30 Bible Verses about Apostasy in OT

Notwithstanding, LORD did not turn from the fierceness of his great wrath, with which his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. And LORD said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city which I have chosen, even Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.

He also drove out the nations before them, and allotted them for an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents. Yet they challenged and rebelled against the Most High God, and kept not his testimonies, but turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers. They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.read more.
For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images. When God heard, he was angry, and greatly abhorred Israel, so that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men, and delivered their strength into captivity, and their glory into the adversary's hand. He also gave his people over to the sword, and was angry with his inheritance. Fire devoured their young men, and their virgins had no marriage-song. Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation.

And be ye not like your fathers, and like your brothers, who trespassed against LORD, the God of their fathers, so that he gave them up to desolation, as ye see. Now be ye not stiff-necked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he has sanctified forever, and serve LORD your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you. For if ye turn again to LORD, your brothers and your sons shall find compassion before those who led them captive, and shall come again into this land. For LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face fro

Now when Joshua had sent the people away, the sons of Israel went every man to his inheritance to possess the land. And the people served LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of LORD that he had wrought for Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of LORD, died, being a hundred and ten years old.read more.
And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill-country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash. And also all that generation were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them that did not know LORD, nor yet the work which he had wrought for Israel. And the sons of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of LORD, and served the Baalim. And they forsook LORD, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the peoples that were round about them, and bowed themselves down to them. And they provoked LORD t And they forsook LORD, and served Baal and the Ashtaroth. And the anger of LORD was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that despoiled them. And he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before th Wherever they went out, the hand of LORD was against them for evil, as LORD had spoken, and as LORD had sworn to them. And they were exceedingly distressed. And LORD raised up judges who saved them out of the hand of those who despoiled them. And yet they did not hearken to their judges, for they played the harlot after other gods, and bowed themselves down to them. They turned aside quickly out of the way in which their fathers walked, obeying the commandments of LORD. And when LORD raised up judges for them, then LORD was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For LORD regretted because of their groaning because of those who oppressed them and But it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they turned back, and dealt more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down to them. They did not cease from their doings, nor from their And the anger of LORD was kindled against Israel, and he said, Because this nation has transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not hearkened to my voice, I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations that Joshua left when he died, that by them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of LORD to walk in it, as their fathers kept it, or not. So LORD left those nations, without driving them out quickly. Neither did he deliver them into the hand of Joshua.

The sons of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle. They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law. And they forgot his doings, and his wondrous works that he had shown them.read more.
He did marvelous things in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through. And he made the waters to stand as a heap. In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire. He split rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths. He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers. Yet they went on to still sin against him, to rebel against the Most High in the desert. And they challenged God in their heart by asking food according to their desire. Yea, they spoke against God. They said, Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? Behold, he smote the rock, so that waters gushed out, and streams overflowed. Can he give bread also? Will he provide flesh for his people? Therefore LORD heard, and was angry. And a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also went up against Israel, because they did not believe in God, and did not trust in his salvation. Yet he commanded the skies above, and opened the doors of heaven, and he rained down manna upon them to eat, and gave them food from heaven. Man ate the bread of the mighty. He sent them food to the full. He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens, and by his power he guided the south wind. He also rained flesh upon them as the dust, and winged birds as the sand of the seas. And he let it fall in the midst of their camp round about their habitations. So they ate, and were well filled, and he gave them their own desire. They were not estranged from that which they desired. Their food was yet in their mouths when the anger of God went up against them, and killed of the fattest of them, and smote down the young men of Israel. For all this they still sinned, and did not believe in his wondrous works. Therefore he consumed their days in vanity, and their years in terror. When he killed them, then they inquired after him, and they returned and sought God earnestly. And they remembered that God was their rock, and the Most High God their redeemer. But they flattered him with their mouth, and lied to him with their tongue. For their heart was not right with him, nor were they faithful in his covenant. But he, being merciful, forgave iniquity, and destroyed not. Yea, many a time he turned his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath. And he remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes away, and comes not again. How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness, and grieved him in the desert! And they turned again and challenged God, and provoked the Holy One of Israel.

