69 Bible Verses about False Gods

Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, said, "Look, I [am] going to punish Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, and her gods, and her kings, even Pharaoh and those who trust in him.

Rather, you will tear down their altars, and you will break their stone pillars, and you will cut off their Asherah poles. For you will not bow in worship to another god, for 'Yahweh [Is] Jealous' is his name, he [is] a jealous God,

But this is what you must do to them: you shall break down their altars, and their stone pillars you shall smash, and their Asherah poles you shall hew down, and you shall burn their idols with fire.

Now on that same night Yahweh said to him, "Take the bull of the cattle that belongs to your father, and a second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it; and build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold in the proper arrangement, and take a second bull and offer [it as] a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you will cut down. Gideon took ten men from his servants, and he did just as Yahweh told him; and because he was too afraid of his {father's family} and the men of the city to do [it during] the day, he did [it during] night.read more.
When the men of the city got up early in the morning, look, the altar of Baal and the Asherah that [was] beside it [were] cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. {And they said to one another}, "Who did this thing?" So they searched and inquired, and they said, "Gideon son of Jehoash did this thing." And the men of the city said to Jehoash, "Bring out your son so that he may die, for he has pulled down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah that [was] beside it."

Yahweh will strike Israel as one shakes the reed plant in the water, and he will root Israel up from this good land that he gave to their ancestors. He will scatter them beyond the River because they have made their sacred poles [which are] provoking Yahweh.

Also, he had Maacah his mother removed from the office of queen mother, [as] she had made a repulsive image for the Asherah. Asa also cut down her repulsive image and burned it in the Wadi Kidron.

Ahab also made the sacred pole, and {he continued to provoke} Yahweh the God of Israel more than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

So then, send [word] and assemble all of Israel to me on Mount Carmel, with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at the table of Jezebel."

Then the {king} commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the second priests, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring out of the temple of Yahweh all of the objects made for Baal and for the Asherah and for all the host of heaven, and he burned them outside of Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and then he carried their ashes to Bethel He removed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained [to] burn incense on the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem and who offered incense to, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven. He brought out the Asherah image from the temple of Yahweh outside of Jerusalem to the Wadi of the Kidron and burnt it {there}; then he pulverized [it] to dust and threw its dust upon the tombs of the children of the people.read more.
He tore down the shrines of the male shrine prostitutes which were in the temple of Yahweh, where the women were weaving shrines for the Asherah.

As the remembering of their children, [so is the remembering of] their altars and their poles of Asherah worship beside [the] leafy trees on [the] high hills.

And I will uproot your Asherahs from among you, and I will destroy your cities.

They abandoned Yahweh the God of their ancestors, who brought them out from the land of Egypt. They {followed} other gods from the gods of the people who [were] around them; and they bowed down to them, and they provoked the anger of Yahweh. They abandoned Yahweh, and they served Baal and the Ashtaroth.

And again, the {Israelites} did evil in the eyes of Yahweh. They served the Baals, the Ashtaroth, the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, and the gods of the {Ammonites} and Philistines; they abandoned Yahweh and did not serve him.

And Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, "If with all your heart you [are] turning to Yahweh, remove the foreign gods and Ashtoreths from your midst. Commit your hearts to Yahweh and serve him alone. Then he will deliver you from the hand of [the] Philistines." So the {Israelites} removed the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and they served Yahweh alone.

So they cried out to Yahweh and said, 'We have sinned, because we have forsaken Yahweh and have served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now deliver us from the hand of our enemies and we will serve you!'

And they put his armor [in] the temple of the Ashtoreth, and they fastened his corpse to the wall of Beth Shan.

Solomon went after Ashtoreth the god of [the] Sidonians and after Molech the abhorrence of the Ammonites.

Moreover, that entire generation was gathered to their ancestors, and another generation grew up after them who did not know Yahweh or the work he had done for Israel. The {Israelites} did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and {they served} the Baals. They abandoned Yahweh the God of their ancestors, who brought them out from the land of Egypt. They {followed} other gods from the gods of the people who [were] around them; and they bowed down to them, and they provoked the anger of Yahweh.read more.
They abandoned Yahweh, and they served Baal and the Ashtaroth.

But the Pharisees, [when they] heard [it], said, "This man does not expel demons except by Beelzebul the ruler of demons!"

And the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying, "He is possessed by Beelzebul!" and "By the ruler of the demons he expels the demons!"

But some of them said, "By Beelzebul the ruler of demons he expels demons!"

Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice in his upper room, which [was] in Samaria, and he was injured. So he sent messengers, and he said to them, "Go, inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, if I will survive this injury." Then the angel of Yahweh spoke to Elijah the Tishbite, "Get up, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and speak to them, 'Is it because there is no God in Israel that you [are] going to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?'read more.
Therefore, thus says Yahweh, 'The bed upon which you have gone, you will not come down from it, but you shall surely die.'" So Elijah went. When the messengers returned to him, he asked them, "Why have you returned?" Then they said to him, "A man came up to meet us, and he said to us, 'Go, return to the king who sent you and speak to him, "Thus says Yahweh, 'Is it because there is no God in Israel that you [are] sending to inquire of Baal-Zebub the god of Ekron? Therefore the bed upon which you have gone, you will not come down from it, for you will surely die.'" '"

Bel bows down; Nebo [is] stooping. Their idols are {on} animals and {on} cattle; your {cargo} is carried [as] a burden {on} weary [animals].

"Declare among the nations and proclaim, and lift up a banner. Proclaim, you must not conceal [it]. Say, 'Babylon is captured, Bel is ashamed, Merodach is filled with terror, her idols are ashamed, her idols are filled with terror.

And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will wrench out from his mouth {what he has swallowed}. And [the] nations will not stream towards him [any] longer {what's worse}, the wall of Babylon has fallen.

At that time, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, on the mountain which {faces} Jerusalem and for Molech, the abomination of the {Ammonites}.

Woe to you, Moab! You have perished, people of Chemosh. He has given his sons as fugitives, and his daughters into captivity, to the king of the Amorites, Sihon.

because he has forsaken me, and they bowed down to Ashtoreth, the god of [the] Sidonians, to Chemosh, the god of Moab, and to Molech, the god of the {Ammonites}. They did not walk in my ways to do right in my eyes, my ordinances, or my judgments, as [did] David his father.

The high places which [were] east of Jerusalem, which [were] on the south of the Mountain of Destruction which Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab and for Molech the detestable thing of the {Ammonites}, the king defiled.

For because of your trusting in your works and in your treasures, even you yourselves will be taken, and Chemosh will go out into the exile, his priests and his officials together.

The rulers of [the] Philistines had gathered to sacrifice a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to rejoice. And they said, "Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand."

Then [the] Philistines took the ark of God and brought it to the temple of Dagon and placed it beside Dagon. When the Ashdodites got up early the next morning, {there was} Dagon fallen with his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh! So they took Dagon and returned him to his place. When they got up early in the morning the next day, {there was} Dagon fallen [again] with his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh! The head of Dagon and the palms of his two hands were cut off, lying at the threshold; only [the body] of Dagon was left.read more.
(Therefore the priests of Dagon and all who come into the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod until this [very] day.) Now the hand of Yahweh was heavy against the Ashdodites and he destroyed them and struck them with tumors, both in Ashdod and its territories. The men of Ashdod saw [that] it [was] so, and they said, "The ark of the God of Israel should not remain with us, because his hand [is] harsh on us and on Dagon our god!"

And they put his weapons in the temple of their gods, and they fastened his skull to the temple of Dagon.

It happened at the time of Solomon's old age that his wives guided his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully with Yahweh his God as the heart of David his father [had been]. Solomon went after Ashtoreth the god of [the] Sidonians and after Molech the abhorrence of the Ammonites.

" 'And you shall not give {any of} your offspring in order to sacrifice [them] to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I [am] Yahweh.

"And to the {Israelites} you shall say, '[If there is] {anyone} from the {Israelites} or from the alien who is dwelling in Israel, who gives {any of} his offspring to Molech, he must surely be put to death; the people of the land must stone him with stones. And I myself will set my face against that man, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people, because he has given {some of} his offspring to Molech, so that {he makes my sanctuary unclean} and profanes {my holy name}. And if the people of the land ever shut their eyes from that man at his giving {some of} his offspring to Molech, not putting him to death,read more.
then I myself will set my face against that man and against his clan, and I will cut him off and all those from the midst of their people who prostitute after Molech.

He defiled the Topheth which [is] in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom, {to prevent} anyone causing his sons or his daughters to pass through the fire for Molech.

And you climbed down to the king with oil, and you made your perfumes numerous, and you sent your envoys {far away}, and you {sent down deep} to Sheol.

And they built the high places of Baal that [are] in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to present as offerings their sons and their daughters to Molech, which I had not commanded them, and it had not come to my {mind} to do this detestable thing in order to cause Judah to sin."

Concerning the {Ammonites}: Thus says Yahweh, "Are there no sons for Israel? Or is there no heir for him? Why has Milcom taken possession of Gad, and his people dwelled in its towns?

and those who bow down on the rooftops to the host of heaven, and those who bow down, swearing to Yahweh but [also] swearing by Milkom,

And you took along the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of the god Rephan, the images that you made, to worship them, and I will deport you beyond Babylon!'

