Why? Because those people will turn your children away from following me. Then your children will serve other gods. And the Lord will become very angry at you. He will quickly destroy you.
It was not enough for Ahab to do the same sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had done. So Ahab also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal. Ethbaal was the king of the people of Sidon. Then Ahab began to serve and worship Baal. [190]
Don’t worship or serve idols of any kind. Why? Because I, the Lord, am your God. I hate my people worshiping other gods. [125] People who sin against me become my enemies. And I will punish those people. And I will punish their children, their grandchildren, and even their great-grandchildren.
Why? Because then they won’t be able teach you to sin against the Lord your God. They will not be able to teach you to do any of the terrible things they do when they worship their gods.
So, I am warning you now. Heaven and earth are my witnesses! If you do that evil thing, then you will quickly be destroyed! You are crossing the Jordan River now to take that land. But if you make any idols, then you will not live there very long. No, you will be completely destroyed!
The Lord your God is always with you. And the Lord hates his people worshiping other gods! So if you follow those other gods, the Lord will become very angry at you. He will destroy you from the face of the earth.
“Don’t stop following the Lord. Don’t become friends with these other people that are not part of Israel. Don’t marry any of their people. But if you do become friends with these people,
The people of Israel began to marry the daughters of those people. The people of Israel allowed their own daughters to marry the sons of those people. And the people of Israel began to worship the gods of those people.