36 Bible Verses about Superstition

Thus says the Lord,

“Do not learn the way of the [pagan] nations,
And do not be terrified and distressed by the signs of the heavens
Although the pagans are terrified by them;

“The wicked man writhes with pain all his days,
And numbered are the years stored up for him, the ruthless one.

“A [dreadful] sound of terrors is in his ears;
While at peace and in a time of prosperity the destroyer comes upon him [the tent of the robber is not at peace].

“He does not believe that he will return out of the darkness [for fear of being murdered],
And he is destined for the sword [of God’s vengeance].
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“He wanders about for food, saying, ‘Where is it?’
He knows that the day of darkness and destruction is already at hand.

“Distress and anxiety terrify him,
They overpower him like a king ready for battle.

“Terrors frighten him on every side
And chase at his heels.

When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately He spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I! Do not be afraid!”

But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost, and cried out [in horror]; for they all saw Him and were shaken and terrified. But He immediately spoke with them and said, “Take courage! It is I (I Am)! Stop being afraid.”

and said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist; he has been raised from the dead, and that is why the miraculous powers are at work in him.”

King Herod [Antipas] heard about this, for Jesus’ name and reputation had become well known. People were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him.”

But none of the rest [of the people, the non-believers] dared to associate with them; however, the people were holding them in high esteem and were speaking highly of them.

Now the servants of the king of Aram said to him, “Israel’s god is a god of the hills; that is why they were stronger than we. But let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they.

So they cried out with a loud voice [to get Baal’s attention] and cut themselves with swords and lances in accordance with their custom, until the blood flowed out on them.

A man of God approached and said to the king of Israel, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because the Arameans have said, “The Lord is a god of the hills, but He is not a god of the valleys,” I will give this great army into your hand, and you shall know [by experience] that I am the Lord.’”

Now as I was going along and carefully looking at your objects of worship, I came to an altar with this inscription: ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you already worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.

Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this authority and power too, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

While they were talking about this, Jesus Himself [suddenly] stood among them and said to them, “Peace be to you.” But they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a spirit.

They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, “It is his angel!”

Then some of the traveling Jewish exorcists also attempted to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I implore you and solemnly command you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches!”

But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper crawled out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand. When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, “Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, Justice [the avenging goddess] has not permitted him to live.”

And the crowds, when they saw what Paul had done, raised their voices, shouting in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” They began calling Barnabas, Zeus [chief of the Greek gods], and Paul, Hermes [messenger of the Greek gods], since he took the lead in speaking. The priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance of the city, brought bulls and garlands to the city gates, and wanted to offer sacrifices with the crowds.

Then Paul [simply] shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. But they stood watching and expecting him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But after they had waited a long time and had seen nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and began saying that he was a god.

I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. But he said to me, “Do not do that. I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets and with those who heed and remember [the truths contained in] the words of this book. Worship God.”

Then the Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; they served the Baals, the Ashtaroth (female deities), the gods of Aram (Syria), the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. They abandoned the Lord and did not serve Him. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites,

Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth (pagan goddesses) from among you and direct your hearts to the Lord and serve Him only; and He will rescue you from the hand of the Philistines.” So the Israelites removed the Baals and the Ashtaroth and served the Lord alone.

After this event, Jeroboam [still] did not turn from his evil way, but again made priests for the high places from among all the people. He ordained anyone who was willing, so that there would be priests for the high places.

“The Lord will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; and He will uproot Israel from this good land which He gave to their fathers, and He will scatter them beyond the [Euphrates] River, because they have made their Asherim, provoking the Lord to anger. He will give up Israel because of the sins of Jeroboam which he has committed, and with which he has made Israel sin [by leading them into idolatry].”

Instead he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and even made cast images for the Baals. And he burned incense in the Valley of Ben-hinnom and burned his sons [as an offering], in accordance with the repulsive acts of the [pagan] nations whom the Lord had driven out before the sons (descendants) of Israel. He also sacrificed and burned incense on the high places [of pagan worship], on the hills and under every green tree.

Instead he walked in the way of the [idolatrous] kings of Israel, and even made his son pass through the fire [as a human sacrifice], in accordance with the repulsive [and idolatrous] practices of the [pagan] nations whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites. He also sacrificed and burned incense on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

but have walked stubbornly after their [own] heart and after the Baals, as their fathers taught them,”

But rather we will certainly perform every word of the vows we have made: to burn sacrifices to the queen of heaven (Ishtar) and to pour out drink offerings to her, just as we ourselves and our forefathers, our kings and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for [then] we had plenty of food and were prosperous and saw no misfortune. But since we stopped burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.”

The more they [the prophets] called them [to repentance and obedience],
The more they went away from them;
They kept sacrificing to the Baals
And burning incense to the carved images.

As I urged you when I was on my way to Macedonia, stay on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain individuals not to teach any different doctrines, nor to pay attention to legends (fables, myths) and endless genealogies, which give rise to useless speculation and meaningless arguments rather than advancing God’s program of instruction which is grounded in faith [and requires surrendering the entire self to God in absolute trust and confidence].

“I have spread out My hands all the day long to a rebellious and stubborn people,
Who walk in the way that is not good, [following] after their own thoughts and intentions,

The people who continually provoke Me to My face,
Sacrificing [to idols] in gardens and making offerings with incense on bricks [instead of at the designated altar];

“Those who [vainly attempt to] sanctify and cleanse themselves to go to the gardens [to sacrifice to idols],
Following after one in the center,
Who eat swine’s flesh, detestable things and mice,
Will come to an end together,” says the Lord. “For I know their works and their thoughts. The time is coming to gather all nations and languages, and they will come and see My glory.

“Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy from their own inspiration, ‘Hear the word of the Lord!

If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine and teaching which is in agreement with godliness (personal integrity, upright behavior), he is conceited and woefully ignorant [understanding nothing]. He has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, which produces envy, quarrels, verbal abuse, evil suspicions,

But the [Holy] Spirit explicitly and unmistakably declares that in later times some will turn away from the faith, paying attention instead to deceitful and seductive spirits and doctrines of demons,

The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent even then of the works of their hands, so as to cease worshiping and paying homage to the demons and the idols of gold and of silver and of bronze and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries (drugs, intoxications) nor of their [sexual] immorality nor of their thefts.