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Friday, July 18th, 2025
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
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Read the Bible

New American Standard Bible (1995)

Exodus 22:20

"He who sacrifices to any god, other than to the LORD alone, shall be utterly destroyed.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Coercion;   Intolerance, Religious;   Punishment;   Thompson Chain Reference - Capital Punishment;   Death Penalty;   Penalty, Death;   Punishment;   The Topic Concordance - Destruction;   God;   Grace;   Hearing;   Idolatry;   Sacrifice;   Wrath;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Idolatry;   Offerings;   Sacrifices;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Gods;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Idol, idolatry;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Foreigner;   Punishment;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Idolatry;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Idol;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Exodus, Book of;   Pentateuch;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Ban;   Canon of the Old Testament;   Covenant, Book of the;   Ethics;   Hexateuch;   Law;   Leviticus;   Priests and Levites;   Sin;   Ten Commandments;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Isaiah;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Idolatry,;   Law of Moses;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Gods;   Justice;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Peculiarities of the Law of Moses;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Accursed;   Covenant, the Book of the;   Deuteronomy;   God;   Law, Judicial;   Leviticus;   Sacrifice;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Aliens;   Charity and Charitable Institutions;   Deuteronomy;   Ethics;   Judaism;   Magic;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
"He who sacrifices to any god, except to the LORD only, shall be utterly destroyed.
King James Version
He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed.
Lexham English Bible
"‘Whoever sacrifices to the gods—not to Yahweh, to him alone—will be destroyed.
New Century Version
"Destroy completely any person who makes a sacrifice to any god except the Lord .
New English Translation
"Whoever sacrifices to a god other than the Lord alone must be utterly destroyed.
Amplified Bible
"He who sacrifices to any god, other than to the LORD alone, shall be put under a ban (designated) for destruction (execution).
New American Standard Bible
"He who sacrifices to any god, other than to the LORD alone, shall be utterly destroyed.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Hee that offereth vnto any gods, saue vnto the Lord onely, shalbe slaine.
Legacy Standard Bible
"And he who sacrifices to any god, other than to Yahweh alone, shall be devoted to destruction.
Contemporary English Version
Death is the punishment for offering sacrifices to any god except me.
Complete Jewish Bible
"You must neither wrong nor oppress a foreigner living among you, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
Darby Translation
—He that sacrificeth to [any] god, save to Jehovah only, shall be devoted to destruction.
Easy-to-Read Version
"Whoever makes a sacrifice to a false god should be destroyed. The Lord is the only one you should make sacrifices to.
English Standard Version
"Whoever sacrifices to any god, other than the Lord alone, shall be devoted to destruction.
George Lamsa Translation
He who sacrifices to idols shall be utterly destroyed; but to the LORD alone shall he sacrifice.
Good News Translation
"Condemn to death anyone who offers sacrifices to any god except to me, the Lord .
Christian Standard Bible®
“Whoever sacrifices to any gods, except the Lord alone, is to be set apart for destruction.
Literal Translation
One sacrificing to a god shall be destroyed, unless it is only to Jehovah.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Who so offreth to eny goddes, saue vnto the LORDE onely, let him dye without redempcion.
American Standard Version
He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto Jehovah only, shall be utterly destroyed.
Bible in Basic English
Complete destruction will come on any man who makes offerings to any other god but the Lord.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
He that offereth vnto any gods, saue vnto ye Lord only, he shalbe killed.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And a stranger shalt thou not wrong, neither shalt thou oppress him; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
King James Version (1611)
Hee that sacrificeth vnto any god saue vnto the Lord onely, hee shall be vtterly destroyed.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
He that sacrifices to any gods but to the Lord alone, shall be destroyed by death.
English Revised Version
He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the LORD only, shall be utterly destroyed.
Berean Standard Bible
If anyone sacrifices to any god other than the LORD alone, he must be set apart for destruction.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
He that offrith to goddis, out takun to the Lord aloone, be he slayn.
Young's Literal Translation
`He who is sacrificing to a god, save to Jehovah alone, is devoted.
Update Bible Version
Whoever sacrifices to the gods shall be completely destroyed.
Webster's Bible Translation
He that sacrificeth to [any] god, save to the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed.
World English Bible
"He who sacrifices to any god, except to Yahweh only, shall be utterly destroyed.
New King James Version
"He who sacrifices to any god, except to the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed.
New Living Translation
"Anyone who sacrifices to any god other than the Lord must be destroyed.
New Life Bible
"He who gives a gift in worship to any god other than the Lord alone will be destroyed.
New Revised Standard
Whoever sacrifices to any god, other than the Lord alone, shall be devoted to destruction.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
He that sacrificeth to the gods shall be devoted to destruction, - except he sacrificeth to Yahweh alone.
Douay-Rheims Bible
He that sacrificeth to gods, shall be put to death, save only to the Lord.
Revised Standard Version
"Whoever sacrifices to any god, save to the LORD only, shall be utterly destroyed.
THE MESSAGE
"Anyone who sacrifices to a god other than God alone must be put to death.

