Exodus 34:17

15 Do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices.

16 And when you take some of their daughters as brides for your sons, their daughters will prostitute themselves to their gods and cause your sons to do the same.

You shall make no molten gods for yourselves.

18 You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, you are to eat unleavened bread as I commanded you. For in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.

19 The first offspring of every womb belongs to Me, including all the firstborn males among your livestock, whether cattle or sheep.

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 shall make no molten gods for yourselves.
KJV
Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.
WEB
“You shall make no cast idols for yourselves.
ASV
Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.
DARBY
Thou shalt make thyself no molten gods.
BLB
Molten gods you shall not make for yourselves.
ÅB
Støpte gudebilder skal du ikke gjøre deg.
OTB
Lag ikke noen støpte gudebilder.
B1930
Støpte gudebilleder skal du ikke gjøre dig.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • Leviticus 19:4

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

    Read in context
  • Exodus 32:8

    How quickly they have turned aside from the way that I commanded them! They have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it. They have sacrificed to it and said, ‘These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’”

    Read in context
  • Isaiah 46:6–7

    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.

    Read in context
  • 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.

    Read in context
  • Acts 19:26

    And you can see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in nearly the whole province of Asia, Paul has persuaded a great number of people to turn away. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all.

    Read in context
  • Jeremiah 10:14

    Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.

    Read in context