Deuteronomy 4:16

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
Lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself an engraved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

King James Version
Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

Lexham English Bible
so that you do not ruin yourselves and make for yourselves a divine image in a form of any image, a replica of male or female,

English Standard Version
beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

New Century Version
Don't sin by making idols of any kind, and don't make statues—of men or women,

New English Translation
I say this so you will not corrupt yourselves by making an image in the form of any kind of figure. This includes the likeness of a human male or female,

Amplified Bible
so that you do not act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved or sculpted image [to worship] in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

New American Standard Bible
so that you do not act corruptly and make a carved image for yourselves in the form of any figure, a representation of male or female,

Geneva Bible (1587)
That ye corrupt not your selues, and make you a grauen image or representation of any figure: whither it be the likenes of male or female,

Legacy Standard Bible
lest you act corruptly and make a graven image for yourselves in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

Contemporary English Version
not to commit the sin of worshiping idols. Don't make idols to be worshiped, whether they are shaped like men, women,

Complete Jewish Bible
do not become corrupt and make yourselves a carved image having the shape of any figure — not a representation of a human being, male or female,

Darby Translation
lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the form of any figure, the pattern of male or female,

Easy-to-Read Version
So be careful! Don't sin and destroy yourselves by making false gods or statues in the shape of any living thing. Don't make an idol that looks like a man or a woman,

George Lamsa Translation
Lest you corrupt yourselves, and make for yourselves images and the forms of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

Good News Translation
that you do not sin by making for yourselves an idol in any form at all—whether man or woman,

Christian Standard Bible®
so you don’t act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves in the shape of any figure: a male or female form,

Literal Translation
that you not deal corruptly, and make for yourselves a graven image, a likeness of any figure, the form of a male or female,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
and make you eny ymage, that is like a man, or woman,

American Standard Version
lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

Bible in Basic English
So that you may not be turned to evil ways and make for yourselves an image in the form of any living thing, male or female,

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Lest ye marre your selues, & make you a grauen image, & picture of any maner of figure, whether it be the likenesse of man or woman.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
lest ye deal corruptly, and make you a graven image, even the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

King James Version (1611)
Lest yee corrupt your selues, and make you a grauen image, the similitude of any figure, the likenes of male, or female,

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
lest ye transgress, and make to yourselves a carved image, any kind of figure, the likeness of male or female,

English Revised Version
lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

Berean Standard Bible
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,

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
lest perauenture ye be disseyued and make to you a grauun licnesse, ether an ymage of male, ether of female;

Young's Literal Translation
lest ye do corruptly, and have made to you a graven image, a similitude of any figure, a form of male or female --

Update Bible Version
Or else you will corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

Webster's Bible Translation
Lest ye corrupt [yourselves], and make to you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

World English Bible
Lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself an engraved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

New King James Version
lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of any figure: the likeness of male or female,

New Living Translation
So do not corrupt yourselves by making an idol in any form—whether of a man or a woman,

New Life Bible
Do not become sinful and make a false god for yourselves that looks like a body or object, like a male or female,

New Revised Standard
so that you do not act corruptly by making an idol for yourselves, in the form of any figure—the likeness of male or female,

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
lest ye should break faith, and make you an image, a form of any likeness, - a model of male or female;

Douay-Rheims Bible
Lest perhaps being deceived you might make you a graven similitude, or image of male or female,

Revised Standard Version
beware lest you act corruptly by making a graven image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
so that you do not act corruptly and make a graven image for yourselves in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

Contextual Overview

¹Now listen, Israel, listen carefully to the rules and regulations that I am teaching you to follow so that you may live and enter and take possession of the land that God , the God-of-Your-Fathers, is giving to you. Don't add a word to what I command you, and don't remove a word from it. Keep the commands of God , your God, that I am commanding you. ³You saw with your own eyes what God did at Baal Peor, how God destroyed from among you every man who joined in the Baal Peor orgies. But you, the ones who held tight to God , your God, are alive and well, every one of you, today. ⁵Pay attention: I'm teaching you the rules and regulations that God commanded me, so that you may live by them in the land you are entering to take up ownership. Keep them. Practice them. You'll become wise and understanding. When people hear and see what's going on, they'll say, "What a great nation! So wise, so understanding! We've never seen anything like it." ⁷Yes. What other great nation has gods that are intimate with them the way God , our God, is with us, always ready to listen to us? And what other great nation has rules and regulations as good and fair as this Revelation that I'm setting before you today? ⁹ Just make sure you stay alert. Keep close watch over yourselves. Don't forget anything of what you've seen. Don't let your heart wander off. Stay vigilant as long as you live. Teach what you've seen and heard to your children and grandchildren. ¹⁰ That day when you stood before God , your God, at Horeb, God said to me, "Assemble the people in my presence to listen to my words so that they will learn to fear me in holy fear for as long as they live on the land, and then they will teach these same words to their children." ¹¹You gathered. You stood in the shadow of the mountain. The mountain was ablaze with fire, blazing high into the very heart of Heaven. You stood in deep darkness and thick clouds. God spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but you saw nothing—no form, only a voice. He announced his covenant, the Ten Words, by which he commanded you to live. Then he wrote them down on two slabs of stone. ¹⁴ And God commanded me at that time to teach you the rules and regulations that you are to live by in the land which you are crossing over the Jordan to possess. ¹⁵You saw no form on the day God spoke to you at Horeb from out of the fire. Remember that. Carefully guard yourselves so that you don't turn corrupt and make a form, carving a figure that looks male or female, or looks like a prowling animal or a flying bird or a slithering snake or a fish in a stream. And also carefully guard yourselves so that you don't look up into the skies and see the sun and moon and stars, all the constellations of the skies, and be seduced into worshiping and serving them. God set them out for everybody's benefit, everywhere. But you— God took you right out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to become the people of his inheritance—and that's what you are this very day. ²¹But God was angry with me because of you and the things you said. He swore that I'd never cross the Jordan, never get to enter the good land that God , your God, is giving you as an inheritance. This means that I am going to die here. I'm not crossing the Jordan. But you will cross; you'll possess the good land.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

