26 Bible Verses about False Worship
Most Relevant Verses
And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each of them took his censer, and put fire in it, and laid incense on it, and offered strange fire before LORD, which he had not commanded them. And there came forth fire from before LORD, and devoured them, and they died before LORD.
And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the first-born, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests who were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest's office. And Nadab and Abihu died before LORD when they offered strange fire before LORD in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no sons. And Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest's office in the presence of Aaron their father.
And Samuel said to Saul, LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel. Now therefore hearken thou to the voice of the words of LORD. Thus says LORD of hosts, I have remembered that which Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way when he came up out of Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not, but kill both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.read more.
And Saul summoned the people, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah. And Saul came to the city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley. And Saul said to the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them, for ye showed kindness to all the sons of Israel when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the And Saul smote the Amalekites, from Havilah as thou go to Shur, that is before Egypt. And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. But everything that was vile and refuse, that they dest Then the word of LORD came to Samuel, saying, I regret that I have set up Saul to be king, for he has turned back from following me, and has not performed my commandments. And Samuel was angry, and he cried out to LORD all night. And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, and it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set up for him a monument, and turned, and passed on, and went down to Gilgal. And Samuel came to Saul. And Saul said to him, Blessed be thou of LORD. I have performed the commandment of LORD. And Samuel said, What then means this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to LORD thy God, and the rest we have utterly destroyed. Then Samuel said to Saul, Stop, and I will tell thee what LORD has said to me this night. And he said to him, Say on. And Samuel said, Though thou were little in thine own sight, were thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel? And LORD anointed thee king over Israel. And LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. Why then did thou not obey the voice of LORD, but did fly upon the spoil, and did that which was evil in the sight of LORD? And Saul said to Samuel, Yes, I have obeyed the voice of LORD, and have gone the way which LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice to LORD thy God in Gilgal. And Samuel said, Has LORD as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because thou have rejected the word of LORD, he has also rejected thee from being king.
They feared LORD, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.
And Samuel said, What have thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines assembled themselves together at Michmash, therefore I said, Now the Philistines will come down upon me to Gilgal, and I have not entreated the favor of LORD. I forced myself therefore, and offered the burnt-offering. And Samuel said to Saul, Thou have done foolishly. Thou have not kept the commandment of LORD thy God, which he commanded thee. For now LORD would have established thy kingdom upon Israel forever,read more.
but now thy kingdom shall not continue. LORD has sought for him a man after his own heart, and LORD has appointed him to be prince over his people, because thou have not kept that which LORD commanded thee.
Then Uzziah was angry. And he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priests, the leprosy broke forth in his forehead before the priests in the house of LORD, beside the altar of incense. And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead. And they thrust him out quickly from there. Yea, he himself also hastened to go out, because LORD had smitten him.
And LORD said, Inasmuch as this people draw near [me] with their mouth, and honor me with their lips, but have removed their heart far from me, {but in vain they worship me (LXX/NT)}, {teaching the commandments and doctrines of men
This people comes near me with their mouth, and honors me with their lips, but their heart is far distant from me. And in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.
And having answered, he said to them, Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far distant from me. But in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.
Which having, are indeed a matter of wisdom in will-worship, and self-mortification, and austerity of the body--not in any value against indulgence of the flesh.
And when thou pray, thou shall not be as the hypocrites, because they love to pray having stood in the synagogues and in the corners of the thoroughfares, so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward.
Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, and the other a tax collector. Having stood by himself, the Pharisee prayed these things: God, I thank thee that I am not as the rest of men, predatory, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice per Sabbath. I tithe all things, as many as I acquire.read more.
But the tax collector, having stood from afar, would not even lift his eyes to the sky, but beat upon his breast, saying, God, be thou merciful to me a sinful man. I say to you, this man went down to his house justified rather than that man. Because every man who lifts himself up will be made lower, and he who makes himself lower will be lifted up.
Ye worship what ye do not know. We worship what we know, because salvation is from the Jews.
And having stood in the middle of the Areopagus, Paul said, Athenian men, I perceive you as deity-fearing in all things. For, passing through and examining your religious objects, I also found an altar on which had been engraved, TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye worship unknowingly, him I proclaim to you.
And thou shall love LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
And Jesus said to him, Thou shall love Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind.
and thou shall love Lord thy God from thy whole heart, and from thy whole soul, and from thy whole mind, and from thy whole strength. This is the first commandment.
And having answered, he said, Thou shall love Lord thy God from thy whole heart, and from thy whole soul, and from thy whole strength, and from thy whole mind, and thy neighbor as thyself.
And the king said to Araunah, No, but I will truly buy it from thee at a price. Neither will I offer burnt-offerings to LORD my God which cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing-floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver
And having sat down opposite the treasury, Jesus watched how the multitude cast money into the treasury, and many rich men cast in much. And one poor widow having come, she cast in two mites, which are a quadrans. And having summoned his disciples, he says to them, Truly I say to you, that this poor widow cast in more than all those who are casting into the treasury.read more.
