Exodus 20:5
BSB · Public Domain (CC0)“You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,”
A short, plain-language explanation of Exodus 20:5 goes here — the kind of answer a reader (or an AI assistant) can quote in one breath. Original meaning coming soon.
“You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,”
Berean Standard Bible · Public Domain (CC0)“Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;”
King James Version · Public Domain“thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them; for I Jehovah thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation of them that hate me,”
American Standard Version · Public Domain“Thou dost not bow thyself to them, nor serve them: for I, Jehovah thy God, <FI>am<Fi> a zealous God, charging iniquity of fathers on sons, on the third <FI>generation<Fi> , and on the fourth, of those hating Me,”
Young's Literal Translation · Public DomainOther passages that echo Exodus 20:5 — 24 related verses from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Exodus 23:24You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces.
- Exodus 34:6Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,
- Exodus 34:7maintaining loving devotion to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers on their children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”
- Exodus 34:14For you must not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
- Leviticus 20:5then I will set My face against that man and his family and cut off from among their people both him and all who follow him in prostituting themselves with Molech.
- Leviticus 26:1“You must not make idols for yourselves or set up a carved image or sacred pillar; you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down to it. For I am the LORD your God.
- Leviticus 26:29You will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters.
- Leviticus 26:39Those of you who survive in the lands of your enemies will waste away in their iniquity and will decay in the sins of their fathers.
- Numbers 14:18‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion, forgiving iniquity and transgression. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon their children to the third and fourth generation.’
- Numbers 14:33Your children will be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness.
- Numbers 25:11“Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned My wrath away from the Israelites; for he was zealous for My sake among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in My zeal.
- Deuteronomy 4:24For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
- Deuteronomy 5:9You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
- Deuteronomy 6:15For the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God. Otherwise the anger of the LORD your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth.
- Deuteronomy 7:10But those who hate Him He repays to their faces with destruction; He will not hesitate to repay to his face the one who hates Him.
- Deuteronomy 32:21They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God; they have enraged Me with their worthless idols. So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation without understanding.
- Deuteronomy 32:41when I sharpen My flashing sword, and My hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on My adversaries and repay those who hate Me.
- Joshua 23:7So you are not to associate with these nations that remain among you. You must not call on the names of their gods or swear by them, and you must not serve them or bow down to them.
- Joshua 23:16If you transgress the covenant of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from this good land He has given you.”
- Joshua 24:19But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD, for He is a holy God; He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your rebellion or your sins.
- Judges 2:19But when the judge died, the Israelites became even more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods to serve them and bow down to them. They would not give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.
- 1 Samuel 15:2This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘I witnessed what the Amalekites did to the Israelites when they ambushed them on their way up from Egypt.
- 2 Samuel 21:1During the reign of David there was a famine for three successive years, and David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, “It is because of the blood shed by Saul and his family, because he killed the Gibeonites.”
- 2 Samuel 21:6let seven of his male descendants be delivered to us so that we may hang them before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD.” “I will give them to you,” said the king.
Cross-reference data: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain) via OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).