Leviticus 19:4
New International Version
“’Do not turn to idols or make metal gods for yourselves. I am the LORD your God.

New Living Translation
“Do not put your trust in idols or make metal images of gods for yourselves. I am the LORD your God.

English Standard Version
Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the LORD your God.

Berean Standard Bible
Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods. I am the LORD your God.

King James Bible
Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God.

New King James Version
‘Do not turn to idols, nor make for yourselves molded gods: I am the LORD your God.

New American Standard Bible
Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves cast metal gods; I am the LORD your God.

NASB 1995
‘Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods; I am the LORD your God.

NASB 1977
‘Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods; I am the LORD your God.

Legacy Standard Bible
Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods; I am Yahweh your God.

Amplified Bible
Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods (images cast in metal); I am the LORD your God.

Christian Standard Bible
Do not turn to worthless idols or make cast images of gods for yourselves; I am the LORD your God.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Do not turn to idols or make cast images of gods for yourselves; I am Yahweh your God.”

American Standard Version
Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am Jehovah your God.

English Revised Version
Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"Don't turn to worthless gods or cast metal idols. Never make any gods for yourselves. I am the LORD your God.

Good News Translation
"Do not abandon me and worship idols; do not make gods of metal and worship them. I am the LORD your God.

International Standard Version
"You are not to turn to their idols or cast gods out of melted metal for yourselves. I am the LORD your God.

Majority Standard Bible
Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods. I am the LORD your God.

NET Bible
Do not turn to idols, and you must not make for yourselves gods of cast metal. I am the LORD your God.

New Heart English Bible
"'Do not turn to idols, nor make molten gods for yourselves. I am the LORD your God.

Webster's Bible Translation
Turn ye not to idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God.

World English Bible
“‘Don’t turn to idols, nor make molten gods for yourselves. I am Yahweh your God.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
You do not turn to the idols, and you do not make a molten god for yourselves; I [am] your God YHWH.

Young's Literal Translation
Ye do not turn unto the idols, and a molten god ye do not make to yourselves; I am Jehovah your God.

Smith's Literal Translation
Ye shall not turn to vain things, and molten gods ye shall not make to yourselves: I am Jehovah your God.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Turn ye not to idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods. I am the Lord your God.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Do not be willing to convert to idols, neither should you make molten gods for yourselves. I am the Lord your God.

New American Bible
Do not turn aside to idols, nor make molten gods for yourselves. I, the LORD, am your God.

New Revised Standard Version
Do not turn to idols or make cast images for yourselves: I am the LORD your God.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
You shall not turn to idols nor make to yourselves molten gods; I am the LORD your God.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Do not be turned after demons; you shall not make to yourselves gods that are molten; I AM LORD JEHOVAH your God.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Turn ye not unto the idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Ye shall not follow idols, and ye shall not make to yourselves molten gods: I am the Lord your God.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Idolatry Forbidden
3Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must keep My Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God. 4Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods. I am the LORD your God. 5When you sacrifice a peace offering to the LORD, you shall offer it for your acceptance.…

Cross References
Exodus 20:3-4
You shall have no other gods before Me. / You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.

Deuteronomy 5:7-8
You shall have no other gods before Me. / You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.

Isaiah 44:9-20
All makers of idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Their witnesses fail to see or comprehend, so they are put to shame. / Who fashions a god or casts an idol which profits him nothing? / Behold, all his companions will be put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are only human. Let them all assemble and take their stand; they will all be brought to terror and shame. ...

Psalm 115:4-8
Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. / They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see; / they have ears, but cannot hear; they have noses, but cannot smell; ...

1 Corinthians 8:4-6
So about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one. / For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many so-called gods and lords), / yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we exist.

1 John 5:21
Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

Deuteronomy 4:15-19
So since you saw no form of any kind on the day the LORD spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb, be careful / that you do not act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves of any form or shape, whether in the likeness of a male or female, / of any beast that is on the earth or bird that flies in the air, ...

Jeremiah 10:3-5
For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut down a tree from the forest; it is shaped with a chisel by the hands of a craftsman. / They adorn it with silver and gold and fasten it with hammer and nails, so that it will not totter. / Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them, for they can do no harm, and neither can they do any good.”

1 Kings 18:21
Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him. But if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people did not answer a word.

2 Kings 17:35-39
For the LORD had made a covenant with the Israelites and commanded them, “Do not worship other gods or bow down to them; do not serve them or sacrifice to them. / Instead, worship the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm. You are to bow down to Him and offer sacrifices to Him. / And you must always be careful to observe the statutes, ordinances, laws, and commandments He wrote for you. Do not worship other gods. ...

Acts 17:29
Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination.

Romans 1:22-23
Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools, / and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

Isaiah 46:5-7
To whom will you liken Me or count Me equal? To whom will you compare Me, that we should be alike? / They pour out their bags of gold and weigh out silver on scales; they hire a goldsmith to fashion it into a god, so they can bow down and worship. / They lift it to their shoulder and carry it along; they set it in its place, and there it stands, not budging from that spot. They cry out to it, but it does not answer; it saves no one from his troubles.

