'Worship' in the Bible

Abraham said to his servants, “Settle down and stay here with the donkey; the young man and I will go over there and worship [God], and we will come back to you.”

The God of Abraham [your father] and the God of Nahor [my father], and the god [the image of worship] of their father [Terah, an idolater], judge between us.” But Jacob swore [only] by [the one true God] the Fear of his father Isaac.

and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation [set apart for My purpose].’ These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites.”

“You shall not make for yourself any idol, or any likeness (form, manifestation) of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth [as an object to worship].

You shall not make other gods [to worship] besides Me; gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make [these lifeless idols] for yourselves.

Then God said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu (Aaron’s older sons), and seventy of Israel’s elders, and you shall worship at a [safe] distance.

They shall eat those things by which atonement was made at their ordination and consecration; but a layman shall not eat them, because they are holy [that is, set apart to the worship of God].

And if any of the meat of ordination or the bread remains until morning, you shall burn it in the fire; it shall not be eaten, because it is holy.

—for you shall not worship any other god; for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous (impassioned) God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His]—

Whatever touches its meat will become consecrated (ceremonially clean). When any of its blood splashes on a garment, you shall wash what was splashed on in a holy place.

I will destroy your high places [devoted to idolatrous worship], and cut down your incense altars, and heap your dead bodies upon the [crushed] bodies of your idols, and My soul will detest you [with deep and unutterable loathing].

so that you do not act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved or sculpted image [to worship] in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

And beware that you do not raise your eyes toward heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and let yourselves be led astray and worship them and serve them, [mere created bodies] which the Lord your God has allotted to [serve and benefit] all the peoples under the whole heaven.

‘You shall not make for yourself an idol [as an object to worship], or any likeness (form, manifestation) of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.

And it shall come about if you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you will most certainly perish.

Beware that your hearts are not deceived, and that you do not turn away [from the Lord] and serve other gods and worship them,

then you shall exchange your tithe for money, and take the money in your hand and go to the place [of worship] which the Lord your God chooses.

You and your household shall eat it every year before the Lord your God in the place [for worship] which the Lord chooses.

And now, look, I have brought the first of the produce of the ground which You, O Lord, have given me.’ And you shall place it before the Lord your God, and shall worship before the Lord your God;

But if your heart turns away and you will not hear and obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them,

This man went up from his city each year to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh. Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests to the Lord there.

Now, please, pardon my sin and return with me, so that I may worship the Lord.”

Saul said, “I have sinned; but please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and go back with me, so that I may worship the Lord your God.”

“But if you or your sons turn away from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them,

Now this thing became a sin [for Israel]; because the people went to worship before the one [or the other of them] as far as Dan.

In this matter may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master [the king] goes into the house of [his god] Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand and I bow in the house of Rimmon, when I bow down in the house of Rimmon, may the Lord pardon your servant in this matter [of attending the king when he worships].”

So the king of Assyria was told, “The nations whom you have sent into exile and settled in the cities of Samaria do not know the custom of the god of the land; so He has sent lions among them, and they are killing them because they do not know the manner of [worship demanded by] the god of the land.”

But if you tell me, ‘We trust in and rely on the Lord our God,’ is it not He whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, and has said to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship [only] before this altar in Jerusalem’?

Ascribe to the Lord the glory and honor due His name;Bring an offering [of thanksgiving], and come before Him;Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.

But who is able to build a house for Him, since the heavens and [even] the highest heavens cannot contain Him? Who am I to build a house for Him, except [as a place] to burn incense before Him?

“But if you [people] turn away and abandon My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and you go and serve other gods and worship them,

Has the same Hezekiah not taken away his [Baal’s] high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, “You shall worship before [only] one altar and burn incense on it”?

they came to Zerubbabel [who was now governor] and to the heads of the fathers’ households and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we seek your God [and worship] just as you do; and we have sacrificed to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.”

[And Ezra said],“You are the Lord, You alone;You have made the heavens,The heaven of heavens with all their host (the heavenly bodies),The earth and everything that is on it,The seas and everything that is in them.You give life to all of them,And the heavenly host is bowing down [in worship] to You.

