A Warning against Idolatry

(Deuteronomy 12:29–32, Ezekiel 6:1–7)

15 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 16 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, 17 of any beast that is on the earth or bird that flies in the air, 18 or of any creature that crawls on the ground or fish that is in the waters below.

19 When you look to the heavens and see the sun and moon and stars—all the host of heaven—do not be enticed to bow down and worship what the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. 20 Yet the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of His inheritance, as you are today.

21 The LORD, however, was angry with me on account of you, and He swore that I would not cross the Jordan to enter the good land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance. 22 For I will not be crossing the Jordan, because I must die in this land. But you shall cross over and take possession of that good land.

23 Be careful that you do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God that He made with you; do not make an idol for yourselves in the form of anything He has forbidden you. 24 For the LORD your God is a consuming fire,[fn] a jealous God.

25 After you have children and grandchildren and you have been in the land a long time, if you then act corruptly and make an idol of any form—doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God and provoking Him to anger— 26 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed.

27 Then the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you. 28 And there you will serve man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.

29 But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice. 31 For the LORD your God is a merciful God; He will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers, which He swore to them by oath.