Hosea 13:2
Now they sin more and more and make for themselves cast images, idols skillfully made from their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. People say of them, “They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves!”

1 Corinthians 10:19-20
Am I suggesting, then, that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? / No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be participants with demons.


Treasury of Scripture

Turn you not to idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God.

not unto

Leviticus 26:1
Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.

Exodus 20:3-5
Thou shalt have no other gods before me…

1 Corinthians 10:14
Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.

molten gods

Exodus 20:23
Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.

Exodus 32:4
And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

Exodus 34:17
Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.

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Leviticus 19
1. A repetition of various laws














Do not turn to idols
The Hebrew word for "idols" is "אֱלִילִים" (elilim), which often refers to worthless or vain things. In the ancient Near Eastern context, idols were physical representations of deities, crafted from materials like wood, stone, or metal. The command to not "turn" to idols implies a deliberate action of seeking or relying on these false gods. This phrase underscores the importance of exclusive devotion to Yahweh, rejecting the temptation to seek security or identity in anything other than the one true God. Historically, Israel was surrounded by nations that worshipped a pantheon of gods, making this command crucial for maintaining the distinctiveness of Israel's faith.

or make for yourselves molten gods
The term "molten gods" refers to images cast from metal, often gold or silver, through a process of melting and molding. The Hebrew word "מַסֵּכָה" (massekah) is used here, indicating a crafted image. This prohibition highlights the futility and danger of creating tangible representations of the divine, which can lead to idolatry. In the ancient world, such images were believed to house the spirit of the deity they represented, but the God of Israel is transcendent and cannot be contained or represented by any physical form. This command serves as a reminder of God's incomparability and the need for spiritual worship rather than physical representations.

I am the LORD your God
This declaration, "אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם" (Ani Yahweh Eloheichem), is a powerful affirmation of God's identity and authority. "LORD" (Yahweh) is the personal name of God, emphasizing His covenant relationship with Israel. By stating "your God," the verse personalizes this relationship, reminding the Israelites of their unique bond with Yahweh, who delivered them from Egypt and established them as His people. This phrase serves as both a reassurance of God's presence and a call to obedience, grounding the preceding commands in the reality of who God is. It is a reminder that their identity and purpose are found in their relationship with Yahweh, who is both their Creator and Redeemer.

(4) Turn ye not unto idols.--As the Lord is their God, and there is no other God besides Him, the Israelites must never turn their affections nor address prayers or enquiries to idols. This part of the verse therefore corresponds with the first commandment of the Decalogue (Exodus 20:3). The expression here rendered "idols," which, apart from the Prophets and Hagiographa, only occurs once more (see Leviticus 26:1), denotes non-entities--nothings, and it is in allusion to this import of the word that the Apostle remarks, "We know that an idol is nothing in the world" (1Corinthians 8:4). According to the administrators of the law during the second Temple, the injunction here "turn not" means "face not," and forbids even the looking at or the examination of an idol.

Nor make yourselves molten gods.--This part of the verse corresponds with the second commandment in the Decalogue (Exodus 20:4-6), though the phrase "molten gods" only occurs once more where the same prohibition is enforced (Exodus 34:17). . . .

Verse 4. - Turn ye not unto idols. The word used for idols, elilim, meaning nothings, is contrasted with Elohim, God. Psalm 115 exhibits this contrast in several of its particulars. Cf. St. Paul's statement, "We know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one" (1 Corinthians 8:4). "If the heart of man becomes benumbed to the use of images of false gods of any kind, he sinks down to the idols which are his ideals, and becomes as dumb and unspiritual as they are" (Lunge). The remainder of the verse forbids the transgression of the second commandment, as the earlier part of the verse forbids the transgression of the first commandment: nor make to yourselves molten gods, as was done by Jeroboam when he set up the calves (1 Kings 12:23).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Do not
אַל־ (’al-)
Adverb
Strong's 408: Not

turn
תִּפְנוּ֙ (tip̄·nū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 6437: To turn, to face, appear, look

to
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

idols
הָ֣אֱלִילִ֔ים (hā·’ĕ·lî·lîm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 457: Good for, nothing, by anal, vain, vanity, an idol

or make
תַעֲשׂ֖וּ (ṯa·‘ă·śū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 6213: To do, make

for yourselves
לָכֶ֑ם (lā·ḵem)
Preposition | second person masculine plural
Strong's Hebrew

molten
מַסֵּכָ֔ה (mas·sê·ḵāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 4541: A pouring over, fusion of metal, a libation, league, a coverlet

gods.
וֵֽאלֹהֵי֙ (wê·lō·hê)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

I
אֲנִ֖י (’ă·nî)
Pronoun - first person common singular
Strong's 589: I

am the LORD
יְהוָ֥ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

your God.
אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃ (’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵem)
Noun - masculine plural construct | second person masculine plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative


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OT Law: Leviticus 19:4 Don't turn to idols nor make molten (Le Lv Lev.)
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