He said,“Naked (without possessions) I came [into this world] from my mother’s womb,And naked I will return there.The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

If I beheld the sun [as an object of worship] when it shoneOr the moon going in its splendor,

But as for me, I will enter Your house through the abundance of Your steadfast love and tender mercy;At Your holy temple I will bow [obediently] in reverence for You.

In his eyes an evil person is despised,But he honors those who fear the Lord [and obediently worship Him with awe-inspired reverence and submissive wonder].He keeps his word even to his own disadvantage and does not change it [for his own benefit];

You who fear the Lord [with awe-inspired reverence], praise Him!All you descendants of Jacob, honor Him.Fear Him [with submissive wonder], all you descendants of Israel.

My praise will be of You in the great assembly.I will pay my vows [made in the time of trouble] before those who [reverently] fear Him.

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord,And all the families of the nations will bow down and worship before You,

All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship;All those who go down to the dust (the dead) will bow before Him,Even he who cannot keep his soul alive.

The secret [of the wise counsel] of the Lord is for those who fear Him,And He will let them know His covenant and reveal to them [through His word] its [deep, inner] meaning.

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name;Worship the Lord in the beauty and majesty of His holiness [as the creator and source of holiness].

How great is Your goodness,Which You have stored up for those who [reverently] fear You,Which You have prepared for those who take refuge in You,Before the sons of man!

Let all the earth fear and worship the Lord;Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.

Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon those who fear Him [and worship Him with awe-inspired reverence and obedience],On those who hope [confidently] in His compassion and lovingkindness,

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him [with awe-inspired reverence and worship Him with obedience],And He rescues [each of] them.

O [reverently] fear the Lord, you His saints (believers, holy ones);For to those who fear Him there is no want.

He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;Many will see and fear [with great reverence]And will trust confidently in the Lord.

God will hear and humble them,Even He who sits enthroned from old— Selah.Because in them there has been no change [of heart],And they do not fear God [at all].

For they provoked Him to [righteous] anger with their high places [devoted to idol worship]And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images [by denying Him the love, worship, and obedience that is rightfully and uniquely His].

“Let there be no strange god among you,Nor shall you worship any foreign god.

O come, let us worship and bow down,Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker [in reverent praise and prayer].

Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;Tremble [in submissive wonder] before Him, all the earth.

Exalt the Lord our GodAnd worship at His footstool;Holy is He.

Exalt the Lord our GodAnd worship at His holy hill [Zion, the temple mount],For the Lord our God is holy.

When the peoples are gathered together,And the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.

Just as a father loves his children,So the Lord loves those who fear and worship Him [with awe-filled respect and deepest reverence].

The [reverent] fear of the Lord is the beginning (the prerequisite, the absolute essential, the alphabet) of wisdom;A good understanding and a teachable heart are possessed by all those who do the will of the Lord;His praise endures forever.

Establish Your word and confirm Your promise to Your servant,As that which produces [awe-inspired] reverence for You.

I am a companion of all who [reverently] fear You,And of those who keep and honor Your precepts.

Let us go into His tabernacle;Let us worship at His footstool.

I will bow down [in worship] toward Your holy templeAnd give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth;For You have magnified Your word together with Your name.

Do not be wise in your own eyes;Fear the Lord [with reverent awe and obedience] and turn [entirely] away from evil.

I know that whatever God does, it endures forever; nothing can be added to it nor can anything be taken from it, for God does it so that men will fear and worship Him [with awe-filled reverence, knowing that He is God].

For in a multitude of dreams and in a flood of words there is worthlessness. Rather [reverently] fear God [and worship Him with awe-filled respect, knowing who He is].

Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and his life [seemingly] is prolonged [in spite of his wickedness], still I know that it will be well with those who [reverently] fear God, who fear and worship Him openly [realizing His omnipresence and His power].

But it will not be well for the evil man, nor will he lengthen his days like a shadow, because he does not fear God.

When all has been heard, the end of the matter is: fear God [worship Him with awe-filled reverence, knowing that He is almighty God] and keep His commandments, for this applies to every person.

For you will be ashamed [of the degradation] of the oaks in which you took [idolatrous] pleasure,And you will be ashamed of the gardens [of passion] which you have chosen [for pagan worship].

Their land has also been filled with idols;They worship the work of their hands,That which their own fingers have made.

