through our belongings, and take whatever belongs to you that's in my possession." But Jacob didn't know that Rachel had stolen the idols.

Jacob announced to his household and to everyone with him, "Throw away the foreign gods that you've kept among you, purify yourselves, and change your clothes.

So they handed over to Jacob all their foreign gods on which they had been depending, along with the rings that they were wearing on their ears. Jacob buried them under the oak that grew near Shechem.

I'll pass through the land of Egypt that night and strike every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both people and animals. I'll execute judgments on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.

"Who is like you among the gods, LORD? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in splendor, and working wonders?

Now I know that the LORD is greater than all other gods, because of what happened to the Egyptians when they acted arrogantly against Israel."

You are to have no other gods as a substitute for me.

You are not to make gods of silver alongside me, nor are you to make for yourselves gods of gold.

"Be careful about everything I've told you, and don't mention the name of other gods. Don't let them be heard in your mouth!"

You are not to bow down to their gods or serve them. You are not to follow their practices, but you are to overthrow them completely and smash their sacred stones to pieces.

You are not to make a covenant with them or with their gods.

They are not to live in your land. Otherwise they will cause you to sin against me. If you worship their gods, it will become a snare for you."

Otherwise, you may make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and when they prostitute themselves with their gods and offer sacrifices to their gods, someone may invite you and then you may eat some of their sacrifices.

"You are not to take any of their daughters for your sons. Otherwise, when their daughters prostitute themselves with their gods, they may cause your sons to prostitute themselves with their gods.

"You are not to make molten gods for yourselves.

"You are not to turn to their idols or cast gods out of melted metal for yourselves. I am the LORD your God.

who also invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods. So the people ate what they had sacrificed and then worshipped their gods.

while they were burying their firstborn, whom the LORD had killed among them. The LORD also executed justice against their gods.

There you'll serve gods made by human hands, serving trees and stones that cannot see, hear, eat, nor smell.

You are to have no other gods as a substitute for me.

Do not follow other gods, from the gods of the nations around you.

because they will turn your children from me to serve other gods so that the LORD's anger blazes against you and swiftly destroys you by fire.

You are to utterly destroy everyone whom the LORD your God will deliver to you. Don't have pity on them nor serve their gods. Otherwise, they will become a snare for you."

Burn the images of their gods in the fire. Desire neither the silver nor the gold that adorns them, nor take them for yourselves, so you won't be ensnared by them, because the gold and silver is detestable to the LORD your God.

If you neglect the LORD your God, follow other gods, and serve and worship them, I testify to you today that you will certainly be destroyed.

For the LORD your God is the God of all gods, the LORD of all lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who does not show favoritism or take bribes.

Be careful! Otherwise, your hearts will deceive you and you will turn away to serve other gods and worship them.

or a curse if you don't obey the commands of the LORD your God, by turning from the way that I'm commanding you today and following other gods whom you have not known."

Be sure you destroy there all the places where the nations that you're going to dispossess serve their gods upon the high mountains and hills and under every leafy tree.

Tear down their altars, cut down their sacred poles, and burn them. Cut down the carved images of their gods to erase their memory from that place."

after they have been destroyed in your sight, be careful not to be ensnared as they were. Otherwise, you will seek their gods and ask yourselves, "How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.'

You must not do the same to the LORD your God, because they practiced in the presence of their gods every sort of abomination that the LORD hates. Moreover, they sacrificed their sons and daughters to their gods.

that takes place, and then he may tell you, "Let's follow other gods (whom you have not known) and let's serve them.' Even though the sign or portent comes to pass,

"Your own blood brother, your son, your daughter, your beloved wife, or your friend who is like your soul mate may entice you quietly. He may tell you, "Let's go and serve other gods,' (whom neither you nor your ancestors have known

from the gods of the people that surround you whether near or far from you from one end of the earth to the other).

that worthless men have come from among you to entice those who live in the towns. They may say, "Let's go and serve other gods that you haven't known.'

He may be following and serving other gods by bowing down to them that is, to the sun, the moon, or to any of the heavenly host (something I did not command).

