19 Bible Verses about Calf worship

And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people collected together to Aaron, and said to him, Up, make us a god, who will go before us; for this Moses, the man that has brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what is become of him! And Aaron said to them, Break off the golden rings that are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to me. Then all the people broke off the golden rings that were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.read more.
And he took them out of their hand, and fashioned it with a chisel and made of it a molten calf: and they said, This is thy god, Israel, who has brought thee up out of the land of Egypt!

Then Jehovah said to Moses, Away, go down! for thy people, which thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, is acting corruptly. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them: they have made themselves a molten calf, and have bowed down to it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, This is thy god, Israel, who has brought thee up out of the land of Egypt!

They made a calf in Horeb, and did homage to a molten image; And they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass. They forgot God their Saviour, who had done great things in Egypt,read more.
Wondrous works in the land of Ham, terrible things by the Red Sea.

And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.

And it came to pass, when he came near the camp, and saw the calf and the dancing, that Moses' anger burned, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and shattered them beneath the mountain. And he took the calf that they had made, and burned it with fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it on the water, and made the children of Israel drink it.

And Jehovah smote the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron had made.

And I saw, and behold, ye had sinned against Jehovah your God: ye had made for yourselves a molten calf; ye had quickly turned aside from the way which Jehovah had commanded you. And I seized the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes. And I fell down before Jehovah, as at the first, forty days and forty nights, I ate no bread and drank no water, because of all your sin which ye had sinned, in doing what is evil in the eyes of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger.read more.
For I was afraid of the anger and fury wherewith Jehovah was wroth against you to destroy you. And Jehovah listened unto me also at that time. And with Aaron Jehovah was very angry to destroy him; and I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burned it with fire, and crushed it, and ground it very small, until it became fine dust; and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that flowed down from the mountain.

And he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses, his chosen, stood before him in the breach, to turn away his fury, lest he should destroy them.

And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David. If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem, the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me, and return to Rehoboam king of Judah. And the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold. And he said to them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt!read more.
And he set the one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. And this thing became a sin; and the people went to worship before the one, as far as Dan.

And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant which he had made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he had testified unto them; and they followed vanity and became vain, and went after the nations that were round about them, concerning whom Jehovah had charged them that they should not do like them. And they forsook all the commandments of Jehovah their God, and made them molten images, two calves, and made an Asherah, and worshipped all the host of the heavens, and served Baal;

for the Levites left their suburbs and their possessions, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from exercising the priesthood to Jehovah; and he ordained for himself priests for the high places, and for the he-goats and for the calves that he had made.

And now ye think to shew yourselves strong against the kingdom of Jehovah in the hand of the sons of David; and ye are a great multitude, and ye have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made you for gods.

Therefore Jehovah was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there remained but the tribe of Judah only. Also Judah kept not the commandments of Jehovah their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they had made. And Jehovah 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.read more.
For Israel had rent the kingdom from the house of David; and they had made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king; and Jeroboam violently turned Israel from following Jehovah, and made them sin a great sin. And the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they did not depart from them: until Jehovah had removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said through all his servants the prophets; and Israel was carried away out of their own land to Assyria, unto this day. And the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Avva, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and made them dwell in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in its cities. And so it was, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not Jehovah; and Jehovah sent lions among them, which killed some of them. And they spoke to the king of Assyria saying, The nations that thou hast removed and made to dwell in the cities of Samaria know not the manner of the god of the land; therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the god of the land. And the king of Assyria commanded saying, Carry thither one of the priests whom ye have brought away from thence; and let them go and abide there, and let him teach them the manner of the god of the land. Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and abode in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear Jehovah.

They have set up kings, but not by me; they have made princes, and I knew it not; of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off. Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off; mine anger is kindled against them: how long will they be incapable of purity? For from Israel is this also: a workman made it, and itis no God: for the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.read more.
For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk; should it sprout, it would yield no meal; if so be it yield, strangers shall swallow it up. Israel is swallowed up: now are they become among the nations as a vessel wherein is no pleasure. For they are gone up to Assyria as a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.

The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calf of Beth-aven; for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the idolatrous priests thereof shall tremble for it, for its glory, because it is departed from it. Yea, it shall be carried unto Assyria as a present for king Jareb: Ephraim shall be seized with shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.

The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire; thou shalt not covet the silver and gold that is on them and take it unto thee, lest thou be ensnared therein; for it is an abomination to Jehovah thy God.

They that form a graven image are all of them vanity, and their delectable things are of no profit; and they are their own witnesses: they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed. Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed; and the workmen are but men. Let them all be gathered together, let them stand up: they shall fear, they shall be ashamed together.read more.
The iron-smith hath a chisel, and he worketh in the coals, and he fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with his strong arm; but he is hungry, and his strength faileth; he hath not drunk water, and he is faint. The worker in wood stretcheth out a line; he marketh it out with red chalk; he formeth it with sharp tools, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of man: that it may remain in the house. When he heweth him down cedars, he taketh also a holm-oak and a terebinth he chooseth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth a pine, and the rain maketh it grow. And it shall be for a man to burn, and he taketh thereof, and warmeth himself; he kindleth it also, and baketh bread; he maketh also a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto. He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh, he roasteth roast, and is satisfied; yea, he is warm, and saith, Aha, I am become warm, I have seen the fire. And with the remainder thereof he maketh a god, his graven image; he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me, for thou art my god. They have no knowledge, and understand not; for he hath plastered their eyes, that they may not see; and their hearts, that they may not understand. And none taketh it to heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire, and have also baked bread upon the coals thereof, I have roasted flesh, and eaten it, and with the rest thereof shall I make an abomination? shall I bow down to a block of wood? He feedeth on ashes; a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?

They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance; they hire a goldsmith, and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship. They bear him on the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place; there he standeth, he doth not remove from his place: yea, one crieth unto him, and he answereth not; he saveth him not out of his trouble.

Because, knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but fell into folly in their thoughts, and their heart without understanding was darkened: professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of an image of corruptible man and of birds and quadrupeds and reptiles.