In that day men will throw away to the moles and to the batsTheir idols of silver and their idols of gold,Which they made for themselves [as objects] to worship,

At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the Lord of hostsFrom a people tall and smooth (clean shaven),From a people feared far and wide,A powerful and oppressive nation,Whose land the rivers divide—To the place [of worship] of the name of the Lord of hosts, to Mount Zion [in Jerusalem].

And so the Lord will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know [heed, honor, and cherish] the Lord in that day. They will even worship with sacrifices [of animals] and offerings [of produce]; they will make a vow to the Lord and fulfill it.

In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria; and the Egyptians will worship and serve [the Lord] with the Assyrians.

It will come to pass in that day that a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost and perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.

And He will be the security and stability of your times,A treasure of salvation, wisdom and knowledge;The fear of the Lord is your treasure.

But if you say to me, ‘We trust in and rely on the Lord our God,’ is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar’?

No one remembers, nor has knowledge and understanding [enough] to say [to himself], “I have burned half of this log in the fire, and also baked bread on its coals and have roasted meat and eaten it. Then I make the rest of it into an repulsive thing [to God]; I bow down [to worship] before a block of wood!”

“Those who lavish gold from the bagAnd weigh out silver on the scalesHire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;They bow down, indeed they worship it.

“He who kills an ox [for pagan sacrifice] is [as guilty] as one who kills a man;He who sacrifices a lamb, as one who breaks a dog’s neck;He who offers a grain offering, as one who offers swine’s blood;He who offers incense, as one who blesses an idol.Such people have chosen their own ways,And their soul delights in their repulsive acts;

“And it shall be that from New Moon to New MoonAnd from Sabbath to Sabbath,All mankind will come to bow down and worship before Me,” says the Lord.

“For long ago you broke your yoke [in deliberate disobedience]And tore off your bonds [of the law that I gave you];You said, ‘I will not serve and obey You!’For on every high hillAnd under every green treeYou have lain down [in idolatrous worship] like a [compliant] prostitute.

‘They do not say in their heart,“Let us now fear and worship the Lord our God [with profound awe and reverence],Who gives rain in its season,Both the autumn and the spring rain,Who keeps for usThe appointed weeks of the harvest.”

“Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house and proclaim there this word and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who enter by these gates to worship the Lord.’”

Oh that I had in the wildernessA lodging place (a mere shelter) for wayfaring men,That I might leave my peopleAnd go away from them!For they are all adulterers [worshiping idols instead of the Lord],[They are] an assembly of treacherous men [of weak character, men without integrity].

These wicked and malevolent people, who refuse to listen to My words, who walk in the stubborn way of their heart and have followed other gods [which are nothing—just man-made carvings] to serve them and to worship them, let them be just like this waistband which is completely worthless.

You shall not carry a load out of your houses on the Sabbath day nor do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy [by setting it apart as a day of worship], as I commanded your fathers.

But it will come about, if you listen diligently to Me,” says the Lord, “to bring no load in through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy by doing no work on it,

But if you will not listen to Me and keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying a load as you come in the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in her gates that cannot be extinguished, and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem.”’”

and do not go after other gods to serve them and to worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands, and I will do you no harm.’

“Thus says the Lord, ‘Stand in the court of the Lord’s house [Jeremiah], and speak to all [the people of] the cities of Judah who have come to worship in the Lord’s house all the words that I have commanded you to speak to them. Do not omit a word!

But they put their detestable things (idols) in the house which is called by My Name, to defile it.

They built the high places [for worship] of Baal in the Valley of Ben-hinnom (son of Hinnom) to make their sons and their daughters pass through the fire to [worship and honor] Molech—which I had not commanded them nor had it entered My mind that they should do this repulsive thing, to cause Judah to sin.

See, O Lord, and look!With whom have You dealt this way?Should women eat their offspring,The little ones who were born healthy and beautiful?Should priest and prophet be killedIn the sanctuary of the Lord?

and say, ‘You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: “Behold, I Myself am going to bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places [of idolatrous worship],

He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it too slight a thing for the house of Judah to commit the repulsive acts which they have committed here, that they have filled the land with violence and repeatedly provoked Me to anger? And behold, they are putting the branch to their nose.

that you built yourself an altar for prostitution and made yourself a high place [for ritual prostitution] in every square [of Jerusalem].

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.