Category
104 Verses on Turning Away from Superstitious Practices
Now the ma'asei habasar are manifest, dehainu (being:) zenut (fornication), tum'ah (impurity), zimmah (licentiousness),
Avodah zarah (idolatry), kashefanut (sorcery, witchcraft), eivot (enmities), merivah (strife), kinah (jealousy), rogez (anger), anochiyut (selfishness), machalokot (dissensions), kitot (sects),
Tzarut ayin (envyings), shichrut (drunkenness), holelut (carousing) and things like these, of which I tell you beforehand, as I said previously, that the ones practicing such things will not receive the nachalah (inheritance) of the Malchut Hashem.
But in the man who doubts, there is found in him a dvar ashmah (a thing of guilt, condemnation) if he eats, because it is not of emunah. And whatever is not of emunah is averah (sin).
Beware lest there be anyone of you taken captive through philosophical tevunah (wisdom) and empty deceit according to the kabbalah (oral tradition) of mere Bnei Adam, according to the ikkarim (basic principles) of the Olam Hazeh and not according to Moshiach;
Ami (My people) consult a piece of wood, and their staff declareth unto them; for the ruach zenunim hath caused them to err, and they have played the zonah, forsaking Eloheihem.
Moreover the mediums with familiar spirits, and the yidonim (spiritists), and the terafim, and the gillulim (idols), and all the shikkutzim that were seen in Eretz Yehudah and in Yerushalayim, did Yoshiyah put away, that he might confirm the Divrei HaTorah which were written in the Sefer that Chilkiyah HaKohen found in the Beis Hashem.
And they served their atzabim (idols); which were a mokesh (snare) unto them.
And, they sacrificed their banim and their banot unto shedim (demons),
When thou criest for help, let thy [idol] kibutzim (heaps, collections) save thee; but the ruach shall carry them all away; hevel shall take them; but he that putteth his trust in Me shall inherit eretz, and shall inherit My Har Kodesh;
Ye shall not eat any thing with the dahm; neither shall ye practice divination, nor practice sorcery.
Therefore do not pay heed to your nevi’im, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your soothsayers, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve Melech Bavel;
And he made bno pass through the eish, and practiced sorcery, and witchcraft, and dealt with familiar spirits [i.e., he consulted mediums] and spiritists; he wrought much rah in the eyes of Hashem, to provoke Him to anger.
Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy etzot (counsels). Let now stand up the hovrev Shomayim (the dissectors of the heavens, astrologers), the chozim bakochavim (stargazers), the ones that predict the future by Rosh Chodesh, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.
Hinei, they shall be as kash (stubble, straw); the eish shall burn them; they shall not save their nefesh from the power of the flame; there shall not be a hot coal to warm them, nor eish to sit before.
Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy etzot (counsels). Let now stand up the hovrev Shomayim (the dissectors of the heavens, astrologers), the chozim bakochavim (stargazers), the ones that predict the future by Rosh Chodesh, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.
Thus saith Hashem, Learn not the Derech HaGoyim, and be not in awe of the otot HaShomayim; though the Goyim are in awe of them.
The peselim of eloheihem shall ye burn with eish; thou shalt not desire the kesef or zahav that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein; for it is a to'evah (abomination) to Hashem Eloheicha.
Neither shalt thou bring a to'evah (abomination) into thine bais, lest thou be a cherem like it; but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cherem.
There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his ben or his bat to pass through the eish (i.e., be burned as an idol's offering) or kosem kesamim (a diviner of divination) or a m'onen (soothsayer, astrologer), or a m'nachesh (one who interprets omens), or a mekhashshef (witch).
Or one who casts spells, or one who inquires of a ghost or a familiar spirit, or a doresh el hamesim (a consulter of the dead ones, i.e., a necromancer).
For all that do these things are a to'avat Hashem; and because of these to'evot, Hashem Eloheicha is about to drive them out before thee.
Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after Ovos (Mediums) and Yidonim (Spiritists), to be defiled by them: I am Hashem Eloheichem.
And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto mediums that have familiar spirits, and unto spiritists that whisper, and that mutter: should not Am seek unto Elohav? Should they consult the mesim (dead ones) for the benefit of the chayyim (living)?
