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51 Bible verses that condemn the use of Amulets
Cursed be he, that maketh eny carued Idoll or molten ymage (an abhominacion of the LORDE, a worke of the handes of ye craftesman) and putteth it in a secrete place. And all the people shal answere and saye, Amen.
But many of them that had vsed curious craftes, broughte the bokes together, and burnte them openly: and they counted the pryce of them, and founde it of money fiftye thousande pens.
But the fearefull and vnbeleuynge, and the abhominable, and murthurers, and whormongers, and sorcerers, and ydolaters, & all lyars, shal haue their parte in the lake, that burneth with fyre and brymstone, which is the seconde death.
So are we sure now cocernynge the meates offred vnto Idols, that an Idoll is nothinge in the worlde, and that there is none other God but one.
And the remnaunt of the me which were not kylled by these plages, repeted not of the dedes of their hondes, yt they shulde not worshippe deuels, and ymages of golde, and syluer, and brasse, & stone, and of wod, which nether can se, nether heare, nether
For as moch then as we are the generacion of God, we oughte not to thinke that the Godheade is like vnto golde or syluer, or ymagery worke of the crafte or ymaginacion of man.
Then will I poure cleare water vpon you, & ye shalbe clene: Yee from all youre vnclennesse and from all yor Idols shal I clense you.
Thou shalt make the no grauen ymage ner eny symilitude, nether of it that is aboue in heauen, ner of it that is beneth vpon earth, ner of it that is in the water vnder the earth.Worshipe them not, and serue them not: for I the LORDE thy God am a gelouse God, vysitinge ye synne of the fathers vpon the children, vnto ye thirde and fourth generacion, of them that hate me:
Thou shalt make the no grauen ymage of eny maner of licknesse of the thinges yt are aboue in heauen, & beneth vpon earth, & in the water vnder the earth.Thou shalt not honor them, ner serue the. For I ye LORDE yi God am a gelous God, vysitinge the synne of the fathers vpo the children, vnto the thirde and fourth generacion, of the yt hate me:
The ymages of their goddes shalt thou burne with fyre, & shalt not desyre the syluer or golde that is on them or to take it vnto the, that thou snare not thy self therin: for it is abhominacion vnto the LORDE yi God.Therfore shalt thou not brynge the abhominacion in to thine house, yt thou be not damned as it is, but shalt vtterly defye it, and abhorre it, for it is damned.
Wherfore all caruers of Idols are but vayne, and their laboure lost. They must beare recorde them selues, that (seinge they can nether se ner vnderstonde) they shalbe confounded.Who shulde now make a god, or fashio an Idol, that is profitable for nothinge?Beholde all the felashippe of the must be brought to confucion. Let all the workmasters of them come and stonde together from amonge men: they must be abashed and confouded one with another.The smyth taketh yron, and tempreth it with hote coles, and fashioneth it with hammers, & maketh it wt all the strength of his armes: Yee somtyme he is faynt for very hunger, and so thurstie, that he hath no more power.The carpenter (or ymage caruer) taketh me the tymbre, and spredeth forth his lyne: he marketh it with some coloure: he playneth it, he ruleth it, ad squareth it, and maketh it after the ymage of a man, and acordinge to the bewtie of a man: that it maye stonde in the temple.Morouer, he goeth out to hewe downe Cedre trees: He bringeth home Elmes and okes, and other tymbre of the wodd. Or els the Fyrre trees which he planted himself, ad soch as the rayne hath swelled,which wodde serueth for me to burne. Of this he taketh and warmeth himself withall: he maketh a fyre of it to bake bred. And after warde maketh a god there of, to honoure it: and an Idol, to knele before it.One pece he burneth in the fyre, with another he rosteth flesh, that he maye eate roste his bely full: with the thirde he warmeth himself, and saieth: Aha: I am well warmed, I haue bene at the fyre.And of the residue, he maketh him a god, and an Idol for himself. He kneleth before it, he worshippeth it, he prayeth vnto it, and sayeth: delyuer me, for thou art my god.Yet men nether considre ner vnderstonde, because their eyes are stopped, that they can not se: and their hertes, that they cannot perceaue.They pondre not in their myndes (for they haue nether knowlege ner vnderstodinge) to thinke thus: I haue bret one pece in the fyre, I haue baked bred wt ye coles there of, I haue rosted flesh withall, & eaten it: Shal I now of the residue make an abhominacion, and fall downe before a rotten pece of wodd?The kepinge of dust, and folishnesse of herte hath turned them a syde: so that none of them can haue a fre conscience to thinke: maye not I erre?
