EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Deuteronomy 4:19
19When you look up at the sky, you see the sun, the moon and the stars. They all shine up in the sky. But do not bend down low to them or worship them. They are there because the Lord your God has made them. He has given them to people everywhere in the world.
Deuteronomy 4:19 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.
- New International Version (NIV)And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.
- New King James Version (NKJV)And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage.
Context of Deuteronomy 4:19
17or the shape of any animal or bird. 18Do not copy the shape of anything that moves along the ground, or any fish that swims in the deep water. When you look up at the sky, you see the sun, the moon and the stars. They all shine up in the sky. But do not bend down low to them or worship them. They are there because the Lord your God has made them. He has given them to people everywhere in the world. 20But you belong to the Lord. He brought you out of Egypt, which was like a hot oven where you had much pain. He rescued you, to be his own special people, as you are today. 21The Lord your God became angry with me, because of you. He told me very strongly that I would not go across the Jordan River. He said that I would not go into the good land that he is now giving to you.
Read all of Deuteronomy 4Deuteronomy 4:19 word by word
וּפֶן־תִּשָּׂ֨א עֵינֶ֜יךָ הַשָּׁמַ֗יְמָה וְֽ֠רָאִיתָ אֶת־הַשֶּׁ֨מֶשׁ וְאֶת־הַיָּרֵ֜חַ וְאֶת־הַכּֽוֹכָבִ֗ים כֹּ֚ל צְבָ֣א הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וְנִדַּחְתָּ֛ וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִ֥יתָ לָהֶ֖ם וַעֲבַדְתָּ֑ם אֲשֶׁ֨ר חָלַ֜ק יְהוָ֤ה אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ אֹתָ֔ם לְכֹל֙ הָֽעַמִּ֔ים תַּ֖חַת כָּל־הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And lest thou lift upנָשָׂאnâώâ' nâsâh · to lift: raiseH5375
- thine eyesעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eyeH5869
- unto heavenשָׁמַיִםshâmayim shâmeh · heavenH8064
- and when thou seestרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
- the sunשֶׁ֫מֶשׁshemesh · sunH8121
- and the moonיָרֵחַyârêach · moonH3394
- and the starsכּוֹכָבkôkâb · starH3556
- all the hostצָבָאtsâbâ' tsebâ'âh · armyH6635
- shouldest be drivenנָדַחnâdach · to banishH5080
- to worshipשָׁחָהshâchâh · to bowH7812
- them, and serveעָבַד‛âbad · to serve: ministerH5647
- them, which the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- thy Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- hath dividedחָלַקchâlaq · to divideH2505
- unto all nationsעַם‛am · peopleH5971
Cross-references for Deuteronomy 4:19
- Deuteronomy 17:3He may have started to worship false gods that I have commanded you not to worship. Perhaps he worships the sun, the moon or the stars.
- 2 Kings 23:4Then the king gave a command to Hilkiah, the leader of the priests, and to the other priests and the temple guards. He told them to bring out from the Lord's temple everything that people used there to worship false gods. People used those things to worship Baal, Asherah and all the stars in the sky. King Josiah burned those things outside Jerusalem, in the fields of the Kidron Valley. Then he took all the ashes to Bethel.
- Job 31:26I have looked at the sun when it shines brightly. And I have seen the moon when it is very beautiful.
- Jeremiah 8:2They will leave the bones all over the ground, under the sun, the moon and the stars. Those were the gods that my people loved. They served them and they worshipped them. Nobody will take their bones and bury them again. They will lie on the ground, like dung.
- Ezekiel 8:16Then the Lord took me to the inside yard of his temple. I could see about 25 men who were standing between the altar and the front of the temple. Their backs were turned towards the Lord's temple. Their faces looked towards the east. They were bending down low to worship the sun that was rising in the east!
- Amos 5:25You people of Israel's family, listen to me! I led you through the wilderness for 40 years. During that time, did you worship me with sacrifices and offerings? No!
- Genesis 2:1In that way God finished making the heavens and the earth, and everything that was in them.
- 2 Kings 17:16They turned away from all the commands of the Lord their God. They used metal to make images of two calves as their idols. They also made an Asherah pole to worship. They worshipped all the stars in the sky and they served Baal.
- 2 Kings 21:3Manasseh built again the altars on the hills that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He built altars for people to worship Baal. He also made an Asherah pole, as King Ahab of Israel had done. He bent down low to worship all the stars in the sky.
- Jeremiah 19:13The houses in Jerusalem will be full of dead bodies like Topheth. The palaces of the kings of Judah will be the same. I will do that because people went up on the roofs of their houses to offer sacrifices to the stars. They poured out drink offerings to other gods.” ’
- Zephaniah 1:5Some people stand on the roof tops to worship the sun, the moon and the stars. I will remove those people. Some people say that they love me. But they say also that they love Malcam (a false god). So I will remove them, too.’
- Acts 7:42But God turned away from his people. He let them do what they wanted to do. He let them worship the stars in the sky. One of God's prophets wrote about this long ago: “God said, ‘People of Israel, listen! When you were in the wilderness for 40 years, you brought sacrifices and gifts to me. But you did not really worship me when you did that.
- Romans 1:25They refused to believe the true things about God. Instead, they chose to believe lies. They worshipped things that God has made and they became servants of those things. But they refused to worship God himself who made those things! Everyone should praise him for ever! Amen. This is true.
- Genesis 1:16God made two great lights. The brighter light ruled over the day. The less bright light ruled over the night. God also made the stars.
- Joshua 10:12So the Lord caused the Israelites to win the fight against the Amorites. After the battle that day, Joshua stood in front of Israel and he prayed to the Lord. He said, ‘Sun, stand still over Gibeon city. Moon, stand still over Aijalon valley.’
- Nehemiah 9:6Only you are the Lord. You made the sky and the heavens above the sky. You made all the stars, the earth and everything on it. You made the seas and everything in them. You give life to everything. The great crowd of angels in heaven bend down low to worship you.
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 4:19
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 19When thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars - The worship of the heavenly bodies was the oldest species of idolatry. Those who had not the knowledge of the true God were led to consider the sun, moon, planets, and stars, as not only self-existing, but the authors of all the blessings possessed by mankind. The knowledge of a rational system of astronomy served to destroy this superstition; and very little of it remains now in the world, except…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 19Divided - i. e., “whose light God has distributed to the nations for their use and benefit, and which therefore being creatures ministering to man‘s convenience must not be worshipped as man‘s lords.”Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 19host of heaven: This phrase refers to stars and other celestial bodies. People once thought they represented gods. Instead, they serve God, who named them to mark times and seasons (Genesis 1:14–19; Isaiah 40:26). The LORD your God has apportioned: Instead of worshiping these celestial bodies, God required the people of Israel to understand that God created them to serve humankind (Genesis 1:28).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 16-1916-19. Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image--The things are here specified of which God prohibited any image or representation to be made for the purposes of worship; and, from the variety of details entered into, an idea may be formed of the extensive prevalence of idolatry in that age. In whatever way idolatry originated, whether from an intention to worship the true God through those things which seemed to afford the strongest…Read the comment
Topics related to Deuteronomy 4:19
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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