For meri (rebellion) is as the chattat (sin) of kesem (witchcraft, soothsaying, divination), and stubbornness is as heathenish iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the Devar Hashem, He hath also rejected thee from being Melech.
And they rejected His chukkot, and His brit (covenant) that He made with their avot, and His edot (testimonies, warnings) which He testified against them; and they followed after hevel, and became hevel, and went after the Goyim that were all around them, concerning whom Hashem had charged them, that they should not do like them.
And the nefesh that turneth to Ovos (Mediums) and Yidonim (Spiritists), to go a-whoring after them, I will even set My face against that nefesh, and will cut him off from among his people.
(7) I hate them that are the shomrim of lying vanities [i.e., idols]; but I trust in Hashem.
[5:11] And I will cut off keshafim (witchcrafts) out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more sorcerers;
They that make a pesel are all of them tohu; and their chamudim (favorite [idols]) are worthless; and they [the idols] are their own edim; they [the idols] see not, nor know; so that they [the idol people] are put to shame.
Who hath formed el (g-d), or molded a pesel to no profit?
Their atzabim (idols) are kesef and zahav, the ma'aseh (work) of the hands of adam.
Peh (mouth) they have, but they speak not; einayim (eyes) have they, but they see not;
Oznayim (ears) they have, but they hear not; af (nose) have they, but they smell not;
They have hands, but they handle not; raglayim (feet) have they, but they walk not; neither speak they through their garon (throat).
They that make them will be like them; so is kol asher bote'ach (every one that trusteth) in them.
Be shomer over yourselves, therefore; for ye saw no manner of temunah on the yom that Hashem spoke unto you in Chorev out of the midst of the eish;
Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a pesel, the temunah of any semel, the likeness of zachar or nekevah,
And many of the ones having come to emunah were making vidduy of their ma'asim, disclosing them.
And a number of the ones who had practiced kishshuf (magic, sorcery) brought together their occult sfarim and were burning them publicly; and they added up the price of these occult sfarim, and they found it to be fifty thousand silver pieces.
They shall be put to shame, and also confounded, all of them; they shall go to confusion together that are charashei tzirim (crafters of images, idols).
Be shomer to thyself that thou be not ensnared to follow them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their elohim, saying, How did these Goyim serve their elohim? Even so will I do likewise.
Thou shalt not do so unto Hashem Eloheicha; for kol to'avat Hashem (every abomination to Hashem), which He hateth, have they done unto their elohim; for even their banim and their banot they have burned in the eish to their elohim.
Declare ye among the Goyim, and publish, and lift up a nes (banner); publish, and conceal not; say, Bavel is captured, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is dismayed; her atzabim (images) are shamed, her gilulim (idols) are dismayed.
Because Menasheh Melech Yehudah hath done these to'avot, hath done wickedly more than all that HaEmori did, which were before him, hath made Yehudah also to sin with his gillulim (idols);
And they forsook all the mitzvot of Hashem Eloheihem, and made them massekhah, even two agalim, and made Asheirah, and worshiped all the Tzava HaShomayim, and served Ba'al.
What profiteth the pesel (graven image) that the maker thereof hath shaped it; the molten image, and moreh sheker, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb elilim (idols)?
But they are altogether stupid and foolish; the etz is a musar havalim (discipline of delusions).
Enflaming yourselves among [cult prostitution and Ba'al sympathetic magic in worshipping fertility] elim (oaks, big trees) under every spreading tree, slaughtering the yeladim in the valleys under the clefts of the rocks?
And now they sin more and more, and have made for themselves massekhah (idol) of their kesef, and atzabim according to their faculty of binah (understanding), all of it the work of the craftsmen; they say of them, Let adam that sacrifice kiss calf-idols.
In that ye provoke Me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning ketoret unto elohim acherim in Eretz Mitzrayim, where ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might be a kelalah (curse) and a cherpah (reproach) among kol HaGoyim of ha'aretz?
And the Kasdim (Chaldeans), that fight against this city, shall come and set eish to this city, and burn it with the batim (houses), upon whose gagot (roofs) they have offered ketoret unto Ba'al, and poured out nesakhim (drink offerings) unto elohim acherim, to provoke Me to anger.
For they provoked Him to anger with their high places, and moved Him to jealousy with their pesilim.
