Deuteronomy 12:30-31
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!
1 For everything that is abhorrent
2 to him,
3 everything he hates, they have done when worshiping their gods. They even burn up their sons and daughters before their gods!
Deuteronomy 16:21-22
Examples of Legal Cases
16:21 You must not plant any kind of tree as a sacred Asherah pole 4 near the altar of the Lord your God which you build for yourself.
16:22 You must not erect a sacred pillar, 5 a thing the Lord your God detests.
Deuteronomy 20:18
20:18 so that they cannot teach you all the abhorrent ways they worship
6 their gods, causing you to sin against the
Lord your God.
Leviticus 20:23
20:23 You must not walk in the statutes of the nation
7 which I am about to drive out before you, because they have done all these things and I am filled with disgust against them.
1 tn Heb “you must not do thus to/for the Lord your God.”
2 tn See note on this term at Deut 7:25.
3 tn Heb “every abomination of the Lord.” See note on the word “his” in v. 27.
4 tn Heb “an Asherah, any tree.”
5 sn Sacred pillar. This refers to the stelae (stone pillars; the Hebrew term is מַצֵּבֹת, matsevot) associated with Baal worship, perhaps to mark a spot hallowed by an alleged visitation of the gods. See also Deut 7:5.
6 tn Heb “to do according to all their abominations which they do for their gods.”
7 tc One medieval Hebrew ms, Smr, and all the major ancient versions have the plural “nations.” Some English versions retain the singular (e.g., KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV); others have the plural “nations” (e.g., NAB, NIV) and still others translate as “people” (e.g., TEV, NLT).