It is useful to find out what the Lord detests, what He ‘abhors’, what is repugnant to Him, and so on. This is not merely a matter of God’s ‘personal’ preferences – God establishes universally applicable standards. What is an abomination to Him is an abomination in general.
‘abomination’
Total number of verses found: 112
Ezekiel (37); Proverbs (19); Deuteronomy (15); Lev (5); 2 Chronicles (5); Rev (4); Dan (4); Isa (4); Jer (3); 2 Kings (3); Ezra (2); Ps (1); Ex (1); 1 Kings (1); Hos (1); Nah (1); Zech (1); Mal (1); Matt (1); Mark (1); Luke (1); Gen (1);
Gen 43:32: They served him separately, them separately, and the Egyptians who were eating with him separately; for the Egyptians cannot eat with the Hebrews, as this is an abomination to the Egyptians.
Ex 8:22: Moses replied: ‘It would not be right to do that, for we shall be offering to the Lord our God what is an abomination to the Egyptians; if we offer what is an abomination to the Egyptians in their sight, will they not stone us?’
- People have their own abominations too – for example, the Egyptians were unwilling to eat with the Israelites.
Lev 18:22 You shall not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; it is an abomination.
Lev 18:26 But you must keep my statutes and my ordinances, and must not commit any of these abominations — neither the native-born nor the foreigner residing amongst you. Lev 18:27 For all these detestable practices were committed by the people of the land who were before you, and the land became defiled. Lev 18:29 For whoever commits any of these abominations—all those who commit them—shall be cut off from my people.
Leviticus 20:13 If a man lies with another man as one lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
- This is a list of the abominations that were common amongst the peoples of Canaan before the arrival of the Israelites:
- incest of all kinds
- sex during your period
- infidelity
- the initiation of children into demon worship
- homosexual intercourse
- zoophilia
- Abominations defile and lead to disaster.
Deut 7:25 Burn the carved idols of their gods with fire. Do not covet the silver and gold that is on them, and do not take it for yourself, or you will be ensnared by it. It is an abomination to the Lord your God.
Deut 7:26 Do not bring any abomination into your house, lest you become accursed like it. You must utterly detest it and completely abhor it, for it is accursed.
- Any contact with idols is defiling.
- And very risky – you can fall on them to catch.
- They must be ruthlessly and completely eliminated.
Deut 12:31 Do not act in this way towards the Lord your God. For they have done everything that is an abomination to the Lord, everything He hates, for the sake of their gods. Indeed, they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire for the sake of their gods.
Deut 18:9 When you enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable practices of those pagan nations.
- Subjecting children to fire is an abomination – whether it be child sacrifice or some sort of occult ritual performed on them.
- On the face of it, this does not concern us – but if we were to include abortions amongst the sacrifices of children (if abortion is an abomination in the sight of the Lord, which it probably is), we have an extremely serious problem
- That’s quite an extreme example – but pagans do many other abominable things. For believers, the principle is this: it doesn’t matter what the world does – we must not do it.
Deut 13:15 Investigate the matter, examine it closely and make thorough enquiries. If it is true, a fact, and this abomination has been committed amongst you,
Deut 17:4 And if it is reported to you, or if you hear of it, you must investigate the matter thoroughly. If it is true and certain, and this abomination has been committed in Israel,
- This is a situation where people are tempted to take part in idolatrous festivals: (If, in any of the towns which the Lord your God is giving you to live in, you hear that some wicked men have arisen from amongst you and have enticed the inhabitants of their town, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods, which you have not known’—
- ch. 17 If a man or a woman is found amongst you, in any of the towns which the Lord your God is giving you, who has done what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, and has broken his covenant, and go and serve other gods, bowing down to them—whether to the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven—which I have not commanded,
Deut 17:1 You must not offer to the Lord your God a bull or a sheep that has any defect or any blemish, for that is an abomination to the Lord your God.
- To offer the Lord something of poor quality, to try to skimp on Him.