Neither shall they make themselves tameh any more with their gillulim, nor with their shikkutzim, nor with any of their peysha'im; but I will save them out of all their moshavot wherein they have sinned, and will make them tahor; so shall they be My people, and I will be their Elohim.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any pesel, or any temunah of any thing that is in Shomayim above, or that is in ha'aretz beneath, or that is in the mayim under ha'aretz.
Thou shalt not tishtacheveh to them, nor serve them; for I Hashem Eloheicha am an El kanna, visiting the avon Avot upon the Banim unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me;
Not meaning to completely disassociate from the zannayim of the Olam Hazeh or those guilty of chamdanut (greed) and the ones practicing hona'ah (swindling) or those guilty of avodah zarah (idol worship), als (since) in that case you would have to exit the Olam Hazeh.
But, now I wrote to you not to mix with any “Ach b'Moshiach” who is a zannay (fornicator) or a kamtzan (miser) or an oved elilim (idolater) or a megadef (reviler) or a shikkor (drunkard) or a shoded (robber); with such a man do not sit at tish (table), do not share betzi'at halechem (breaking of bread).
Ye shall not go after elohim acherim, of elohei ha'amim (the g-ds of the peoples) which are round about you;
Ben adam, these anashim have set up their gillulim (idols) in their lev, and put the michshol (stumbling block) of their avon before their face; should I be inquired of at all by them?
So these Goyim feared Hashem, and also served their peselim, both their banim, and their bnei banim; as did their avot, so do they unto this day.
And it came to pass through the lightness with which she [Yisroel] took her zenut (whoredom), that she defiled HaAretz, and committed adultery with HaEven (the Stone [of the fertility cult of Ba'al worship]) and with HaEtz (the Wood [of the fertility cult of Ba'al worship]).
For they shall be ashamed of the sacred oaks which ye have delighted in, and ye shall blush for the gannot (gardens) that ye have chosen.
And also concerning Ma’achah em Asa HaMelech, he deposed her from being gevirah, because she had made to Asherah a mifletzet, and Asa cut down her mifletzet, and ground it up, and burned it at the Wadi Kidron.
And they built the high places of Ba'al, which are in the Gey Ben Hinnom, to cause their banim and their banot to pass through the eish unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into My lev, that they should do this toe'vah (abomination) to cause Yehudah to sin.
And he answered, I have not troubled Yisroel; but thou, and the Bais Avicha, in that ye have forsaken the Mitzvot Hashem, and thou hast followed after the Ba’alim.
Behind the delet also and the mezuzah (doorpost) hast thou set up thy zikron ([pornographic and idolatrous] memorial); deserting Me, thou hast uncovered thyself, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy mishkav (bed) and cut [a Brit] for thee with them [fertility cult idols]; thou lovedst their mishkav (bed) where thou hast looked on their yad [i.e., phallus].
Thus they made themselves tameh with their own ma'asim, and went awhoring with their own inventions.
Now the Ruach HaKodesh says befeirush (explicitly) that in the acharit hayamim some will become meshummad (apostate) from the emunah [of Moshiach], giving heed to deceitful ruchot (spirits, 1Yn 4:1) and teachings of shedim,
Neither should you become ovdei elilim (idolaters), as some of them did, as it has been written, "And the people sat to eat and to drink and they got up to revel” [SHEMOT 32:6].
Therefore Thou hast abandoned Thy people Bais Ya’akov, because they have found their fullness from Kedem (the East), and practice divination like the Pelishtim, and they clasp hands contentedly with yaldei nochrim (children of foreigners).
Ye shall not make beside Me elohei kesef, neither shall ye make for yourselves elohei zahav.
Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after other g-ds; their nesakhim (drink offerings) of dahm will I not offer, nor take up their shmot (names [of idols]) on my lips.
Kol adam is dull-hearted and without da'as; every goldsmith is shamed by the pesel; for his nesekh (molten image) is sheker, and there is no ruach in them.
Let no one deceive himself: if anyone presumes to be chacham among you in the Olam Hazeh, let him become a kesil (fool), that he may become chacham. [YESHAYAH 5:21]
They have turned aside quickly from HaDerech which I commanded them; they have made them an Egel Masekhah, and have bowed down to it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy elohim, O Yisroel, which have brought thee up out of the Eretz Mitzrayim.