The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for LORD has spoken. I have nourished and brought up sons, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master's crib, [but] Israel does not know; my people does not consider.read more.
Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, sons who deal corruptly! They have forsaken LORD. They have despised the Holy One of Israel. They have gone away backward. Why will ye be still stricken, that ye revolt more and more? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in it, [but] wounds, and bruises, and fresh stripes. They have not been closed nor bound up nor soothed with oil.

Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their back, and killed thy prophets who testified against them to turn them again to thee, and they wrought great provocations. Therefore thou delivered them into the hand of their adversaries, who distressed them. And in the time of their trouble, when they cried to thee, thou heard from heaven, and according to thy manifold mercies thou gave them saviors But after they had rest, they again did evil before thee. Therefore thou left them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them. Yet when they returned, and cried to thee, thou heard from heaven, and many tread more.
and testified against them, that thou might bring them again to thy law. Yet they dealt proudly, and did not hearken to thy commandments, but sinned against thine ordinances (which if a man does, he shall live in them), and withdre Yet many years thou bore with them, and testified against them by thy Spirit through thy prophets. Yet they would not give ear. Therefore thou gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. Nevertheless in thy manifold mercies thou did not make a full end of them, nor forsake them, for thou are a gracious and merciful God.

And when Moses saw that the people were broken loose, (for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies,) then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Whoever is on LORD's side, [come] to me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. And he said to them, Thus says LORD, the God of Israel, Put ye every man his sword upon his thigh, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every manread more.
And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. And Moses said, Consecrate yourselves today to LORD, yea, every man against his son, and against his brother, that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.

And I brought you into a plentiful land, to eat the fruit of it and the goodness of it. But when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination. The priests did not say, Where is LORD? and those who handle the law did not know me. The rulers also transgressed against me. And the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit. Therefore I will yet contend with you, says LORD, and I will contend with your son's sons.read more.
For pass over to the isles of Kittim, and see, and send to Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there has been such a thing. Has a nation changed [its] gods, which yet are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid. Be ye very desolate, says LORD. For my people have committed two evils: They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

They did not destroy the peoples, as LORD commanded them, but mingled themselves with the nations, and learned their works, and served their idols, which became a snare to them.read more.
Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons, and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. And the land was polluted with blood. Thus they were defiled with their works, and played the harlot in their doings.

And they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to the he-goats, after which they play the harlot. This shall be a statute forever to them throughout their generations.

I will go to the great men, and will speak to them, for they know the way of LORD, and the law of their God. But these with one accord have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds. Therefore a lion out of the forest shall kill them; a wolf of the evenings shall destroy them; a leopard shall watch against their cities. Everyone who goes out from there shall be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are m How can I pardon thee? Thy sons have forsaken me, and sworn by those who are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the harlots' houses.

Only do not rebel against LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their defense is removed from over them, and LORD is with us. Fear them not. But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of LORD appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel. And LORD said to Moses, How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have wrought among them?read more.
I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a nation greater and mightier than they.

I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me. For now, O Ephraim, thou have played the harlot; Israel is defiled. Their doings will not allow them to turn to their God, for the spirit of whoredom is within them, and they do not know LORD.

Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods that ye have not known, and [then] come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered, that ye may do all these abominations? Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it, says LORD.read more.
But go ye now to my place which was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. And now, because ye have done all these works, says LORD. And I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not, and I called you, but ye answered not, therefore I will do to the house, which is called by my name, in which ye trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, even the whole seed of Ephraim.