Deut. 18:9–12 When you enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable practices of those pagan nations. Let no one be found amongst you who makes their son or daughter pass through the fire, nor a soothsayer, nor a diviner, nor an interpreter of omens, nor a sorcerer, nor a charmer, nor one who consults the spirits of the dead, nor a medium, nor one who consults the dead. 12 For whoever does such things is an abomination to the Lord. It is because of these detestable practices that the Lord your God is driving them out before you.
- All things to do with magic and the occult.
Deut 20:18 so that they may not teach you to do all the detestable things they did for their gods, and so that you may not sin against the Lord your God.
- People around us do terrible things – and it’s not hard to be influenced by them and start copying them.
- Why do they do it? Because they believe that is what their gods want them to do.
Deut 22:5 A man must not wear women’s clothing, nor must a woman wear men’s clothing; for whoever does such things is an abomination to the Lord your God.
- Cross-dressing in any form.
Deut 23:19 You must not bring into the house of the Lord your God the wages of a prostitute or the price of a dog as the fulfilment of any vow, for both are an abomination to the Lord your God.
- The source of the money offered to God matters.
Deut 24:4 Her first husband, who sent her away, must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled. That would be an abomination in the sight of the Lord. Do not bring sin upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
- An unexpected turn of events – I don’t quite understand the reason. More on this in the relevant passage in Deuteronomy.
Deut. 25:14 You shall not have in your bag (two kinds of weights), a large one and a small one. 14 You shall not have in your house (two kinds of measures), a large one and a small one. 15 Keep your weights true and fair, and your measures true and fair, so that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. 16 For to the Lord your God, anyone who does such things, anyone who commits wickedness, is an abomination.
- Dishonesty in business of all kinds.
Deut 27:15 Cursed be the man who makes for himself a carved or cast idol—an abomination to the Lord, the work of a craftsman’s hands—and secretly keeps it. And let all the people answer: ‘Amen.’
Deut 32:16 They provoked him to jealousy with foreign gods; they incited his anger with their abominations.
- Idols of all kinds.
- Not only do they disgust God, but they also anger Him.
1 Kings 14:24 There were even temple prostitutes in the land. They committed all the abominations of the pagan nations whom the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.
- Another abomination, adopted from neighbouring cultures, was temple prostitution.
2 Kings 16:3 He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, and even made his son pass through the fire, in accordance with the detestable practices of the pagan nations whom the Lord had driven out before the people of Israel.
2 Chronicles 28:3 He sacrificed his son in the Valley of Hinnom and burnt his sons as offerings, following the detestable practices of the pagan nations whom the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.
- Child sacrifice or other forms of occult manipulation involving children.
- Once again, at first glance it may seem that this does not concern us – after all, who would kill their own children? However, if we were to ‘take into account’ the sacrifice of children through abortion, often on the altar of living standards, we would find ourselves facing a serious problem.
2 Kings 21:2 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the pagan nations whom the Lord had driven out before the people of Israel.
2 Chronicles 33:2 He did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations whom the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.
2 Kings 21:11 Because Manasseh, king of Judah, committed these abominations, he did things worse than anything the Amorites who had gone before him had done, and through his idols he led Judah into sin,
- It is unacceptable to imitate the world.
- This often leads to believers not only doing the same as the world around them, but ultimately doing things that are far worse.
2 Chronicles 34:33 Josiah removed all the detestable things from all the territories belonging to the Israelites. He compelled all the people of Israel to serve the Lord their God. Throughout his reign, they did not turn away from the Lord, the God of their fathers.
- There is another way – not only can we resist the pressure from the world, but we can also go on the counter-offensive.
- It is possible to bring order to one’s own life, including in areas that fall within our sphere of influence.
2 Chronicles 36:8 The rest of Jehoiakim’s deeds, the detestable things he did, and the charges brought against him are recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. After him, his son Jehoiachin became king.
