Exodus 20:4-5
20:4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below.
20:5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children to the third and fourth generations of those who reject me,
Exodus 34:12-17
34:12 Be careful not to make
a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it become a snare
among you.
34:13 Rather you must destroy their altars, smash their images, and cut down their Asherah poles.
34:14 For you must not worship
any other god,
for the
Lord, whose name
is Jealous, is a jealous God.
34:15 Be careful
not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when
they prostitute themselves
to their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone invites you,
you will eat from his sacrifice;
34:16 and you then take
his daughters for your sons, and when his daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will make your sons prostitute themselves to their gods as well.
34:17 You must not make yourselves molten gods.
Deuteronomy 4:23-27
4:23 Be on guard so that you do not forget the covenant of the
Lord your God that he has made with you, and that you do not make an image of any kind, just as he
has forbidden
you.
4:24 For the
Lord your God is a consuming fire; he is a jealous God.
Threat and Blessing following Covenant Disobedience
4:25 After you have produced children and grandchildren and have been in the land a long time, if you become corrupt and make an image of any kind and do other evil things before the Lord your God that enrage him,
4:26 I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that you will surely and swiftly be removed from the very land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not last long there because you will surely be annihilated.
4:27 Then the Lord will scatter you among the peoples and there will be very few of you among the nations where the Lord will drive you.
Deuteronomy 13:1-18
13:1 Suppose a prophet or one who foretells by dreams
should appear among you and show you a sign or wonder,
13:2 and the sign or wonder should come to pass concerning what he said to you, namely, “Let us follow other gods” – gods whom you have not previously known – “and let us serve them.”
13:3 You must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer,
for the
Lord your God will be testing you to see if you love him
with all your mind and being.
13:4 You must follow the
Lord your God and revere only him; and you must observe his commandments, obey him, serve him, and remain loyal to him.
13:5 As for that prophet or dreamer,
he must be executed because he encouraged rebellion against the
Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, redeeming you from that place of slavery, and because he has tried to entice you from the way the
Lord your God has commanded you to go. In this way you must purge out evil from within.
False Prophets in the Family
13:6 Suppose your own full brother, your son, your daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend should seduce you secretly and encourage you to go and serve other gods that neither you nor your ancestors have previously known,
13:7 the gods of the surrounding people (whether near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other).
13:8 You must not give in to him or even listen to him; do not feel sympathy for him or spare him or cover up for him.
13:9 Instead, you must kill him without fail! Your own hand must be the first to strike him, and then the hands of the whole community.
13:10 You must stone him to death because he tried to entice you away from the Lord your God, who delivered you from the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.
13:11 Thus all Israel will hear and be afraid; no longer will they continue to do evil like this among you.
Punishment of Community Idolatry
13:12 Suppose you should hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you as a place to live, that
13:13 some evil people have departed from among you to entice the inhabitants of their cities, saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods” (whom you have not known before).
13:14 You must investigate thoroughly and inquire carefully. If it is indeed true that such a disgraceful thing is being done among you,
13:15 you must by all means slaughter the inhabitants of that city with the sword; annihilate with the sword everyone in it, as well as the livestock.
13:16 You must gather all of its plunder into the middle of the plaza and burn the city and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It will be an abandoned ruin forever – it must never be rebuilt again.
13:17 You must not take for yourself anything that has been placed under judgment. Then the Lord will relent from his intense anger, show you compassion, have mercy on you, and multiply you as he promised your ancestors.
13:18 Thus you must obey the Lord your God, keeping all his commandments that I am giving you today and doing what is right before him.
Joshua 23:7
23:7 or associate with these nations that remain near
you. You must not invoke or make solemn declarations by the names of their gods!
You must not worship
or bow down to them!
Joshua 23:16
23:16 If you violate the covenantal laws of the
Lord your God which he commanded you to keep,
and follow, worship, and bow down to other gods,
the
Lord will be very angry with you and you will disappear
quickly from the good land which he gave to you.”