Even then, if the prophet speaks presumptuously in my name, which I didn't authorize him to speak, or if he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die.'

so they won't teach you to do all the detestable things that they do for their gods. If you do what they teach you, you will sin against the LORD your God."

Do not deviate from any of his commands that I'm giving you today neither to the right nor the left to follow and serve other gods."

"The LORD will banish you and your king whom you will appoint over you to go to a nation that neither you nor your ancestors have known, and there you'll serve other gods of wood and stone.

"He'll scatter you among the nations from one end of the earth to the other, and there you'll serve other gods made of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known.

Be alert so there is no man, woman, family, or a tribe whose heart is turning away from the LORD your God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Be alert so there will be no root among you that produces poisonous and bitter fruit,

"Because they've abandoned the covenant of their LORD, the God of their ancestors that he had made with them when he brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshipped other gods whom they had not known and whom he did not assign to them.

But if you turn your heart away, and do not obey, but instead if you stray away to worship and serve other gods,

Then the LORD told Moses, "Look! You are about to join your ancestors. Afterwards, this people will rebel and commit prostitution with the foreign gods of the land that they are about to enter to possess. They will abandon me and break my covenant that I made with them.

I'll surely hide my face in that day on account of the evil that they will have done for they turned to other gods."

because after I've brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey that I promised to their ancestors by an oath, they'll eat, grow fat, and then they'll turn to other gods and serve them, while despising me and breaking my covenant.

They sacrificed to demons not to the real God gods whom they didn't know, new neighbors who had recently appeared, whom your ancestors never feared.

They provoked me to jealousy over non-gods, and to be angry over their vanity. Now I'll provoke them to jealousy over a non-people; and over a foolish nation I'll provoke them to anger.

"He will say, "Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge?

"The God of gods, the LORD, the God of gods, the LORD is the one who knows! And may Israel itself be aware that if this was an act of rebellion or an act of treachery against the LORD, may he not deliver us today!

That way, you will not mingle with those nations that remain among you, nor mention the name of their gods, nor make oaths by them, nor serve them, nor worship them.

When you break the covenant of the LORD your God that he commanded you to obey by going to serve other gods and worship them, then the anger of the LORD will blaze against you, and you will perish quickly from this good land that he gave you."

"Long ago your ancestors lived beyond the Euphrates River, including Terah, father of both Abraham and Nahor, where they served other gods. Then I took your ancestor Abraham from the other side of the Euphrates River and led him through the entire land of Canaan. I multiplied his descendants, and gave him his son Isaac.

"Now you must fear the LORD and serve him in faithfulness and truth. Throw away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Instead, serve the LORD.

If you think it's the wrong thing for you to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves today whom you will serve the gods whom your ancestors served on the other side of the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose territories you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

In response, the people said, "Far be it from us that we should abandon the LORD to serve other gods,

Joshua said, "Therefore abandon the foreign gods that are among you, and turn your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel."

Therefore I'm now saying, "I won't expel them before you. Instead, they'll remain at your side, and their gods will ensnare you.'"

They abandoned the LORD God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods from among the gods of the nations who surrounded them. They bowed down in worship of them, and by doing so angered the LORD.

But they didn't listen to their leaders, because they were committing spiritual immorality by following other gods and worshiping them. They quickly turned away from the road on which their ancestors had walked in obedience to the commands of the LORD. They didn't follow their example.

However, after the leader had died, they would relapse to a condition more corrupt than their ancestors, following other gods, serving them, and worshiping them. They would not abandon their activities or their obstinate lifestyles.

taking their daughters as wives for themselves, giving their own daughters to their sons, and serving their gods.

New gods were chosen, then war came to the city gates, but there wasn't a shield or spear to be seen among 40,000 soldiers of Israel.

I told you, "I am the LORD your God. You are not to fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you'll be living."' But you haven't obeyed what I said."

Later on, the Israelis again practiced what the LORD considered to be evil by serving the Baals, the stars, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the descendants of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines. In doing so, they ignored the LORD and wouldn't serve him.

But you have abandoned me and served other gods. Therefore I will no longer be delivering you.