- If we become entangled in the ways of the world, conform to the world, and do what the world expects of us – that is evil. And this evil remains with us – one day it it will be ruled against us
2 Chronicles 36:14: All the leading priests and the people, too, committed many acts of treachery, following all the detestable practices of the pagan nations, and defiled the house of the Lord, which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.
Ezra 9:1: When this was finished, the princes came to me and said, ‘The people of Israel, the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the land and from their detestable practices, namely the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites.’
Ezra 9:11: which you gave through your servants the prophets, when you said: ‘The land you are going to take possession of is a land defiled by the uncleanness of the nations of the earth, by their abominations, with which they have filled it from one end to the other in their uncleanness.’
Psalm 88:9: You have taken my friends away from me; you have made me an abomination to them. I am trapped and cannot escape.
Prov 6:16: There are six things the Lord hates, and a seventh is an abomination to him:
Prov 8:7: For my mouth speaks the truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
Prov 11:1: False scales are an abomination to the Lord; a just weight is his delight.
Prov 11:20: Those whose hearts are perverse are an abomination to the Lord, but those who walk blamelessly are dear to him.
Prov 12:22: Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are dear to him.
Prov 13:19: A desire fulfilled brings joy to the soul, but for fools it is an abomination to turn away from evil.
Prov 15:8: The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is pleasing to him.
Prov 15:9: The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but He will love those who pursue righteousness.
Prov 15:26: Wicked plans are an abomination to the Lord, but kind words are pure in his sight.
Prov 16:5: The Lord detests every arrogant person; they will certainly not go unpunished.
Prov 16:12: It is an abomination to a king to commit wickedness, for the throne is established through righteousness.
Prov 17:15: Both he who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are an abomination to the Lord.
Prov 20:10: A double standard and a double measure—both are an abomination to the Lord.
Proverbs 20:23: It is an abomination to the Lord to use double weights; false scales are not good.
Prov 21:27: The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; all the more so when it is offered with evil intent.
Proverbs 24:9: The fool’s intention is sin; the scoffer is an abomination to people.
Prov 26:25: Even if his voice is gentle, do not trust him, for there are seven abominations in his heart.
Proverbs 28:9: Whoever turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayer is an abomination.
Prov 29:27: To the righteous, the wicked are an abomination; to the wicked, those who walk in the way of righteousness are an abomination.
Isaiah 1:13: Bring no more false offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moons and Sabbaths, calling for assemblies – I cannot bear assemblies where there is wickedness.
Isaiah 41:24: Behold, you are nothing, and your deeds amount to nothing. Woe to anyone who chooses you.
Isaiah 44:19: It does not occur to him; he has neither knowledge nor understanding to say: ‘I have burnt half of it in the fire; I have also baked bread on the glowing coals.’ Shall I roast the meat and eat it, and then make an abomination from the remainder, and prostrate myself before a block of wood, face to the ground?’
Isaiah 66:3: Whoever slaughters a bull for a sacrifice also kills a man; whoever offers a sheep also breaks a dog’s neck; whoever brings a supplementary offering also sacrifices the blood of a pig; whoever offers incense as a memorial also blesses an idol. How they have chosen their own ways, and their souls have taken delight in abominations,
Jer 2:7: I brought you into a land of orchards, so that you might eat its fruit and enjoy its good things. But you came and defiled my land, and turned my inheritance into an abomination.
Jer 32:35: They have built high places to Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to offer their sons and daughters as burnt offerings to Molech—something I did not command them to do, nor did it ever enter my mind that they should commit such an abomination and lead Judah into sin.
Jer 44:22: The Lord could no longer bear your wicked deeds and the abominations you had committed. That is why your land has become a ruin, a desolate wasteland, a curse, and uninhabited, as it is today.
Ezekiel 5:9: And I will do to you what I have not yet done, and what I will never do again, because of all your abominations.