Contextual Overview

16 "If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged, and lies with her, he must pay a dowry for her to be his wife. 17 "If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equal to the dowry for virgins. 18 "You shall not allow a sorceress to live. 19 "Whoever lies with an animal shall surely be put to death. 20 "He who sacrifices to any god, other than to the LORD alone, shall be utterly destroyed.21 "You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. 22 "You shall not afflict any widow or orphan. 23 "If you afflict him at all, and if he does cry out to Me, I will surely hear his cry; 24 and My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

sacrificeth: Numbers 25:2-4, Numbers 25:7, Numbers 25:8, Deuteronomy 13:1-15, Deuteronomy 17:2-5, Deuteronomy 18:20

utterly: Numbers 21:3, Joshua 23:15, Joshua 23:16

Reciprocal: Leviticus 27:28 - no devoted Numbers 25:5 - Slay ye Deuteronomy 13:15 - destroying it utterly 2 Kings 23:20 - he slew 2 Chronicles 15:13 - whosoever

Cross-References

Genesis 11:26
Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.
Genesis 11:29
Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah.
Genesis 24:10
Then the servant took ten camels from the camels of his master, and set out with a variety of good things of his master's in his hand; and he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor.
Genesis 24:15
Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor, came out with her jar on her shoulder.
Genesis 24:24
She said to him, "I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor."
Genesis 31:53
"The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us." So Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac.
Proverbs 25:25
Like cold water to a weary soul, So is good news from a distant land.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

He that sacrificeth unto [any] god,.... To Elohim, to strange gods, to the idols of the people, as the Targum of Jonathan; to the Egyptian deities, to the gods of the Moabites, Amorites, Edomites, Canaanites, Philistines, or any other: Aben Ezra says the word Elohim comprehends angels; and by the exceptive clause it is plain it takes in all that had been, were, or ever would be the objects of idolatrous worship, especially the sun, moon, and stars, the principal objects of worship in those days:

save unto the Lord only; the true and living God; Jehovah, the self-existent, immutable, and eternal Being; the Creator of all things, the possessor of heaven and earth, the most high God, and the only one: sacrificing takes in all the acts of service performed to an idol as to the true God, as offering incense, pouring out a libation, as well as slaying and burning an animal as Jarchi observes: he shall be utterly destroyed; be accursed, anathematized, devoted to destruction, as the word used signifies: the Targum of Jonathan is,

"he shall be killed with the sword, and his goods consumed,''

not only lose his life but his substance, and so be destroyed in body and estate.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

This was probably an old formula, the sense of which, on its ethical side, is comprised in the first and second commandments.

Shall be utterly destroyed - The Hebrew word here used is חרם châram (i. e. devoted). See Leviticus 27:28.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Exodus 22:20. Utterly destroyed. — The word חרם cherem denotes a thing utterly and finally separated from God and devoted to destruction, without the possibility of redemption.


 
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