corrupt: Deuteronomy 4:8, Deuteronomy 4:9, Exodus 20:4, Exodus 20:5, Exodus 32:7, Psalms 106:19, Psalms 106:20, Romans 1:22-24

the likeness: Such as Baal-peor, the Roman Priapus; Ashtaroth or Astarte, the Greek and Roman Venus, and many others. Deuteronomy 4:23, Isaiah 40:18, John 4:24, Acts 17:29, Acts 20:4, Acts 20:5, 1 Timothy 1:17

Reciprocal: Leviticus 26:1 - Ye shall Deuteronomy 4:25 - corrupt Deuteronomy 9:12 - corrupted Deuteronomy 27:15 - maketh Deuteronomy 32:5 - They have corrupted themselves Psalms 78:58 - with Isaiah 44:13 - he marketh Zephaniah 3:7 - corrupted Acts 7:43 - figures

Cross-References

Genesis 3:8
When they heard the sound of God strolling in the garden in the evening breeze, the Man and his Wife hid in the trees of the garden, hid from God.

Exodus 20:18
All the people, experiencing the thunder and lightning, the trumpet blast and the smoking mountain, were afraid—they pulled back and stood at a distance. They said to Moses, "You speak to us and we'll listen, but don't have God speak to us or we'll die."

2 Kings 24:20
The source of all this doom to Jerusalem and Judah was God 's anger— God turned his back on them as an act of judgment. And then Zedekiah revolted against the king of Babylon.

Job 1:12
God replied, "We'll see. Go ahead—do what you want with all that is his. Just don't hurt him." Then Satan left the presence of God .

Job 2:7
Satan left God and struck Job with terrible sores. Job was ulcers and scabs from head to foot. They itched and oozed so badly that he took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself, then went and sat on a trash heap, among the ashes.

Psalms 5:11
But you'll welcome us with open arms when we run for cover to you. Let the party last all night! Stand guard over our celebration. You are famous, God , for welcoming God-seekers, for decking us out in delight.

Jeremiah 23:39
"Are you paying attention? You'd better, because I'm about to take you in hand and throw you to the ground, you and this entire city that I gave to your ancestors. I've had it with the lot of you. You're never going to live this down. You're going down in history as a disgrace."

Jeremiah 52:3
The source of all this doom to Jerusalem and Judah was God 's anger. God turned his back on them as an act of judgment. Zedekiah revolted against the king of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar set out for Jerusalem with a full army. He set up camp and sealed off the city by building siege mounds around it. He arrived on the ninth year and tenth month of Zedekiah's reign. The city was under siege for nineteen months (until the eleventh year of Zedekiah).

Luke 13:26
"You'll protest, ‘But we've known you all our lives!' only to be interrupted with his abrupt, ‘Your kind of knowing can hardly be called knowing. You don't know the first thing about me.'

John 1:3
Everything was created through him; nothing—not one thing!— came into being without him. What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by. The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn't put it out.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Lest ye corrupt yourselves,.... And not themselves only, but the word and worship of God, by idolatry, than which nothing is more corrupting and defiling, nor more abominable to God:

and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure; a graven image, in the likeness of any figure, an idea of which they had formed in their minds;

the likeness of male or female; of a man or a woman; so some of the Heathen deities were in the likeness of men, as Jupiter, Mars, Hercules, Apollo, c. and others in the likeness of women, as Juno, Diana, Venus, &c. Some think Osiris and Isis, Egyptian deities, the one male, the other female, are respected but it is not certain that these were worshipped by them so early.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Deuteronomy 4:16. The likeness of male or female — Such as Baal-peor and the Roman Priapus, Ashtaroth or Astarte, and the Greek and Roman Venus; after whom most nations of the world literally went a whoring.