26 And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus(A) and in practically the whole province of Asia.(B) He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all.(C)

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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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29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill.(A)

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10 Who shapes a god and casts an idol,(A)
    which can profit nothing?(B)
11 People who do that will be put to shame;(C)
    such craftsmen are only human beings.
Let them all come together and take their stand;
    they will be brought down to terror and shame.(D)

12 The blacksmith(E) takes a tool
    and works with it in the coals;
he shapes an idol with hammers,
    he forges it with the might of his arm.(F)
He gets hungry and loses his strength;
    he drinks no water and grows faint.(G)
13 The carpenter(H) measures with a line
    and makes an outline with a marker;
he roughs it out with chisels
    and marks it with compasses.
He shapes it in human form,(I)
    human form in all its glory,
    that it may dwell in a shrine.(J)
14 He cut down cedars,
    or perhaps took a cypress or oak.
He let it grow among the trees of the forest,
    or planted a pine,(K) and the rain made it grow.
15 It is used as fuel(L) for burning;
    some of it he takes and warms himself,
    he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
But he also fashions a god and worships(M) it;
    he makes an idol and bows(N) down to it.
16 Half of the wood he burns in the fire;
    over it he prepares his meal,
    he roasts his meat and eats his fill.
He also warms himself and says,
    “Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.(O)
17 From the rest he makes a god, his idol;
    he bows down to it and worships.(P)
He prays(Q) to it and says,
    “Save(R) me! You are my god!”
18 They know nothing, they understand(S) nothing;
    their eyes(T) are plastered over so they cannot see,
    and their minds closed so they cannot understand.
19 No one stops to think,
    no one has the knowledge or understanding(U) to say,
“Half of it I used for fuel;(V)
    I even baked bread over its coals,
    I roasted meat and I ate.
Shall I make a detestable(W) thing from what is left?
    Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”(X)
20 Such a person feeds on ashes;(Y) a deluded(Z) heart misleads him;
    he cannot save himself, or say,
    “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?(AA)

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20 The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent(A) of the work of their hands;(B) they did not stop worshiping demons,(C) and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk.(D)

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10 This went on for two years,(A) so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia(B) heard the word of the Lord.(C)

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15 “Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human,(A) like you. We are bringing you good news,(B) telling you to turn from these worthless things(C) to the living God,(D) who made the heavens and the earth(E) and the sea and everything in them.(F)

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for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned(A) to God from idols(B) to serve the living and true God,(C)

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Paul’s Concern for the Galatians

Formerly, when you did not know God,(A) you were slaves(B) to those who by nature are not gods.(C)

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But I will stay on at Ephesus(A) until Pentecost,(B) because a great door for effective work has opened to me,(C) and there are many who oppose me.

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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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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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14 Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;
    every goldsmith is shamed(A) by his idols.
The images he makes are a fraud;(B)
    they have no breath in them.
15 They are worthless,(C) the objects of mockery;
    when their judgment comes, they will perish.

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11 “Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish(A) from the earth and from under the heavens.’”[a]

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 10:11 The text of this verse is in Aramaic.

18 Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. 19 A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.[a] 20 In this way the word of the Lord(A) spread widely and grew in power.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 19:19 A drachma was a silver coin worth about a day’s wages.

19 They arrived at Ephesus,(A) where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.

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    They are from Israel!
This calf—a metalworker has made it;
    it is not God.(A)
It will be broken in pieces,
    that calf(B) of Samaria.(C)

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For the practices of the peoples are worthless;
    they cut a tree out of the forest,
    and a craftsman(A) shapes it with his chisel.(B)
They adorn it with silver(C) and gold;
    they fasten it with hammer and nails
    so it will not totter.(D)
Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field,
    their idols cannot speak;(E)
they must be carried
    because they cannot walk.(F)
Do not fear them;
    they can do no harm(G)
    nor can they do any good.”(H)

No one is like you,(I) Lord;
    you are great,(J)
    and your name is mighty in power.

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“With whom will you compare me or count me equal?
    To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?(A)
Some pour out gold from their bags
    and weigh out silver on the scales;
they hire a goldsmith(B) to make it into a god,
    and they bow down and worship it.(C)
They lift it to their shoulders and carry(D) it;
    they set it up in its place, and there it stands.
    From that spot it cannot move.(E)
Even though someone cries out to it, it cannot answer;(F)
    it cannot save(G) them from their troubles.

“Remember(H) this, keep it in mind,
    take it to heart, you rebels.(I)

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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.

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But their idols are silver and gold,(A)
    made by human hands.(B)
They have mouths, but cannot speak,(C)
    eyes, but cannot see.
They have ears, but cannot hear,
    noses, but cannot smell.
They have hands, but cannot feel,
    feet, but cannot walk,
    nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
Those who make them will be like them,
    and so will all who trust in them.

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