They bear him upon the katef (shoulder), they carry him, and set him up in his place, and he standeth; from his makom shall he not move; yes, though one shall cry out unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his tzoros.
Thus saith Hashem, What avel (wrong, fault) have avoteichem found in Me, that they are strayed far from Me, and have walked after hevel (vain, empty delusion), and are become deluded?
I have even from long ago preached it to thee; before it came to pass I caused thee to hear it; lest thou shouldest say, Mine atzav (idol) hath done them, and my pesel, and my nesech (molten idol, metal image) hath commanded them.
Shamed be all they that serve pesel, that boast themselves of elilim; worship Him, kol elohim.
Because of their ra'ah (evil) which they have committed to provoke Me to anger, in that they went to burn ketoret, and to serve elohim acherim, whom they knew not, neither they, ye, nor avoteichem.
“But for those of morech lev (cowardliness) and those without emunah (faith) and the ones having become vile and ratzchaniyot (murderers) and zonim (fornicators) and mekhashfim (sorcerers) and ovdei haelilim (idolaters) and all the shakranit (liars), their chelek [see Yn 13:8] will be in the Agam (Lake) burning with Eish (fire) and Gofrit (sulfur), which is HaMavet HaSheyni (the Second Death).” [TEHILLIM 5:6; YESHAYAH 66:24]
And he caused his banot to pass through the eish in the Gey Ben Hinnom; also he practiced astrology, fortunetelling, and witchcraft, and necromancy and consulted mediums and spiritists; he wrought rah in the eyes of Hashem, to provoke Him to anger.
Now a certain ish by name Shimon was previously in the city practicing magic and astonishing the people of Shomron, saying that he himself was an ish of gadlus (with remarkable superiority) and gadol.
And to this certain Shimon everyone from katon to gadol was paying attention, saying, "Hinei! This man is the ko'ach (power) of Hashem, the ko'ach hagadol."
And they were giving heed to him, because he for a long time had astonished them by magic tricks.
They have moved Me to jealousy with that which is lo El (not G-d), they have provoked Me to anger with their vanities; and I will move them to jealousy with those which are lo Am (a nonpeople); I will provoke them to anger with a goy naval (foolish, senseless nation) [Ro 10:19].
So Sha'ul died for his ma'al (unfaithfulness) which he committed against Hashem, even against the Devar Hashem, over which he was not shomer, and also for consulting an ov (one with a familiar spirit) to seek guidance;
And hath not eaten [sacrifices of gillulim, idols] upon the harim, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the gillulim of Bais Yisroel, neither hath made tameh the isha of his neighbor, neither hath come near to an isha niddah,
And what agreement has the Heikhal of Hashem with elilim? For we are a Heikhal of the Elohim Chayyim [1C 3:16; 6:19] as G-d said, "V'HITHALLACHTI B'TOCHCHEM ("And I will walk in the midst of you" [VAYIKRA 26:12] I WILL BE MISHKANI ALEHEM ("dwelling place of me with them" [YECHEZKEL 37:27]) V'HAYU LI L'AM VAANI EHEYEH LAHEM LELOHIM [YIRMEYAH 32:38] ("And they will be to me as people and I will be to them as G-d." [YIRMEYAH 32:38]
And he did away with hakemarim (the idol priests), whom the Melachim of Yehudah had ordained to burn ketoret in the high places in the towns of Yehudah, and in the places around Yerushalayim; them also that burned ketoret unto Ba'al, to the shemesh, and to the yarei'ach, and to the mazalot (constellations) and to all the Tzeva HaShomayim.
Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are fugitives escaped of the Goyim; they have no da'as (knowledge, rationality) that burden themselves with their etz pesel (wooden idol), the ones davening to an el lo yoshia (g-d who cannot save).
And turn ye not aside; for then should ye go after hatohu (the vain, empty thing, idol), which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are tohu (vain, empty).
In all your moshevot (dwellings) the towns shall be laid waste, and the [idolatrous] high places shall be desolate; that your mizbechot will be laid waste and made desolate, and your gillulim (idols) will be broken and cease, and your incense altars will be cut down, and your ma'asim will be abolished.
