'Detestable' in the Bible

But Moses said, “It would not be right to do that, because what we will sacrifice to the Lord our God is detestable to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice what the Egyptians detest in front of them, won’t they stone us?

If someone touches anything unclean, whether human uncleanness, an unclean animal, or any unclean, detestable creature, and eats meat from the Lord’s fellowship sacrifice, that person must be cut off from his people.”

But these are to be detestable to you: everything in the seas or streams that does not have fins and scales among all the swarming things and other living creatures in the water.

They are to remain detestable to you; you must not eat any of their meat, and you must detest their carcasses.

Everything in the water that does not have fins and scales will be detestable to you.

“You are to detest these birds. They must not be eaten because they are detestable:the eagle, the bearded vulture,the black vulture,

“All winged insects that walk on all fours are to be detestable to you.

All other winged insects that have four feet are to be detestable to you.

“All the creatures that swarm on the earth are detestable; they must not be eaten.

Do not eat any of the creatures that swarm on the earth, anything that moves on its belly or walks on all fours or on many feet, for they are detestable.

You are not to sleep with a man as with a woman; it is detestable.

You must keep My instruction to not do any of the detestable customs that were practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them; I am Yahweh your God.”

Therefore you must distinguish the clean animal from the unclean one, and the unclean bird from the clean one. Do not become contaminated by any land animal, bird, or whatever crawls on the ground; I have set these apart as unclean for you.

You must not do the same to the Lord your God, because they practice every detestable thing, which the Lord hates, for their gods. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.

you are to inquire, investigate, and interrogate thoroughly. If the report turns out to be true that this detestable thing has happened among you,

“You must not eat any detestable thing.

“You must not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or sheep with a defect or any serious flaw, for that is detestable to the Lord your God.

and if you are told or hear about it, you must investigate it thoroughly. If the report turns out to be true that this detestable thing has happened in Israel,

“When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable customs of those nations.

Everyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord, and the Lord your God is driving out the nations before you because of these detestable things.

so that they won’t teach you to do all the detestable things they do for their gods, and you sin against the Lord your God.

“A woman is not to wear male clothing, and a man is not to put on a woman’s garment, for everyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord your God.

Do not bring a female prostitute’s wages or a male prostitute’s earnings into the house of the Lord your God to fulfill any vow, because both are detestable to the Lord your God.

the first husband who sent her away may not marry her again after she has been defiled, because that would be detestable to the Lord. You must not bring guilt on the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

For everyone who does such things and acts unfairly is detestable to the Lord your God.

‘The person who makes a carved idol or cast image, which is detestable to the Lord, the work of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret is cursed.’And all the people will reply, ‘Amen!’

You saw their detestable images and idols made of wood, stone, silver, and gold, which were among them.

They provoked His jealousy with foreign gods;they enraged Him with detestable practices.

So Achish trusted David, thinking, “Since he has made himself detestable to his people Israel, he will be my servant forever.”

Solomon followed Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom, the detestable idol of the Ammonites.

At that time, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the detestable idol of Moab, and for Milcom, the detestable idol of the Ammonites, on the hill across from Jerusalem.

He committed the most detestable acts by going after idols as the Amorites had, whom the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites.

The king also defiled the high places that were across from Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Destruction, which King Solomon of Israel had built for Ashtoreth, the detestable idol of the Sidonians; for Chemosh, the detestable idol of Moab; and for Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites.

In addition, Josiah removed the mediums, the spiritists, household idols, images, and all the detestable things that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. He did this in order to carry out the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the Lord’s temple.

But he did not include Levi and Benjamin in the count because the king’s command was detestable to him.

When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage and removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He renovated the altar of the Lord that was in front of the portico of the Lord’s temple.

He burned incense in the Valley of Hinnom and burned his children in the fire, imitating the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites.

He said to them, “Hear me, Levites. Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of Yahweh, the God of your ancestors. Remove everything impure from the holy place.

The priests went to the entrance of the Lord’s temple to cleanse it. They took all the unclean things they found in the Lord’s sanctuary to the courtyard of the Lord’s temple. Then the Levites received them and took them outside to the Kidron Valley.

He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, imitating the detestable practices of the nations that the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites.

So Josiah removed everything that was detestable from all the lands belonging to the Israelites, and he required all who were present in Israel to serve the Lord their God. Throughout his reign they did not turn aside from following Yahweh, the God of their ancestors.

The rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim, the detestable things he did, and what was found against him, are written in the Book of Israel’s Kings. His son Jehoiachin became king in his place.

All the leaders of the priests and the people multiplied their unfaithful deeds, imitating all the detestable practices of the nations, and they defiled the Lord’s temple that He had consecrated in Jerusalem.

After these things had been done, the leaders approached me and said: “The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the surrounding peoples whose detestable practices are like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites.