For they all cast in from that which is abundant to them, but she from her need cast in all, as many things she had, her whole living.
I beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, your reasonable service.
But an hour comes, and now is, when the TRUE worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for also the Father seeks such kind who worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.
But when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name. Yea, they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall stand in awe of the God of Israel.
For we are the circumcision, men who worship in spirit to God, and who boast in Christ Jesus, and not being confident in flesh.
And similarly, the women to adorn themselves in disciplined decorum, with reverence and sobriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive apparel,
Therefore, receiving an immovable kingdom, we may have grace, through which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and awe.
Bible Theasaurus
From Thematic Bible
false Worship » Other objects of worship » Heavenly bodies
And he brought me into the inner court of LORD's house. And, behold, at the door of the temple of LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of LORD, and their faces toward
And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, shall be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense to all the host of heaven, and have poured out dr
For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed. And he reared up altars for Baal, and made an Asherah, as did Ahab king of Israel, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.
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 shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, which they have loved, and which they have served, and after which they have walked, and which they have sought, and which they have worshipped. T
false Worship » Idolatry » Forbidden
Ye shall burn the graven images of their gods with fire. Thou shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it to thee, lest thou be snared by it, for it is an abomination to LORD thy God.
Then Jacob said to his household, and to all who were with him, Put away the foreign gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your garments.
Ye shall make for you no idols. Neither shall ye rear up for you a graven image, or a pillar. Neither shall ye place any figured stone in your land, to bow down to it. For I am LORD your God.
Thou shall not make to thee a graven image, nor any likeness [of anything] that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
false Worship » False gods and Goddesses » General references to
They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
Ye know that, while Gentiles, ye were being carried away to the voiceless idols, as ye were led.
Has a nation changed [its] gods, which yet are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.
For all the gods of the peoples are idols. But LORD made the heavens.
Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall go and cry to the gods to which they offer incense, but they will not save them at all in the time of their trouble.
false Worship » Other objects of worship » Devils worshipped
And the rest of the men who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so that they would not worship the demons, and the golden and silver and brass and stone and wooden idols, which can neither
And he appointed priests for him for the high places, and for the he-goats, and for the calves which he had made.
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.
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.
false Worship » Idols characterized, as » Vanity of
A drought is upon her waters, and they shall be dried up. For it is a land of graven images, and they are mad over idols.
but have lifted up thyself against LORD of heaven. And they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou and thy lords, thy wives and thy concubines, have drunk wine from them. And thou have praised the gods of silve
Being therefore offspring of God, we ought not think the Divine to be like gold, or silver, or stone handiwork of the skill and thought of man.
They are vanity, a work of delusion. In the time of their visitation they shall perish.
What profits the graven image, that the maker of it has engraved it, the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he who fashions its form trusts in it, to make dumb idols?
false Worship » Brazen serpent places devoted to idolatry » Idolatrous temples
And LORD gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God. And he carried them into the land of Shinar to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into the treasure-house of his god.
And he made houses of high places, and made priests from among all the people who were not of the sons of Levi.
And not only is this our part liable to come into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Artemis is going to be regarded for nothing, and also her magnificence be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship.
And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.
In this thing LORD pardon thy servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, LORD pardon thy serva
false Worship » Other objects of worship » The golden calves of jeroboam, set up in dan and bethel
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.
The inhabitants of Samaria shall be in terror for the calves of Beth-aven. For the people of it shall mourn over it, and the priests of it, who rejoiced over it for the glory of it, because it has departed from it.
However from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin, Jehu did not depart from after them, [namely], the golden calves that were in Bethel, and that were in Dan.
And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of LORD in the hand of the sons of David, and ye are a great multitude, and there are with you the golden calves which Jeroboam made you for gods.
And he appointed priests for him for the high places, and for the he-goats, and for the calves which he had made.
false Worship » gods, false » Images » Names of » Ashtaroth
And the sons of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of LORD, and served the Baalim, and the Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Sidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the sons of Ammon, and the god
And the king defiled the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh th
because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the sons of Ammon. And they have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in my
And Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return to LORD with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, and direct your hearts to LORD, and serve him only. And he will deli
false Worship » Other objects of worship » Teraphim, images, household gods
And Michal took the teraphim, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats' [hair] at the head of it, and covered it with the clothes.
Now Rachel had taken the teraphim, and put them in the camel's saddle, and sat upon them. And Laban felt around all the tent, but did not find them.
Now Laban was gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole the teraphim that were her father's.
