'Idolatry' in the Bible

For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

because of all the sins that Baasha and his son Elah had committed and because of what they did to lead Israel into sin, thus provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their idolatry.

He lived just like Nebat's son Jeroboam, and by his sin he led Israel into sin, provoking the LORD God of Israel with their idolatry.

His behavior in pursuing idolatry was detestable, just like the Amorites had done whom the LORD had expelled in front of the army of Israel.

When Jehoram saw Jehu, he asked, "Is everything all right, Jehu?" He replied, "How can everything be all right as long as your mother Jezebel promotes idolatry and pagan practices?"

Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second rank and the doorkeepers to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal, for [the goddess] Asherah, and for all the [starry] host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel [where Israel’s idolatry began].

Only the high places [for pagan sacrifices] were not removed, for the people had not yet set their hearts firmly on the God of their fathers.

Now when all of this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah, and smashed the [pagan] pillars (obelisks, memorial stones) in pieces, cut down the Asherim (wooden symbols of a female deity), and tore down the high places and the altars [of idolatry] throughout all Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the sons (descendants) of Israel returned to their own cities, each to his own property.

In this way they became unclean in their practices;They played the prostitute in their own deeds [by giving their worship, which belongs to God alone, to other “gods”].

Turn my eyes away from vanity [all those worldly, meaningless things that distract—let Your priorities be mine],And restore me [with renewed energy] in Your ways.

So it will come to pass when Moab presents himself,When he wearies himself [worshiping] on his high place [of idolatry]And comes to his sanctuary [of Chemosh, god of Moab] to pray,That he will not prevail.

Therefore, the Lord, who redeemed Abraham [from paganism] says this, concerning the house of Jacob (Israel):“Jacob will not be ashamed, nor will his face turn pale [with disappointment because of his children’s degenerate behavior];

“Also on your skirts is foundThe lifeblood of the innocent poor;You did not find them breaking in [a house].But in spite of all these things [your disobedience, your love of idolatry, your lack of compassion]—

“Lift up your eyes to the barren heights and see;Where have you not been violated?You sat by the road waiting [eagerly] for them [those man-made gods]Like an Arab [tribesman who waits to attack] in the desert,And you have desecrated the landWith your [vile] prostitution and your wickedness (disobedience to God).

And I saw [that even though Judah knew] that for all the acts of adultery (idolatry) of faithless Israel, I [the Lord] had sent her away and given her a certificate of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid; but she went and was a prostitute also [following after idols].

Because of the thoughtlessness of Israel’s prostitution [her immorality mattered little to her], she desecrated the land and committed adultery with [idols of] stones and trees.

“But the shameful act [of idolatry] has consumed the labor of our fathers since our youth—their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.

‘But this people has a stubborn heart and a rebellious will [that draws them away from Me];They have turned away and have gone [into idolatry].

“Were they ashamed because they had committed disgusting and vile things?No, they were not at all ashamed;They did not even know how to blush [at their idolatry].Therefore they will fall among those who fall;At the time that I punish themThey will be overthrown,” says the Lord.

“Why then has this people of JerusalemTurned away with a perpetual turning away [from Me]?They hold tightly to deceit (idolatry);They refuse to repent and return [to God].

“From the day that they built it [during the reign of Solomon], even to this day, this city has been such a provocation of My anger and My wrath, that I must remove it from My sight,

“Their camels will become plunder,And their herds of cattle a spoil;And I will scatter to all the [four] winds those who cut the corners of their hair [as evidence of their idolatry],And I will bring their disaster from every side,” says the Lord.

“My people have become lost sheep;Their shepherds have led them astray.They have made them turn aside [to the seductive places of idolatry] on the mountains.They have gone along [from one sin to another] from mountain to hill;They have forgotten their [own] resting place.

But as for those whose heart longs for and follows after their detestable things and their repulsive things [associated with idolatry], on their own head I will repay [them in full for] their [vile] conduct,” says the Lord God.

Therefore speak to them and say to them, 'This is what the sovereign Lord says: When any one from the house of Israel erects his idols in his heart and sets the obstacle leading to his iniquity before his face, and then consults a prophet, I the Lord am determined to answer him personally according to the enormity of his idolatry.