Ye shal eate nothinge wt bloude. Ye shall not regarde ye foules cryenge, ner chose out dayes.Ye shal shaue no crownes vpo youre heade, nether shalt thou clyppe thy beerde cleane off.Ye shal rente out no markes in youre body (for eny that is deed) ner make lettres vpo you: for I am the LORDE.
And in the valley of the sonne of Hennon caused he his awne sonnes to go thorow the fyre, and chosed dayes, & regarded byrdescryenge, and witches, and founded soythsayers and expounders of tokens, and dyd moch that was euell in the sighte of the LORDE to prouoke him vnto wrath.
Thus saieth the LORDE: Ye shal not lerne after the maner of the Heithe, and ye shal not be afrayed for the tokens of heauen: for the Heithen are afrayed of soch:Yee all the customes and lawes of the Getiles are nothinge, but vanite. They hewe downe a tre in the wod with the hondes of the worke man, and fashion it with the axe:they couer it ouer with golde or syluer, they fasten it wt nales and hammers, that it moue not.It stodeth as stiff as the palme tre, it can nether speake ner go, but must be borne. Be not ye afrayed of soch, for they ca do nether good ner euel.
Thou hast hither to had many councels of them, so let the heauengasers & the beholders of starres, come on now and delyuer the: yee and let the shewe, when these new thinges shall come vpon the.Beholde, they shalbe like strawe, which yf it be kindled with fyre, no man maye rydde it for the vehemence of the flame: And yet it geueth no zynders to warme a ma by, ner cleare fyre to syt by.Euen so shal they be vnto the, whom thou hast vsed & occupide from thy youth. Euery one shal shewe ye his erroneous waye, yet shall none of them defende the.
But afore there was in ye same cite a certayne ma, called Simon, which vsed witche craft, and bewitched ye people of Samaria, sayenge, that he was a man which coulde do greate thinges.And they all regarded him from the leest vnto ye greatest, & sayde: This is the power of God which is greate.But they regarded him, because that of longe tyme he had bewitched them with his sorcery.
And Iosias expelled all soythsayers, expounders of tokes, ymages and Idols, and all the abhominacions which were sene in the londe of Iuda and at Ierusalem, that he mighte set vp the wordes of the lawe, which were wrytten in the boke, that Helchias ye prest foude in the house of ye LORDE.
And therfore, folowe not youre prophetes, soythsayers, expounders of dreames, charmers & witches, which saye vnto you: ye shal not serue the kinge of Babilon.For they preach you lies, to bringe you farre from youre londe, & that I might cast you out, & destroye you.
that there be not founde amonge you, yt maketh his sonne or doughter go thorow the fyre, or a prophecier, or a choser out of dayes, or that regardeth the foules cryenge,or a witch, or a coniurer, or soythsayer, or an expounder of tokens, or yt axeth eny thinge of the deed.For who so euer doth soch, is abhominacion vnto the LORDE: and because of soch abhominacions doth the LORDE yi God dryue the out before the.
Ye shal eate nothinge wt bloude. Ye shall not regarde ye foules cryenge, ner chose out dayes.
But thou art scatred abrode with thy people (o house of Iacob) for ye go farre beyonde yor fathers, whether it be in Sorcerers) whom ye haue as the phylistynes had) or in calkers of mens byrthes, wherof ye haue to many.
Ye shal not turne yor selues to ye Soythsayers, and axe nothinge at the expounders of tokes, that ye be not defyled by them: for I am the LORDE youre God.
& saye: Thus saieth the LORDE God: Wo be vnto you, that sowe pilowes vnder all arme holes, and bolsters vnder the heades both of yonge and olde, to catch soules withall. For when ye haue gotten the soules of my people in youre captiuyte, ye promyse them life,and dishonoure me to my people, for an handfull of barly, & for a pece of bred: when ye kyll the soules of them that dye not, & promyse life to them, that lyue not: Thus ye dyssemble with my people, yt beleueth yor lies.Wherfore thus saieth the LORDE God: Beholde, I wil also vpo the pillowes, wherwith ye catch the soules in flyenge: the will I take from youre armes, & let the soules go, that ye catch in flyenge.
My people axe councel at their stockes, their staffe must tell them. For an whorish mynde hath disceaued them, so yt they comitte fornicacion agaynst their God.
All witchcraftes will I rote out of thyne hande, there shall no mo soythsayenges be within the.
It stodeth as stiff as the palme tre, it can nether speake ner go, but must be borne. Be not ye afrayed of soch, for they ca do nether good ner euel.
All witchcraftes will I rote out of thyne hande, there shall no mo soythsayenges be within the.Thine Idols and thyne ymages will I destroye out of ye so that thou shalt nomore bowe thy self vnto the workes of thyne owne hondes.