Then shall the towns of Yehudah and inhabitants of Yerushalayim go, and cry out unto the elohim unto whom they offer ketoret; but they shall not save them at all in the time of their ra'ah (disaster).
Their land also is full of elilim; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own etzbe’ot have made;
They made an egel (a calf) in Chorev, and worshiped a massekhah (molden image).
Thus they exchanged their kavod for a tavnit shor (likeness of an ox) that eateth esev (grass).
Because they have forsaken Me, and have made this an alien place, and have burned [offerings] in it unto elohim acherim, whom neither they nor avoteihem have known, nor the melachim of Yehudah, and have filled this makom with the dahm of innocents;
Remember the rishonot (former things) me'olam (of old); for I am El (G-d), and there is not another [G-d]; Elohim, and there is none like Me.
The charash etzim (carpenter) stretcheth out his [measuring line]; he marketh it out with sered (red chalk); he worketh it with planes, and he marketh it out with a compass, and maketh it after the tavnit ish (pattern of a man), according to the tiferet adam; that it may stay inside the bais (idolatrous cult shrine).
The idols of the Goyim are kesef and zahav, the ma'aseh yedei adam.
They have mouths, but they speak not; einayim have they, but they see not;
They have oznayim, but they hear not; neither is there any ruach in their mouths.
They that oseihem (make them) will be like them; so is every one that trusteth in them.
Now concerning the eating of the okhel (food) at the mizbe’ach of avodah zarah which is sacrificed to an elil (idol), we have da'as that an elil is nothing in the world, and that there is no G-d but ECHAD (DEVARIM 4:35, 39; 6:4).
Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear l'sheker (falsely), and burn ketoret unto Ba'al, and walk after elohim acherim whom ye know not;
(5) Ashrei is that man that maketh Hashem his trust, and looketh not to the proud ones, nor such as turn aside to lies (false g-ds).
And thou wentest to Melech [i.e., the pagan g-d Molech, the deity of sacrificed offspring and abortions]; with shemen thou didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy [political] envoys far, even down unto Sheol.
The more I called them, the more they went from Me; they sacrificed unto Ba’alim, and burned incense to peselim (graven images).
They have seen shav (vanity) and kesem kazav (lying divination), saying, Hashem saith; and Hashem hath not sent them; yet they hope that their davar will be fulfilled.
Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a kesem kazav (lying divination), whereas ye say, Hashem saith it; albeit I have not spoken?
Therefore thus saith Adonoi Hashem: Because ye have spoken shav (vanity, futility) and seen kazav (lie), therefore, hineni, I am against you, saith Adonoi Hashem.
And Mine yad shall be against the nevi'im that see shav (vanity, futility), and that divine kazav (lie): they shall not be in the sod (council) of My people, neither shall they be written in the Ketav (Register) of Bais Yisroel, neither shall they enter into Admat Yisroel; and ye shall know that I am Adonoi Hashem.
Trust in Hashem with all thine lev, and lean not unto thine own binah (understanding).
In all thy drakhim acknowledge Him, and He shall make yosher thy orkhot (paths).
Then Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach says to him, Depart, Hasatan! For katuv (it is written), ES HASHEM ELOHEICHA TIRA VOTO TAAVOD (The L-rd your G-d you shall fear and Him you shall worship, DEVARIM 6:13).
Submit yourselves in mishma'at (obedience) to Hashem. Resist Hasatan, and he will flee from you.
Be shomer in zililut da’as (sober-mindedness). Your adversary Hasatan [Samma'el], prowls around like a roaring arye (lion), seeking whom to swallow.
Be anxious in nothing [Mt 6:25; 1K 5:7], but in everything by tefillah and by techinnah (supplication) with hodayah (thanksgiving), let your requests be made known before Hashem,
Stop allowing yourself to be conformed to the Olam Hazeh, but be transformed by your hitkhadshut (regeneration, renewal) of your mind, so that you may ascertain what is the ratzon Hashem (the will of G-d), what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of G-d.
And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto mediums that have familiar spirits, and unto spiritists that whisper, and that mutter: should not Am seek unto Elohav? Should they consult the mesim (dead ones) for the benefit of the chayyim (living)?
To the torah (teaching of G-d) and to the te'udah (recorded testimony, see verse 16); if they speak not according to Davar HaZeh, it is because there is no shachar (dawn, light) in them.