Go and cry out to the gods that you have chosen for yourselves. Let them deliver you in your time of trouble."

When they put away their foreign gods and served the LORD, he brought Israel's misery to an end.

Micah replied, "You took my gods that I crafted, along with the priest, and left! What do I have left? So what's with this "What's wrong with you?'"

Naomi told Ruth, "Look, your sister-in-law has returned to her people and to her gods. Follow your sister-in-law!"

How terrible for us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the desert.

"Five gold tumors and five gold mice," they answered, "according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, since the same plague was on all of you and on your lords. Make images of your tumors and images of the mice that are destroying your land, and you are to give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will remove his pressure from you, your gods, and your land.

Then Samuel told the whole house of Israel, "If you're returning to the LORD with all your heart, then remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, direct your hearts back to the LORD, and serve him only. Then he will deliver you from the control of the Philistines."

Like all the things they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this very day, they have forsaken me and followed other gods. They're also doing the same thing to you.

The Philistine asked David, "Am I a dog that you come at me with sticks?" Then the Philistine cursed David by his own gods and

Now let your majesty listen to the words of his servant. If the LORD incited you against me, then may he accept an offering. But if it is people, may they be cursed in the LORD's presence, because they have driven me out today from sharing in the inheritance of the LORD by saying, "Go serve other gods.'

"And who is like your people, like Israel, the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, to make a name for himself, and to carry out for them great and awe-inspiring accomplishments, driving out nations and their gods in front of your people, whom you redeemed to yourself from Egypt?

But if you or your descendants abandon me, and do not keep my commandments and statutes that I have given to you, and if you go away, serve other gods, and worship them,

They will answer, "Because they abandoned the LORD their God, who brought their ancestors out of the land of Egypt, and they adopted other gods and served them. That's why the Lord has brought all of this disaster on them.'"

all of them from nations that the LORD had ordered the Israelis, "You are not to associate with them and they are not to associate with you, because they will most certainly turn your affections away to follow their gods." Solomon became deeply attached to them by falling in love.

because as Solomon grew older, his wives turned his affections away after other gods, and his heart was not fully as devoted to the LORD his God as his father David's heart had been.

Solomon did this for all of his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their own gods.

and warned him about this so he would not pursue other gods. But he did not obey what the LORD had commanded,

So the king sought some advice and then built two golden calves and announced, "It's too difficult for you to travel to Jerusalem. So here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!"

"Instead, you have done more evil than everyone who lived before you. "You have gone out and crafted other gods for yourself. "You made cast images. "You have provoked me to anger. "You have thrown me behind your back.

Jezebel sent a messenger to tell Elijah, "May the gods do the same to me and even more if tomorrow about this time I haven't made you like one of those prophets you had killed."

Beh-hadad sent this message back: "May the gods do so to me, and more than that also, if the dust that remains of Samaria is enough to fill up a few handfuls for all of the armies at my disposal."

Sure enough, the advisors to the king of Aram told him, "Their gods are mountain gods. That's why they were stronger than we were. But when we fight them on the plains, we're certain to be the stronger army!

This happened because the Israelis had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt and from the domination of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, because they were fearing other gods,

Nevertheless, each nation continued to craft their own gods and install them in the temples on the high places that the people of Samaria had constructed every nation in their own cities where they continued to live.

and settlers from Avva built Nibhaz and Tartak. The residents of Sephar-vaim burned their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sephar-vaim.

While they continued to fear the LORD, they served their own gods, following the custom of the nations whom they had carried away from there.

"You are not to fear other gods, bow down to them, serve them, or sacrifice to them. Instead, it is to be the LORD, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, showing great power and public demonstrations of might, whom you are to fear, worship, and to whom you are to offer sacrifice.

Furthermore, you are to be careful to observe forever the statutes, ordinances, law, and the commandment that he wrote for you. And you are not to fear other gods.

You are not to forget the covenant that I've made with you, and you are not to fear other gods.

"But don't listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, "The LORD will deliver us!" Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land from control by the king of Assyria?

Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sephar-vaim, of Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my control?