Ezekiel 6:9: Then those of you who escape will remember me amongst the nations to which they have been taken into captivity, how I was crushed by their adulterous hearts, which turned away from me, and their eyes that have committed adultery with their idols; and they will loathe themselves for the evil they have committed through all their abominations.
Ezekiel 6:11: Thus says the Lord God: Clap your hands, stamp your feet, and cry out, ‘Alas!’ because of all the abominable deeds of the house of Israel; for they shall fall by the sword, by famine and by pestilence.
Ezekiel 7:3: Now you are finished. I will pour out my wrath upon you; I will judge you according to your ways and bring upon you all your abominations.
Ezekiel 7:4: My eye will show you no pity, nor will I have any compassion on you, for I will bring your ways upon you, and your abominations will be in your midst. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
Ezekiel 7:8: Very soon I will pour out my wrath upon you, I will bring my anger against you to its full measure, I will judge you according to your ways, and I will bring all your abominations upon you.
Ezekiel 7:9: My eye will show no pity, nor will I have compassion. I will deal with you according to your ways, and your abominations will be in your midst. Then you will know that I, the Lord, am the one who strikes.
Ezekiel 7:20: She displayed her splendid adornments as a source of pride; they used them to make images of their abominations, their detestable idols. Because of this, I turned them into a source of defilement.
Ezekiel 8:6: Then he said to me: ‘Son of man, you can see what they are doing – the great abominations that the house of Israel is committing here, causing me to turn away from my sanctuary. You will see even greater abominations still.’
Ezekiel 8:9: Then he said to me, ‘Go in and see the detestable things they are committing here.’
Ezekiel 8:13: Then he said to me, ‘You will see even greater abominations that they are committing.’
Ezekiel 8:15: He said to me, ‘You have seen this, O son of man. You will see even greater abominations than these.’
Ezekiel 8:17: Then he said to me, ‘Have you seen this, son of man? Was it not enough for the house of Judah to commit the abominations they have committed here? For they have filled the land with violence; they have provoked me to anger again; and behold, they are holding a vine shoot to their noses.’
Ezekiel 9:4: The Lord said to him: ‘Go through the city, through the centre of Jerusalem. Mark on the foreheads of those men who sigh and groan over all the detestable practices being committed in its midst.’
Ezekiel 12:16: Yet I will spare some of them from the sword, from famine and from pestilence, so that they may recount all their abominations amongst the nations wherever they go. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
Ezekiel 14:6: Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Sovereign Lord: Repent and turn away from your idols; turn your faces away from all your detestable practices.
Ezekiel 16:2: Son of man, rebuke Jerusalem for her abominations.
Ezekiel 16:22: Despite all your abominations and your fornication, you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were bare and naked, wallowing in your own blood.
Ezekiel 16:43: ‘Therefore, just as you did not remember the days of your youth and provoked me with all these things, so I, in turn, have brought your conduct down upon your own head,’ declares the Sovereign Lord. Have you not committed this act of shame on top of all your abominations?
Ezekiel 16:47: Not only did you follow in their ways and commit their abominations, but before long, having grown weary of them, you plunged headlong into ruin in all your ways, even more so than they did.
Ezekiel 16:50: They became arrogant and committed abominations before me. So I removed them as soon as I saw this.
Ezekiel 16:51: Samaria has not committed even half as many sins as you have. You have multiplied your abominations more than they have, and so, by all the abominations you have committed, you have declared your sisters to be righteous.
Ezekiel 16:58: ‘You yourself shall bear the consequences of your shame and your abominations,’ declares the Lord.
Ezekiel 18:12: he oppressed the poor and the needy, seized plunder and did not return the pledge; he set his eyes on idols and committed an abomination,
Ezekiel 18:13: He lent money at usury and charged interest. Will he live? He will not live! He has committed all these abominations; he shall certainly be put to death; his blood shall be upon him.
Ezekiel 18:24: But if a righteous person turns away from their righteousness and commits wickedness, and acts in accordance with all the abominations that the wicked person has committed, will they live? None of the righteous deeds they have done will be remembered. He will die because of the treachery with which he has betrayed the Lord, and because of the sin with which he has sinned.
