Exodus 34:11-16
New Catholic Bible
11 “Observe what I command you today. I will drive out the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 12 Take care not to make any covenants with the inhabitants of the land that you are about to enter, lest it become a snare to you. 13 You are to tear down their altars, smash their pillars, and cut down their sacred trees.[a] 14 You must not worship any other god, for the Lord is called Jealous, for he is a jealous God.
15 “Do not make a covenant with the people of that land lest, when they commit fornication for their gods and perform sacrifices to their gods, they invite you and you eat of their sacrifice.[b] 16 Do not take their daughters as wives for your sons lest, when their daughters commit fornication to their gods, they cause your sons to commit fornication with their gods as well.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Exodus 34:13 In the Canaanite religion the pillars, Hebrew, massebot, were symbols of the male god; their cult is condemned; see also Ex 23:24; Lev 26:1; Deut 7:5; 12:3; 16:22; Hos 3:4; 10:1; Mic 5:12. The sacred trees (Hebrew, asherah) were a symbol of the female goddess of love and fertility (Astarte).
- Exodus 34:15 As compared to the worship of Yahweh, which is likened to a legitimate marriage, the worship of false gods is described as prostitution. See Ezek 16; 23; Hos 1–3; Rev 17.