And it was so, because the sons of Israel had sinned against LORD their God who brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, and walked in the statutes of the nations, whom LORD cast out from before the sons of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they made. And the sons of Israel did things secretly that were not right against LORD their God. And they built for them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city.read more.
And they set up for them pillars and Asherim upon every high hill, and under every green tree, and there they burnt incense in all the high places, as the nations did whom LORD carried away before them. And they wrought wicked things to provoke LORD to anger. And they served idols, of which LORD had said to them, Ye shall not do this thing. Yet LORD testified to Israel, and to Judah, by every prophet, and every seer, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent Notwithstanding, they would not hear, but stiffened their neck, like the neck of their fathers who did not believed in LORD their God. And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified to them. And they followed vanity, and became vain, and [went] after the nations that were round about them, c And they forsook all the commandments of LORD their God, and made for them molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do that which was evil in the sight of LORD to provoke him to anger. Therefore LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight. There was none left but only the tribe of Judah. Also Judah did not keep the commandments of LORD their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. And LORD rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight.

But your little ones, that ye said would be a prey, them I will bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have rejected. But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. And your sons shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your whoredoms, until your dead bodies be consumed in the wilderness.read more.
After the number of the days in which ye spied out the land, even forty days, for every day a year, ye shall bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my alienation. I, LORD, have spoken, surely I will do this to all this evil congregation that are gathered together against me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.

Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging-place of wayfaring men, that I might leave my people, and go from them! For they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.

And LORD said to Moses, Behold, thou shall sleep with thy fathers. And this people will rise up, and play the harlot after the strange gods of the land where they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant whic Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall come upon them, so that they will say in that day, H And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evil which they shall have wrought, in that they have turned to other gods.

When LORD spoke at the first by Hosea, LORD said to Hosea, Go, take to thee a wife of whoredom and children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom, departing from LORD.

Thus says LORD: Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from LORD. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and not inhabited.

For the land is full of adulterers. For because of swearing the land mourns. The pastures of the wilderness are dried up. And their course is evil, and their might is not right. For both prophet and priest are profane. Yea, in my house I have found their wickedness, says LORD. Therefore their way shall be to them as slippery places in the darkness. They shall be driven on, and fall in it. For I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, says LORD.read more.
And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria. They prophesied by Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. In the prophets of Jerusalem also I have seen a horrible thing. They commit adultery, and walk in lies. And they strengthen the hands of evil-doers, so that none returns from his wickedness. They have all of them become to me as So Therefore thus says LORD of hosts concerning the prophets: Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall. For from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has gone forth into all the land.

But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked. Thou have grown fat. Thou have grown thick. Thou have become sleek. Then he forsook God who made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. They moved him to jealousy with strange [gods]. With abominations they provoked him to anger. They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods that they knew not, to new [gods] that came up of late, which your fathers did not dread.read more.
Thou are unmindful of the Rock that begot thee, and have forgotten God who gave thee birth. And LORD saw, and abhorred, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters. And he said, I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end shall be. For they are a very perverse generation, sons in whom is no faithfulness. They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked me to anger with their vanities, and I will move them to jealousy with a non-nation. I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

How long will thou go here and there, O thou backsliding daughter? For LORD has created a new thing in the earth: a woman shall encompass a man.

For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, O that ye would hear his voice! Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, as the day of trial in the wilderness,

They soon forgot his works. They did not wait for his counsel, but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and challenged God in the desert. And he gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.read more.
They also envied Moses in the camp, [and] Aaron the sanctified of LORD. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. And a fire was kindled in their company. The flame burned up the wicked [men]. They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped a molten image. Thus they changed their glory for the likeness of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, wondrous works in the land of Ham, [and] fearful things by the Red Sea. Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy. Yea, they despised the pleasant land. They did not believe his word, but murmured in their tents, and did not hearken to the voice of LORD. Therefore he swore to them, that he would overthrow them in the wilderness, and that he would overthrow their seed among the nations, and scatter them in the lands. They also joined themselves to Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead. Thus they provoked him to anger with their doings, and the plague broke in upon them. Then Phinehas stood up, and executed judgment, and so the plague was stayed. And that was reckoned to him for righteousness to all generations for evermore. They also angered him at the waters of Meribah, so that it went ill with Moses because of them, because they were rebellious against his spirit, and he spoke ill-advisedly with his lips.

while it is said, Today if ye will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. For some who heard rebelled, but not all those who came out of Egypt by Moses. But with whom was he angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness?read more.
And to whom did he swear were not going to enter into his rest, if not to those who were disobedient? And we see that they were not able to enter in because of unbelief.