And he brought me to the doorway of the gate of the house of Yahweh that [is] toward the north, and look! There [were] the women sitting weeping for Tammuz.

They also built for themselves high places and stone pillars and sacred poles on every high hill and under every green tree. There were also male shrine prostitutes in the land, and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which Yahweh had driven out from before the {Israelites}.

I will leave in Israel seven thousand, all of the knees that have not bowed down to Baal and all of the mouths that have not kissed him."

And they built the high place of Topheth, which [is] in [the] Valley of Ben Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I have not commanded, and it did not come into my mind.

And now they sin again, and they make for themselves a molten idol, idols from their silver metal according to their understanding, all of them the work of skilled craftsmen. To these they say, "Sacrifice!" People are kissing bull calves.

When the men of the city got up early in the morning, look, the altar of Baal and the Asherah that [was] beside it [were] cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. {And they said to one another}, "Who did this thing?" So they searched and inquired, and they said, "Gideon son of Jehoash did this thing." And the men of the city said to Jehoash, "Bring out your son so that he may die, for he has pulled down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah that [was] beside it."read more.
But Jehoash said to all who stood against him, "Will you contend for Baal? Will you rescue him? Whoever contends for him will be put to death by the morning. If he [is] a god, let him contend for himself because {his altar has been pulled down}." Thus, on that day he was called Jerub-Baal, {which means}, "Let Baal contend against him," because he had pulled down his altar.

When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, "[Is] this you [who] throws Israel into confusion?" He said, "I did not throw Israel into confusion; rather you and the house of your father [have] by forsaking the commands of Yahweh when you went after the Baals! So then, send [word] and assemble all of Israel to me on Mount Carmel, with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at the table of Jezebel."read more.
So Ahab sent [word] among the {Israelites}, and he assembled the prophets to Mount Carmel. Elijah approached to all the people and said, "How long [will] you [go] limping over two opinions? If Yahweh [is] God, go after him; but if Baal, go after him." But the people did not answer him a word. Then Elijah said to the people, "I alone [am] left a prophet of Yahweh, but the prophets of Baal [are] four hundred and fifty men. Let them give us two bulls, and let them choose for themselves one bull, cut him in pieces, and put it on the wood, but don't let them start a fire on it. I will prepare the other bull and set it on the wood, but I will put no fire [on it]. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Yahweh, and it shall be that the god who answers by fire, he [is] God." Then all the people answered and said, "The word [is] good!" Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you [are] the majority, and call on the name of your god, but don't set fire [under it]." So they took the bull that he allowed to them, prepared it, and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, "O Baal, answer us!" But there was no voice and there was no answer, so they limped about the altar which they had made. It happened at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, "Call out with a loud voice, for he [is] a god! Perhaps he is meditating, or {is using the bathroom}, or [is] on a journey. Perhaps he [is] asleep and must wake up!" So they called out with a loud voice, and they cut themselves with swords and with spears as was their custom, until the blood poured out over them. It happened as noon passed, they raged until the [time of] the evening offering, but there was no voice, there was no answer, and no [one] paid attention. Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me," so all the people came closer to him. He repaired the altar of Yahweh [that had been] destroyed. Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of God came, saying, "Israel shall be your name." With them, he built an altar in the name of Yahweh, and he made a trench {which would have held} about two seahs of seed, all around the altar. And he arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces, and placed [it] on the wood. Then he said, "Fill four jars [with] water, and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood." He said, "Do [it] again!" They did [it] again. He said, "Do [it] a third time!" So they did [it] a third time. The water went all around the altar, and the trench also was filled [with] water. It happened at the offering of the [evening] oblation, Elijah the prophet went near, and he said, "O Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel; let it be known today that you [are] God in Israel and [that] I [am] your servant and [that] I have done all of these things by your words. Answer me, O Yahweh, answer me; that this people may know that you, O Yahweh, [are] God and that you have turned their hearts back again." Then the fire of Yahweh fell, and it consumed the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust; and the water which [was] in the trench it licked up! When all the people saw, they fell on their faces and said, "Yahweh, he [is] God! Yahweh, he [is] God!" Then Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal; don't let any man of them escape!" So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the wadi of Kishon and killed them there.

