Deuteronomy 12:29-31

The Abomination of Pagan Gods

12:29 When the Lord your God eliminates the nations from the place where you are headed and you dispossess them, you will settle down in their land.¹ 12:30 After they have been destroyed from your presence, be careful not to be ensnared like they are; do not pursue their gods and say, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do the same.” 12:31 You must not worship the Lord your God the way they do!² For everything that is abhorrent³ to him,⁴ everything he hates, they have done when worshiping their gods. They even burn up their sons and daughters before their gods!

Leviticus 18:26-27

18:26 You yourselves must obey⁵ my statutes and my regulations and must not do any of these abominations, both the native citizen and the resident foreigner in your midst,⁶ 18:27 for the people who were in the land before you have done all these abominations,⁷ and the land has become unclean.

Leviticus 18:30

18:30 You must obey my charge to not practice any of the abominable statutes⁸ that have been done before you, so that you do not⁹ defile yourselves by them. I am the Lord your God.’”

¹tn Heb “dwell in their land” (so NASB). In the Hebrew text vv. 29-30 are one long sentence. For stylistic reasons the translation divides it into two.

²tn Heb “you must not do thus to/for the Lord your God.”

³tn See note on this term at Deut 7:25.

⁴tn Heb “every abomination of the Lord.” See note on the word “his” in v. 27.

⁵tn Heb “And you shall keep, you.” The latter emphatic personal pronoun “you” is left out of a few medieval Hebrew mss, Smr, the LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate.

⁶tn Heb “the native and the sojourner”; NIV “The native-born and the aliens”; NAB “whether natives or resident aliens.”

⁷tn Heb “for all these abominations the men of the land who were before you have done.”

⁸tn Heb “to not do from the statutes of the detestable acts.”

⁹tn Heb “and you will not.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.