7 Bible Verses about Apostasy, Ot Examples

"If a prophet stands up in your midst or a dreamer of dreams and he gives to you a sign or wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes [about] that he spoke to you, {saying}, 'Let us go after other gods (those whom you have not known), and let us serve them,' you must not listen to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer, for Yahweh your God {is testing you to know whether you love} Yahweh your God with all of your heart and with all [of] your inner self.read more.
You shall go after Yahweh your God, and him you shall revere, and his commandment you shall keep, and to his voice you shall listen, and him you shall serve, and to him you shall hold fast. But that prophet or the dreamer of that dream shall be executed, for he spoke falsely about Yahweh your God, the [one] bringing you out from the land of Egypt and the [one] redeeming you from the house of slavery, in order to seduce you from the way that Yahweh your God commanded you to go in it; so [in this way] you shall purge the evil from your midst. "If your brother, the son of your mother or your son or your daughter {or your wife whom you embrace} or {your intimate friend} in secrecy {says}, 'Let us go and let us serve other gods!' [gods] that you and your ancestors have not known, from [among] the gods of the people who are around you, {those near you or those far from you}, from [one] end of the earth and up to the [other] end of the earth, you must not give in to him, and you shall not listen to him, and your eye shall not take pity on him, and you shall not have compassion, and you shall not cover [up] for him. But you shall certainly kill him; your hand shall be first against him to kill him and next the hand of all [of] the people. And you shall stone him with stones and let him die, for he tried to seduce you from Yahweh your God, the [one] bringing you from [the] land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. And all [of] Israel shall hear, and they shall fear, and {they shall not continue to act} according to this evil thing in your midst.

Now the Spirit of Yahweh departed from Saul and an evil spirit from Yahweh tormented him.

But my loyal love shall not depart from him as I took [it] from Saul, whom I removed from before you.

But on account of his strength his heart grew proud unto destruction. And he acted unfaithfully against Yahweh his God and went into the temple of Yahweh to offer an incense offering on the altar. And Azariah the priest, along with eighty strong priests with him, went in after him. And they stood against King Uzziah and said to him, "It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to Yahweh, but [it is] for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have acted unfaithfully. There will be no honor for you from Yahweh God."read more.
Then Uzziah, his censer in hand to burn incense, became angry. And when he became angry with the priests, then leprosy appeared on his forehead in front of the priests in the house of Yahweh at the altar of incense. When Azariah the chief priest and all the priests turned to him, behold, he [was] leprous in the forehead. So they rushed him away from there, and he also hastened to go out, for Yahweh had smitten him. So King Uzziah was leprous until the day of his death, and he lived in a separate house as a leper, for he was cut off from the house of Yahweh. And Jotham his son [was] over the house of the king, judging the people of the land.

For Yahweh subdued Judah for the sake of Ahaz, king of Israel, for he created disorder in Judah and acted unfaithfully against Yahweh. Then Tiglath-Pileser the king of Assyria came against him and brought trouble for him, {instead of helping him}, for Ahaz took a portion [from] the house of Yahweh and the house of the king and the princes, and he gave [it] to the king of Assyria, but it was no help to him.read more.
And in the time of his distress, King Ahaz continued to act unfaithfully against Yahweh. He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him and said, "Because the gods of the king of Aram helped them, I will sacrifice to them so that they will help me." But they were {a disaster} to him and to all Israel. Then Ahaz gathered the objects of the house of God, and he cut the objects of the house of God to pieces. And he shut the doors of the house of Yahweh and made for himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem. And {in every city} of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods, and he provoked Yahweh, the God of his ancestors, to anger. Now the remainder of his words and all his ways, [from] the first [to] the last, behold, they are written upon the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel. And Ahaz slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, for they did not bring him to the burial site of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son became king in his place.

And the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, and the people gathered opposite Aaron, and they said to him, "Come, make for us gods who will go before us, because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." And Aaron said to them, "Take off the rings of gold that [are] on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring [it] to me." And all the people took off the rings of gold that [were] on their ears and brought [it] to Aaron.read more.
And he took from their hand, and he shaped it with a tool, and he made it a cast-image bull calf, and they said, "These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt." And Aaron saw, and he built an altar before it, and Aaron called, and he said, "A feast for Yahweh tomorrow." And they started early the next day, and they offered burnt offerings, and they presented fellowship offerings, and the people sat to eat and drink, and they rose up to revel. And Yahweh spoke to Moses, "Go, go down because your people behave corruptly, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt. They have turned aside quickly from the way that I commanded them; they have made for themselves a cast-image bull calf, and they bowed to it, and they sacrificed to it, and they said, 'These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.'" And Yahweh said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and, indeed, they [are] a stiff-necked people. And now leave me [alone] so that {my anger may blaze} against them, and let me destroy them, and I will make you into a great nation." And Moses {implored Yahweh} his God, and he said, "Why, Yahweh, should {your anger blaze} against your people whom you brought up from the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand? Why should [the] Egyptians {say}, 'With evil [intent] he brought them out to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth'? Turn from {your fierce anger} and relent concerning the disaster for your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by yourself, and you told them, 'I will multiply your offspring like the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I promised I will give to your offspring, and they will inherit [it] forever.'" And Yahweh relented concerning the disaster that he had {threatened} to do to his people. And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the testimony [were] in his hand, tablets written on their two sides; {on the front and on the back} they were written. And the tablets, they [were] the work of God; and the writing, it [was] the writing of God engraved on the tablets. And Joshua heard the sound of the people in their shouting, and he said to Moses, "A sound of war [is] in the camp." But he said, "There is not a sound of shouting of victory, and there is not a sound of shouting of defeat. I hear a sound of singing." {And} as he came near to the camp, he saw the bull calf and dancing, and {Moses became angry}, and he threw the tablets from his hand, and he broke them under the mountain. And he took the bull calf that they had made, and he burned [it] with the fire, and he crushed [it] until it became fine, and he scattered [it] on the surface of the water, and he made the {Israelites} drink. And Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you that you brought on them [such] a great sin?" And Aaron said, "{Let not my lord become angry}. You yourself know the people, that {they are intent on evil}. And they said to me, 'Make for us gods who will go before us, because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.' And I said to them, 'Whoever [has] gold, take [it] off.' And they gave [it] to me, and I threw it in the fire, and out came this bull calf." And Moses saw the people, that they [were] running wild because Aaron had allowed them to run wild, for a laughingstock among {their enemies}. And Moses stood at the entrance of the camp, and he said, "Whoever [is] for Yahweh, to me." And all the sons of Levi were gathered to him. And he said to them, "Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, 'Put each his sword on his side. Go {back and forth} from gate to gate in the camp, and kill, each his brother and each his friend and each his close relative.'" And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and from the people on that day about three thousand persons fell. And Moses said, "{You are ordained} today for Yahweh, because each [has been] against his son and against his brother and so bringing on you today a blessing." {And} the next day Moses said to the people, "You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to Yahweh. Perhaps I can make atonement for your sin." And Moses returned to Yahweh, and he said, "Alas, this people has sinned a great sin and made for themselves gods of gold. And now if you will forgive their sin--and if not, please blot me from your scroll that you have written." And Yahweh said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me I will blot him from my scroll. And now go, lead the people to where I spoke to you. Look, my angel will go before you, and on the day [when] I punish I will punish them [for] their sin." And Yahweh afflicted the people because they had made the bull calf that Aaron had made.

"I regret that I made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not kept my word." {Samuel became angry}, and he cried out to Yahweh all night.