I will make the land desolate (ruined, deserted), because they have acted unfaithfully [through their idolatry],’ says the Lord God.”

“But you trusted in and relied on your beauty and prostituted yourself [in idolatry and its debauched rituals] because of your fame, and you poured out your immoralities on every [willing] passer-by and your beauty was his [as you worshiped the idols of the Gentile nations].

At the beginning of every street you built your high place and made your beauty repulsive; and you offered your body to every passer-by and multiplied your obscene immorality.

I will also hand you over to your lovers, and they will tear down your shrines, demolish your high places, strip you of your clothing, take away your jewels, and they will leave you naked and bare.

They will repay you for your indecency, and you will bear the consequences for your sins of idolatry. Then you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.”

I will not let you hear insults from the nations anymore, nor will you bear disgrace from the peoples any longer, nor will you cause your nation to stumble [through idolatry] any longer,” says the Lord God.’”

So I poured out my anger on them because of all the bloodshed throughout the land and because they had defiled it with their idolatry.

Though you, Israel, play the prostitute [by worshiping idols],Do not let Judah become guilty [of the same thing];And do not go to Gilgal [where idols are worshiped],Or go up to Beth-aven (House of Wickedness),Nor swear [oaths in idolatrous worship, saying],“As the Lord lives!”

Their wicked deeds do not allow them to return to their God; because a spirit of idolatry controls their heart, and they do not acknowledge the Lord.

I have seen a horrible thing [sins of every kind] in the house of Israel!Ephraim’s prostitution (idolatry) is there; Israel has defiled itself.

The people of Samaria will fear and trembleFor the [idolatrous] calf of Beth-aven (House of Wickedness).Indeed, its people will mourn over itAnd its idolatrous priests will cry out and wail over it,Over its glory, because the glory [of their calf god] has departed from it.

Also the high places of Aven (Beth-aven), the sin of Israel, will be destroyed;The thorn and the thistle will grow on their [pagan] altars,And [in despair] they will say to the mountains,“Cover us!” And to the hills, “Fall on us!”

Is there idolatry in Gilead? Certainly its inhabitants will come to nothing! Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Surely their altars will be like stones heaped up on a plowed field!

All this is because of the rebellion and apostasy of JacobAnd for the sins of the house of Israel (the Northern Kingdom).What is the rebellion and apostasy of Jacob?Is it not [the abandonment of God in order to worship the idols of] Samaria?What are the high places [of idolatry] in Judah (the Southern Kingdom)?Are they not Jerusalem [the capital and center of corruption]?

All because of the many acts of prostitution of [Nineveh] the prostitute,The charming and well-favored one, the mistress of sorceries,Who betrays nations by her acts of prostitution (idolatry)And families by her sorceries.

Yet let us send them written instructions to abstain from things polluted by connexion with idolatry, from fornication, from meat killed by strangling, and from blood.

Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.

However, not everyone has this knowledge. In fact, some have been so used to idolatry up until now that when they eat food offered to an idol, their conscience, being weak, is defiled.

Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.

Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

For there has already been enough time spent in doing what the pagans choose to do: carrying on in unrestrained behavior, evil desires, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and lawless idolatry.

I gave her time to repent [to change her inner self and her sinful way of thinking], but she has no desire to repent of her immorality and refuses to do so.

Then another angel, a second one, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality [corrupting them with idolatry].”

she with whom the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality, and the inhabitants of the earth have become intoxicated with the wine of her immorality.”

For all the nations have drunk from the wine of the passion of her [sexual] immorality, and the kings and political leaders of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth and economic power of her sensuous luxury.”

“And the kings and political leaders of the earth, who committed immorality and lived luxuriously with her, will weep and beat their chests [in mourning] over her when they see the smoke of her burning,

because His judgments are true and righteous. He has judged [convicted and pronounced sentence on] the great prostitute (idolatress) who was corrupting and ruining and poisoning the earth with her adultery (idolatry), and He has imposed the penalty for the blood of His bond-servants on her.”