Exodus 23:24

²² But if you will listen carefully to his voice and do everything I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.

²³ For My angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I will annihilate them.

You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces.

²⁵ So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take away sickness from among you.

²⁶ No woman in your land will miscarry or be barren; I will fulfill the number of your days.

This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces.
KJV: Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.
WEB: You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor follow their practices, but you shall utterly overthrow them and demolish their pillars.
ASV: Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works; but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and break in pieces their pillars.
DARBY: Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their deeds; but thou shalt utterly destroy them, and utterly shatter their statues.
BLB: You shall not bow down to their gods, and you shall not serve them, and you shall not do according to their works; for you must utterly demolish them and thoroughly break to pieces their pillars.

ÅB: Du skal ikke tilbe deres guder eller tjene dem; du skal ikke gjøre som de gjør; men du skal rive deres avgudsbilder ned og slå deres stenstøtter i stykker.
OTB: Du skal ikke bøye deg for deres guder eller tjene dem eller følge deres skikker. Du må rive dem ned og knuse deres hellige steiner i stykker.
B1930: Du skal ikke tilbede deres guder eller tjene dem; du skal ikke gjøre som de gjør; men du skal rive deres avgudsbilleder ned og slå deres stenstøtter i stykker.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Exodus 20:5
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
Read in context
Deuteronomy 12:30–31
be careful not to be ensnared by their ways after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.”
Read in context
Numbers 33:52
you must drive out before you all the inhabitants of the land, destroy all their carved images and cast idols, and demolish all their high places.
Read in context
Deuteronomy 7:5
Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their idols in the fire.
Read in context
Deuteronomy 12:3
Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the idols of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place.
Read in context
2 Chronicles 33:9
So Manasseh led the people of Judah and Jerusalem astray, so that they did greater evil than the nations that the LORD had destroyed before the Israelites.
Read in context
Leviticus 18:3
You must not follow the practices of the land of Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not follow the practices of the land of Canaan, into which I am bringing you. You must not walk in their customs.
Read in context
Exodus 32:20
Then he took the calf they had made, burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, and scattered the powder over the face of the water. Then he forced the Israelites to drink it.
Read in context