Ezekiel 20:4: Will you judge them? Will you judge them, O son of man? Instruct them concerning the abominations of their fathers.
Ezekiel 22:2: ‘And you, son of man, will you pass judgement? Will you pass judgement on a city that sheds blood? You shall rebuke it for all its abominations.’
Ezekiel 22:11: One has committed an abomination with his neighbour’s wife; another has defiled his daughter-in-law with a shameful act; and yet another has humiliated his sister, his father’s daughter, within you.
Ezekiel 23:36: Then the Lord said to me: ‘Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Declare to them their abominations.’
Ezekiel 33:26: You have relied on your sword, committed abominations, defiled every one of your neighbour’s wives, and yet you wish to take possession of the land?
Ezekiel 33:29: And they shall know that I am the Lord when I turn the land into a desolate wasteland because of all the abominations they have committed.
Ezekiel 36:31: Then you will remember your wicked ways and the deeds you have done that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your perversions and your abominations.
Ezekiel 43:8: by placing their thresholds beside my thresholds and their doorposts beside my doorposts, so that there was only a wall between me and them. They defiled my holy name by the abominations they committed, and in my anger I put an end to them.
Ezekiel 44:6: Say to the rebellious house of Israel: Thus says the Sovereign Lord: Enough of all your abominations, O house of Israel,
Ezekiel 44:7: when you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in the flesh, to be in my sanctuary, so that they might defile it, along with my whole house, whilst you offered me fat and blood as food, and they broke my covenant — apart from all your other abominations.
Ezekiel 44:13: They shall not come near me to serve me as priests, nor shall they come near any of my holy things, let alone the most holy things. They shall bear the shame of their abominations which they have committed.
Dan 9:27: And he shall confirm a covenant with many for one seven, but in the middle of the seven he shall put an end to the daily sacrifice and the additional offering. Then, on the wings of abominations, the destroyer will come, until destruction and judgement are poured out upon the land that is being laid waste.
Dan 11:31: At that time, forces will rise up from among them and desecrate the sanctuary — the fortress. They will also put an end to the regular worship and set up the abomination that causes desolation there.
Dan 12:2: Then many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, but others to utter shame and everlasting abhorrence.
Dan 12:11: And from the time the daily sacrifice is taken away until the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.
Hos 9:10: I found Israel like a cluster of grapes in the wilderness. I saw your forefathers as the first fruit on a fig tree when it bears fruit for the first time. But they went after Baal-Peor; they defiled themselves with abominations and became an abomination, just as they had loved.
Verse 3:6: I will heap abominations upon you, I will treat you with contempt, and I will make you a spectacle.
9:7: I will wipe away his blood from his mouth and his abominations from his teeth. The one who survives will also belong to his God; he will become a leader in Judah, and Ekron will be like the Jebusites.
Mal 2:11: Judah was unfaithful; an abomination was committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, for Judah defiled the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves, by marrying the daughter of a foreign god.
Matthew 24:15: ‘When you see the “abomination of desolation” spoken of by the prophet Daniel standing in the holy place — let the reader understand —’
Mark 13:14: ‘When you see the “abomination of desolation” standing where it ought not to be — let the reader understand — then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.’
L 16:15: He said to them, ‘You are the ones who appear righteous in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts; for what is highly esteemed amongst men is an abomination in the sight of God.’
Rev 17:4: The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls; in her hand she held a golden cup filled with the abominations and impurities of her fornication
Rev 17:5: and on her forehead was written a name: ‘Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth.’
Rev 21:8: ‘But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the detestable, the murderers, the sexually immoral, the sorcerers, the idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.’
Rev 21:27: And nothing impure shall enter it, nor anyone who practises abomination or falsehood, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
‘abomination’
Total number of verses found: 112
Total number of occurrences: 117