You gave through Your servants the prophets, saying: “The land you are entering to possess is an impure land. The surrounding peoples have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness by their impurity and detestable practices.

should we break Your commands again and intermarry with the peoples who commit these detestable practices? Wouldn’t You become so angry with us that You would destroy us, leaving no survivors?

for the devious are detestable to the Lord,but He is a friend to the upright.

The Lord hates six things;in fact, seven are detestable to Him:

For my mouth tells the truth,and wickedness is detestable to my lips.

Dishonest scales are detestable to the Lord,but an accurate weight is His delight.

Those with twisted minds are detestable to the Lord,but those with blameless conduct are His delight.

Lying lips are detestable to the Lord,but faithful people are His delight.

The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the Lord,but the prayer of the upright is His delight.

Everyone with a proud heart is detestable to the Lord;be assured, he will not go unpunished.

Wicked behavior is detestable to kings,since a throne is established through righteousness.

Acquitting the guilty and condemning the just—both are detestable to the Lord.

Differing weights and varying measures—both are detestable to the Lord.

Differing weights are detestable to the Lord,and dishonest scales are unfair.

The sacrifice of a wicked person is detestable—how much more sowhen he brings it with ulterior motives!

A foolish scheme is sin,and a mocker is detestable to people.

Anyone who turns his ear away from hearing the law—even his prayer is detestable.

An unjust man is detestable to the righteous,and one whose way is uprightis detestable to the wicked.

Look, you are nothingand your work is worthless.Anyone who chooses you is detestable.

No one reflects,no one has the perception or insight to say,“I burned half of it in the fire,I also baked bread on its coals,I roasted meat and ate.I will make something detestable with the rest of it,and I will bow down to a block of wood.”

I brought you to a fertile landto eat its fruit and bounty,but after you entered, you defiled My land;you made My inheritance detestable.

If you return, Israel—this is the Lord’s declaration—you will return to Me,if you remove your detestable idolsfrom My presenceand do not waver,

Then do you come and stand before Me in this house called by My name and say, ‘We are delivered, so we can continue doing all these detestable acts’?

“For the Judeans have done what is evil in My sight.” This is the Lord’s declaration. “They have set up their detestable things in the house that is called by My name and defiled it.

Your adulteries and your lustful neighing,your heinous prostitutionon the hills, in the fields—I have seen your detestable acts.Woe to you, Jerusalem!You are unclean—for how long yet?

I will first repay them double for their guilt and sin because they have polluted My land. They have filled My inheritance with the lifelessness of their detestable and abhorrent idols.”

They have placed their detestable things in the house that is called by My name and have defiled it.

They have built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Hinnom to make their sons and daughters pass through the fire to Molech—something I had not commanded them. I had never entertained the thought that they do this detestable act causing Judah to sin!

So I sent you all My servants the prophets time and time again, saying: Don’t do this detestable thing that I hate.

The Lord can no longer bear your evil deeds and the detestable acts you have committed, so your land has become a waste, a desolation, and an object of cursing, without inhabitant, as you see today.

“Therefore, as I live”—this is the declaration of the Lord God—“I am going to cut you off and show you no pity, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable practices and abominations. Yes, I will not spare you.

He appointed His beautiful ornaments for majesty,but they made their abhorrent images from them,their detestable things.Therefore, I have made theseinto something filthy for them.

I went in and looked, and there engraved all around the wall was every form of detestable thing, crawling creatures and beasts, as well as all the idols of the house of Israel.

“When they arrive there, they will remove all its detestable things and practices from it.

But as for those whose hearts pursue their desire for detestable things and practices, I will bring their actions down on their own heads.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

This is what the Lord God says: Because your lust was poured out and your nakedness exposed by your acts of prostitution with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols and the blood of your children that you gave to them,

They were haughty and did detestable things before Me, so I removed them when I saw this.

I also said to them: Each of you must throw away the detestable things that are before your eyes and not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.

“But they rebelled against Me and were unwilling to listen to Me. None of them threw away the detestable things that were before their eyes, and they did not forsake the idols of Egypt. So I considered pouring out My wrath on them, exhausting My anger against them within the land of Egypt.

“Therefore say to the house of Israel: This is what the Lord God says: Are you defiling yourselves the way your fathers did, and prostituting yourselves with their detestable things?

They will not defile themselves anymore with their idols, their detestable things, and all their transgressions. I will save them from all their apostasies by which they sinned, and I will cleanse them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God.

I discovered Israellike grapes in the wilderness.I saw your fatherslike the first fruit of the fig tree in its first season.But they went to Baal-peor,consecrated themselves to Shame,and became detestable,like the thing they loved.

I will remove the blood from their mouthsand the detestable thingsfrom between their teeth.Then they too will become a remnant for our God;they will become like a clan in Judahand Ekron like the Jebusites.

Judah has acted treacherously, and a detestable thing has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the Lord’s sanctuary, which He loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.

They profess to know God, but they deny Him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, and disqualified for any good work.