And those of you who escape shall remember me among the nations where they shall be carried captive, how I have broken with their lewd heart, which has departed from me, and with they eyes, which play the harlot after their idols.

But thou trusted in thy beauty, and played the harlot because of thy renown, and poured out thy whoredoms on everyone who passed by; his it was. And thou took of thy garments, and made high places for thee, decked with various colors, and played the harlot upon them, [things which] should not come, nor should it be. Thou also took thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and made for thee images of men, and played the harlot with them.read more.
And thou took thy embroidered garments, and covered them, and set my oil and my incense before them. My bread also which I gave thee, fine flour and oil and honey, with which I fed thee, thou even set it before them for a sweet savor, and [thus] it was, says lord LORD. Moreover thou have taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou have borne to me, and thou have sacrificed these to them to be devoured. Were thy whoredoms a small matter, that thou have slain my children, and delivered them up, in causing them to pass through [the fire] to them? And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou have not remembered the days of thy youth when thou were naked and bare, and were weltering in thy blood. And it has come to pass according to all thy wickedness, (woe, woe to thee! says lord LORD), that thou have built thyself a vaulted place, and have made thee a lofty place in every street. Thou have built thy lofty place at the head of every way, and have made thy beauty an abomination. And have opened thy feet to everyone who passed by, and multiplied thy whoredom. Thou have also committed fornication with the Egyptians, thy neighbors, great of flesh, and have multiplied thy whoredom, to provoke me to anger. Behold therefore, I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have diminished thy portion, and delivered thee to the will of those who hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of thy lewd way. Thou have played the harlot also with the Assyrians, because thou were insatiable. Yea, thou have played the harlot with them, and yet thou were not satisfied. Thou have moreover multiplied thy whoredom to the land of traffic, to Chaldea, and yet thou were not satisfied with this. How weak is thy heart, says lord LORD, seeing thou do all these things, the work of an impudent harlot, in that thou build thy vaulted place at the head of every way, and make thy lofty place in every street. And have not [even] been as a harlot, in that thou scorn hire. A wife who commits adultery, who takes strangers instead of her husband! They give gifts to all harlots, but thou give thy gifts to all thy lovers, and bribe them, that they may come to thee on every side for thy whoredoms. And thou are different from [other] women in thy whoredoms, in that none follows thee to play the harlot. And whereas thou give a wage, and no wage is given to thee, therefore thou are different. Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of LORD. Thus says lord LORD: Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness uncovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and because of all the idols of thy abominations, and for the blood of thy sons, that thou gave to them, therefore, behold, I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou have taken pleasure, and all those whom thou have loved, with all those whom thou have hated, I will even gather them against thee on every side. And I will uncover th And I will judge thee, as women who break wedlock and shed blood are judged. And I will bring upon thee the blood of wrath and jealousy. I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thy vaulted place, and break down thy lofty places. And they shall strip thee of thy clothes, and take thy fair jewels, and they shall leave thee naked and bare. They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords. And they shall burn thy houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women. And I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou shall also give no wage any more. So I will cause my wrath toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will no more be angry.

we have sinned, and have dealt perversely, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning aside from thy precepts and from thine ordinances, nor have we hearkened to thy servants the prophets, who spoke in thy name to our kings, our rulers, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. O LORD, righteousness belongs to thee, but to us confusion of face, as at this day, to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, who are near, and who are far off, through all the countries where thoread more.
O LORD, to us belongs confusion of face, to our kings, to our rulers, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. To LORD our God belong mercies and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him, nor have we obeyed the voice of LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even turning aside, that they should not obey thy voice. Therefore the curse has been poured out upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God. For we have s And he has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us, and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil, for under the whole heaven has not been done as has been done upon Jerusalem. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil has come upon us. Yet we have not entreated the favor of LORD our God, that we should turn from our iniquities, and have discernment in thy truth. Therefore LORD has watched over the evil, and brought it upon us, for LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he does, and we have not obeyed his voice.