Notwithstondinge whan ye knewe not God, ye dyd seruyce vnto them, which by nature are no Goddes.But now seynge ye knowe God (yee rather are knowne off God) how is it that ye turne you backe agayne vnto the weake and beggerly tradicions, wher vnto ye desyre agayne afresh to be in bondage?
and thou hast done worse then all they that haue bene before the: thou hast gone thy waye and made the other goddes, and molten ymages, to prouoke me vnto wrath, and hast cast me behynde thy backe.
In that daye shal the LORDE take awaye the gorgiousnes of their apparel, and spanges, cheynes, partlettes,and colares, bracelettes and hooues,ye goodly floured, wyde and broderd raymet, brusshes and headbandes,
Wherfore yf ye be deed with Christ from the ordinaunces of the worlde, why are ye holden the with soch tradicions, as though ye lyued after the worlde? As whan they saye:Touch not this, taist not that, handle not that.All these thinges do hurte vnto men, because of the abuse of them, which abuse commeth onely of the commaundementes and doctrynes of men:
Morouer yf ye destroye the syluer workes of youre Idols, and cast awaye the golden coapes that ye deckt them withall (as fylthynes) and saie, get you hence:
If eny soule turne him to ye soythsayers and expounders of tokens, so that he goeth a whorynge after them, I wyl set my face agaynst the same soule, and wyl rote him out from amonge his people.
And now they synne more and more: of their syluer, they make them molten ymages, like the Idols of the Heithen, and yet all is nothinge but the worke of the craftesman. Notwithstodinge they preach of the same: who so wil kysse the calues, offreth to men.
And ouerthrowe their altares, and breake downe their pilers, and burne their groues with fyre, and hewe downe the ymages of their goddes, & brynge the names of them to naught out of the same place.
Inmediatly was it ful of Idols also, euen workes of youre owne hondes, which ye youre selues haue facioned, and youre fyngers haue made.
For without are dogges and inchaunters and whormongers, and mortherers, and ydolaters, and whosoeuer loueth or maketh lesinges.
It fortuned whan we wente to prayer, yt there met vs a damsel, which had a sprete of soythsayenge, and broughte hir master and mastresse greate vauntage with soyth sayenge:ye same folowed Paul and vs, and cryed, and sayde: These men are the seruauntes of the most hye God, which shewe vs ye waye of saluacion.This dyd she many dayes. But Paul was not content with it, and turned him aboute, and sayde vnto the sprete: I comaunde the in the name of Iesu Christ, that thou departe out of her. And he departed out at the same houre.
Their ymages are but syluer and golde, euen the worke of mens hodes.They haue mouthes, and speake not: eyes haue they, but they se not.They haue eares, and heare not: noses haue they, but they smell not.They haue handes and handle not, fete haue they, but they can not go, nether can they speake thorow their throte.They that made them, are like vnto them, and so are all soch as put their trust in them.
Bewarre lest eny ma spoyle you thorow philosophy and disceatfull vanite after the tradicions of men, and after the ordinauces of the worlde, and not after Christ.
which turned the trueth of God vnto a lye, & worshipped and serued the creature more then the maker, which is blessed for euer. Amen.
As for the ymages of the Heithe, they are but syluer and golde, the worke of mens hades.They haue mouthes, & speake not: eyes haue they, but they se not.They haue eares, and yet they heare not, nether is there eny breth i their mouthes.They that make them, are like vnto them, & so are all they that put their trust in the.
To whom then will ye licke God? or what similitude will ye set vp vnto him?Shal the caruer make him a carued ymage? and shal the goldsmyth couer him with golde, or cast him in to a fourme of syluer plates?Morouer shal the ymage maker (yt the poore man which is disposed, maye haue somthinge to set vp also) seke out and chose a tre, that is not rotten, and carue ther out an ymage, yt moueth not?
Wherfore thus saieth the LORDE God: Beholde, I wil also vpo the pillowes, wherwith ye catch the soules in flyenge: the will I take from youre armes, & let the soules go, that ye catch in flyenge.
And therfore yf they saye vnto you: aske councel at the soythsayers, witches, charmers and coniurers, then make them this answere: Is there a people enywhere, that axeth not councel at his God: whether it be concernynge the dead, or the lyuynge?Yf eny man want light, let him loke vpon the lawe and the testimony, whether they speake not after this meanynge.
No ma can serue two masters. For ether he shall hate the one and loue the other: or els he shall leane to the one, and despise the other: Ye can not serue God and mammon.
Nay. But this I saye, that loke what the Heythen offre, that offre they vnto deuels, and not vnto God. Now wolde I not that ye shulde be in the fellishippe of deuels.Ye can not drynke of the cuppe of the LORDE and of the cuppe of the deuels. Ye can not be partakers of the LORDES table, and of the table of deuels.