Then Jehu assembled all of the people and said to them, "Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will worship him greatly. So then, summon to me all of the prophets of Baal and all of his servants and his priests; no man should fail to come, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal. Anyone who fails to come shall not live!" Now Jehu was acting with cunning in order to destroy the servants of Baal. Then Jehu said, "Sanctify a [solemn] assembly for Baal!" So they proclaimed [it].read more.
Jehu sent [word] through all of Israel, and all of the servants of Baal came; there did not remain a man who did not come. They came to the house of Baal so that the house of Baal was filled from {wall to wall}. He said to the one who [was] over the wardrobe, "Bring out clothing for all of the servants of Baal." So he brought the clothing out for them. Then Jehu and Jehonadab the son of Recab came [to] the temple of Baal, and he said to the servants of Baal, "Search and see that there is none of the servants of Yahweh here with you; only those who serve Baal." They came to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed for himself eighty men outside, and he said, "The man who lets [anyone] escape from the men who I am {entrusting to you}, {he will pay with his life}!" It happened that when he finished offering the burnt offering, Jehu said to the royal guard and to the officers, "Come and kill them; let no man go free!" So {they put them to the sword}, and the royal guard and the officers threw them out, then they went up to the citadel of the temple of Baal. They brought out the stone pillars of the temple of Baal and burned {them}. So they broke down the stone pillars of Baal and destroyed the temple of Baal and made it into a latrine until this day. So Jehu wiped out Baal from Israel.

Then all the people of the land went to the temple of Baal and tore it down, and its altars and its images they broke completely into pieces. Mattan the priest of Baal they killed in front of the altars. Then the priest put guards over the house of Yahweh.

Then the {king} commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the second priests, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring out of the temple of Yahweh all of the objects made for Baal and for the Asherah and for all the host of heaven, and he burned them outside of Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and then he carried their ashes to Bethel He removed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained [to] burn incense on the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem and who offered incense to, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven.

He returned and rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed. He erected altars for Baal and made a pole of Asherah worship just as Ahab king of Israel had made, and he bowed down to all of the host of heaven and served them.

Ahaz [was] twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what is right in the eyes of Yahweh like David his ancestor. But he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and also made molten idols for the Baals. And he himself burned incense in the valley of Ben-Hinnom and burned his sons in the fire, according to the detestable [practices] of the nations whom Yahweh drove out before the Israelites.read more.
And he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops, and under every flourishing tree.

When Ephraim spoke, [there was] terror; he was exalted in Israel, but he incurred guilt through Baal and died. And now they sin again, and they make for themselves a molten idol, idols from their silver metal according to their understanding, all of them the work of skilled craftsmen. To these they say, "Sacrifice!" People are kissing bull calves.

Blessed [is] the man who makes Yahweh his trust and does not turn to [the] proud and [to those who] fall away [to] a lie.

And from me {is set forth} a decree that any people, nation, or language that [may] utter criticism against their God--[the God of] Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego--will be broken into pieces and their house will be made like ruins. {For} there is not another God who is able to rescue like this [God]."

O sons of man, how long will my honor be a disgrace? [How long] will you love vanity? [How long] will you seek lies? Selah

This [is] your lot, the portion of your measure from me," {declares} Yahweh, "because you have forgotten me, and you have trusted in the lie.

Yahweh, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge in [the] day of distress, to you [the] nations will come from the ends of [the] earth, and they will say, "Our ancestors have inherited only lies, vanity, and there is no profit in them.

Thus says Yahweh: "For three transgressions of Judah and for four I will not revoke [the punishment], because they have rejected the law of Yahweh and have not kept his rules, and their lies have led them astray, {after which their ancestors walked}!

"And I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal, and the name of idolatrous priests with the priests,

And they began calling Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes, because he was the {principal speaker}.

For someone {named} Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver replicas of the temple of Artemis, was bringing no little business to the craftsmen. {These} he gathered together, and the workers occupied with such things, [and] said, "Men, you know that from this business {we get our prosperity}, and you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this man Paul has persuaded [and] turned away a large crowd [by] saying that the [gods] made by hands are not gods.read more.
So not only is there a danger this line of business of ours [will] come into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Artemis [will] be regarded as nothing--and [she] is about to be brought down even from her grandeur, [she] whom the whole [of] Asia and the [entire] world worship!" And [when they] heard [this] and became full of rage, they began to shout, saying, "Great [is] Artemis of the Ephesians!"

Now after three months we put out to sea in a ship that had wintered at the island, an Alexandrian [one] {with the twin gods Castor and Pollux as its insignia}.

So on an appointed day Herod, [after] putting on royal clothing and sitting down on the judgment seat, began to deliver a public address to them. But the people began to call out loudly, "The voice of a god and not of a man!"

And they began calling Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes, because he was the {principal speaker}. And the priest of the [temple] of Zeus that was just outside the city brought bulls and garlands to the gates [and] was wanting to offer sacrifice, along with the crowds. But [when] the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard about [it], they tore their clothing [and] rushed out into the crowd, shoutingread more.
and saying, "Men, why are you doing these [things]? We also are men with the same nature as you, proclaiming the good news [that] you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all the things [that are] in them--

But they were expecting [that] he was going to swell up or suddenly to fall down dead. So [after] they had waited for a long [time] and saw nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds [and] began saying [that] he was a god.