And the man Micah had a house of gods, and he made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
Then the five men who went to spy out the country of Laish, answered and said to their brothers, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? Now therefore consider what y
false Worship » Brazen serpent places devoted to idolatry » Idolatrous altars
And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.
And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped about the alt
Therefore by this the iniquity of Jacob shall be forgiven. And this is all the fruit of taking away his sin: that he makes all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten apart, [so that] the Asherim and the sun-images s
a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens, and burning incense upon bricks,
Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning, altars have been to him for sinning.
false Worship » gods, false » Images » Names of » Baal-peor
And Israel joined himself to Baal-peor, and the anger of LORD was kindled against Israel.
Your eyes have seen what LORD did because of Baal-peor. For all the men who followed Baal-peor, LORD thy God has destroyed them from the midst of thee.
They also joined themselves to Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.
I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers as the first ripe in the fig tree at its first season. But they came to Baal-peor, and consecrated themselves to the shameful thing, and became abominable like that w
Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although there came a plague upon the congregation of LORD,
false Worship » Other objects of worship » The golden calf made by aaron
And he received it at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made it a molten calf. And they said, These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
And I looked, and, behold, ye had sinned against LORD your God. Ye had made you a molten calf. Ye had turned aside quickly out of the way which LORD had commanded you.
Yea, when they had made a molten calf for them, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations,
And they made a calf in those days, and offered up sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands.
false Worship » gods, false » Images » Names of » Molech, moloch, or milcom, a God of the ammonites
And thou shall not give any of thy seed to make them pass through [the fire] to Molech, neither shall thou profane the name of thy God. I am LORD.
And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through [the fire] to Molech, which I did not command them, nor did it come into my mind, that th
Yea, ye have borne the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god {Remphan (LXX/NT)}, your images which ye made to yourselves.
And ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, the images that ye made to worship them. And I will deport you beyond Babylon.
And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the sons of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.
false Worship » Idolatry » Prophecies concerning the overthrow of
In that day men shall cast away their idols of silver, and their idols of gold, which have been made for them to worship, to the moles and to the bats,
And it shall come to pass in that day, says LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered. And I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of t
And they shall not look to the altars, the work of their hands, nor shall they have respect for that which their fingers have made, either the Asherim, or the sun-images.
Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will execute judgment upon the graven images of Babylon. And her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
And I will cut off thy graven images and thy pillars out of the midst of thee, and thou shall no more worship the work of thy hands.
false Worship » gods, false » Images » Names of » Chemosh
And the king defiled the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh th
For, because thou have trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou also shall be taken. And Chemosh shall go forth into captivity, his priests and his rulers together.
Will thou not possess that which Chemosh thy god gives thee to possess? So whomever LORD our God has dispossessed from before us, them will we possess.
Woe to thee, Moab! Thou are undone, O people of Chemosh. He has given his sons as fugitives, and his daughters into captivity, to Sihon king of the Amorites.
false Worship » Idols characterized, as » Degrading
Professing to be wise, they became foolish, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image like corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed things, and creeping things.
Ye know that, while Gentiles, ye were being carried away to the voiceless idols, as ye were led.
Therefore about eating the things sacrificed to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God except one.
false Worship » gods, false » Images » Names of » Dagon
And the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice, for they said, Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.
And they put his armor in the house of their gods, and fastened his head in the house of Dagon.
false Worship » Idols characterized, as » Helpless
Assemble yourselves and come, draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations. They have no knowledge that carry the wood of their graven image, and pray to a god that cannot save.
They are like a palm tree, of turned work, and do not speak. They must be carried, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, nor is it in them to do good.
And saying these things, they scarcely restrained the multitudes not to sacrifice to them.
false Worship » gods, false » Images » Names of » Diana
For a certain silversmith named Demetrius who makes silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little work to the craftsmen,
And when the town clerk calmed the multitude, he says, Ephesian men, now who is the man who does not know the city of the Ephesians being temple-guardian of the great goddess Artemis, and of what fell from Zeus?
And when they heard this, having become full of wrath, they cried out, saying, The great Artemis of Ephesians.
false Worship » Other objects of worship » Men deified and worshipped
And the multitudes who saw what Paul did, lifted up their voice, speaking Lycaonian, The gods came down to us, having become like men.
But they expected he was going to swell up, or suddenly fall down dead, but when they were long expecting, and seeing nothing amiss happening to him, thinking differently, they declared him to be a god.
false Worship » Idols characterized, as » Insentiate
And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
false Worship » Idols characterized, as » Perishable
He who is too impoverished for [such] an oblation chooses a tree that will not rot. He seeks for him a skilful workman to set up a graven image that shall not be moved.
false Worship » Idols characterized, as » Unworthy of worship of intelligent beings
Being therefore offspring of God, we ought not think the Divine to be like gold, or silver, or stone handiwork of the skill and thought of man.
Never miss a post