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26 So they prepared one of the bulls and placed it on the altar. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning until noontime, shouting, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no reply of any kind. Then they danced, hobbling around the altar they had made.

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26 So they took the bull given them and prepared it.

Then they called(A) on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response;(B) no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.

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Their gods are like
    helpless scarecrows in a cucumber field!
They cannot speak,
    and they need to be carried because they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of such gods,
    for they can neither harm you nor do you any good.”

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Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field,
    their idols cannot speak;(A)
they must be carried
    because they cannot walk.(B)
Do not fear them;
    they can do no harm(C)
    nor can they do any good.”(D)

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You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols.

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You know that when you were pagans,(A) somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.(B)

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So, what about eating meat that has been offered to idols? Well, we all know that an idol is not really a god and that there is only one God.

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So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols:(A) We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world”(B) and that “There is no God but one.”(C)

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“When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.

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And when you pray, do not keep on babbling(A) like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.(B)

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19 What am I trying to say? Am I saying that food offered to idols has some significance, or that idols are real gods? 20 No, not at all. I am saying that these sacrifices are offered to demons, not to God. And I don’t want you to participate with demons.

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19 Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything?(A) 20 No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons,(B) not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons.

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Yes, I will punish those who participate in pagan worship ceremonies,
    and those who fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit.

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On that day I will punish
    all who avoid stepping on the threshold,[a](A)
who fill the temple of their gods
    with violence and deceit.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. Zephaniah 1:9 See 1 Samuel 5:5.

18 “What good is an idol carved by man,
    or a cast image that deceives you?
How foolish to trust in your own creation—
    a god that can’t even talk!

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18 “Of what value(A) is an idol(B) carved by a craftsman?
    Or an image(C) that teaches lies?
For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation;
    he makes idols that cannot speak.(D)

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23 For you have proudly defied the Lord of heaven and have had these cups from his Temple brought before you. You and your nobles and your wives and concubines have been drinking wine from them while praising gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone—gods that neither see nor hear nor know anything at all. But you have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny!

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23 Instead, you have set yourself up against(A) the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives(B) and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand.(C) But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life(D) and all your ways.(E)

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20 “Gather together and come,
    you fugitives from surrounding nations.
What fools they are who carry around their wooden idols
    and pray to gods that cannot save!

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20 “Gather together(A) and come;
    assemble, you fugitives from the nations.
Ignorant(B) are those who carry(C) about idols of wood,
    who pray to gods that cannot save.(D)

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17 Then he takes what’s left
    and makes his god: a carved idol!
He falls down in front of it,
    worshiping and praying to it.
“Rescue me!” he says.
    “You are my god!”

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17 From the rest he makes a god, his idol;
    he bows down to it and worships.(A)
He prays(B) to it and says,
    “Save(C) me! You are my god!”

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38 One day while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with their swords. They then escaped to the land of Ararat, and another son, Esarhaddon, became the next king of Assyria.

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38 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple(A) of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat.(B) And Esarhaddon(C) his son succeeded him as king.(D)

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15 The idols of the nations are merely things of silver and gold,
    shaped by human hands.
16 They have mouths but cannot speak,
    and eyes but cannot see.
17 They have ears but cannot hear,
    and mouths but cannot breathe.
18 And those who make idols are just like them,
    as are all who trust in them.

19 O Israel, praise the Lord!
    O priests—descendants of Aaron—praise the Lord!
20 O Levites, praise the Lord!
    All you who fear the Lord, praise the Lord!

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15 The idols of the nations(A) are silver and gold,
    made by human hands.(B)
16 They have mouths, but cannot speak,(C)
    eyes, but cannot see.
17 They have ears, but cannot hear,
    nor is there breath(D) in their mouths.
18 Those who make them will be like them,
    and so will all who trust in them.

19 All you Israelites, praise the Lord;(E)
    house of Aaron, praise the Lord;
20 house of Levi, praise the Lord;
    you who fear him, praise the Lord.

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