Exodus 20:4
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4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth.(A)
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Leviticus 26:1
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Rewards for Obedience
26 “You shall make for yourselves no idols and erect no carved images or pillars, and you shall not place figured stones in your land, to worship at them, for I am the Lord your God.(A)
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Deuteronomy 5:8
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8 “ ‘You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth.
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Deuteronomy 4:15-19
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15 “Since you saw no form when the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire, watch yourselves closely, 16 so that you do not act corruptly by making an idol for yourselves in the form of any figure: the likeness of male or female,(A) 17 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, 18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. 19 And when you look up to the heavens and see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, do not be led astray and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples everywhere under heaven.(B)
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Psalm 97:7
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7 All servants of images are put to shame,
those who make their boast in worthless idols;
all gods bow down before him.(A)
Deuteronomy 27:15
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15 “ ‘Cursed be anyone who makes an idol or casts an image, anything abhorrent to the Lord, the work of an artisan, and sets it up in secret.’ All the people shall respond, saying, ‘Amen!’(A)
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Acts 17:29
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29 “Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals.(A)
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Leviticus 19:4
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4 Do not turn to idols or make cast images for yourselves: I am the Lord your God.(A)
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Revelation 16:2
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2 So the first angel went and poured his bowl on the earth, and a foul and painful sore came on those who had the brand of the beast and who worshiped its image.(A)
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Jeremiah 10:14-16
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14 Everyone is stupid and without knowledge;
goldsmiths are all put to shame by their idols,
for their images are false,
and there is no breath in them.(A)
15 They are worthless, a work of delusion;
at the time of their punishment they shall perish.
16 The portion of Jacob is not like these,
for he is the one who formed all things,
and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;
the Lord of hosts is his name.(B)
Romans 1:23
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23 and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.(A)
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Jeremiah 10:8-9
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8 They are both stupid and foolish;
the instruction given by idols
is no better than wood
9 Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish
and gold from Uphaz.
They are the work of the artisan and of the hands of the goldsmith;
their clothing is blue and purple;
they are all the product of skilled workers.(B)
Isaiah 45:16
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16 All of them are put to shame and confounded;
the makers of idols go in disgrace together.(A)
Psalm 115:4-8
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4 Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.(A)
5 They have mouths, but they do not speak;
they have eyes, but they do not see.
6 They have ears, but they do not hear;
they have noses, but they do not smell.
7 They have hands, but they do not feel;
they have feet, but they do not walk;
they make no sound in their throats.
8 Those who make them are like them;
so are all who trust in them.(B)
Deuteronomy 4:23-25
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23 So be careful, lest you forget the covenant that the Lord your God made with you and make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you.(A) 24 For the Lord your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.(B)
25 “When you have had children and children’s children and become complacent in the land, if you act corruptly by making an idol in the form of anything, thus doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God and provoking him to anger,(C)
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Acts 19:26-35
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26 You also see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost the whole of Asia this Paul has persuaded and drawn away a considerable number of people by saying that gods made with hands are not gods.(A) 27 And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be scorned, and she will be deprived of her majesty that brought all Asia and the world to worship her.”
28 When they heard this, they were enraged and shouted, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”(B) 29 The city was filled with the confusion, and people[a] rushed together to the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s travel companions.(C) 30 Paul wished to go into the crowd, but the disciples would not let him; 31 even some officials of the province of Asia[b] who were friendly to him sent him a message urging him not to venture into the theater. 32 Meanwhile, some were shouting one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together.(D) 33 Some of the crowd gave instructions to Alexander, whom the Jews had pushed forward. And Alexander motioned for silence and tried to make a defense before the people.(E) 34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours all of them shouted in unison, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 35 But when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Citizens of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple keeper of the great Artemis and of the statue that fell from heaven?(F)
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Ezekiel 8:10
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10 So I went in and looked; there, portrayed on the wall all around, were all kinds of creeping things and loathsome animals and all the idols of the house of Israel.(A)
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Psalm 135:15-18
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15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.(A)
16 They have mouths, but they do not speak;
they have eyes, but they do not see;
17 they have ears, but they do not hear,
a nose, but there is no breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them
and all who trust them
shall become like them.
Revelation 14:9-11
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9 Then another angel, a third, followed them, crying with a loud voice, “Those who worship the beast and its image and receive the brand on their foreheads or on their hands,(A) 10 they will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, and they will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.(B) 11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image and for anyone who receives the brand of its name.”(C)
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Jeremiah 10:3-5
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3 For the customs of the peoples are false:
a tree from the forest is cut down
and worked with an ax by the hands of an artisan;(A)
4 they deck it with silver and gold;
they fasten it with hammers and nails
so that it cannot move.(B)
5 Their idols[a] are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,
and they cannot speak;
they have to be carried,
for they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them,
for they cannot do evil,
nor is it in them to do good.(C)
Footnotes
- 10.5 Heb They
Isaiah 46:5-8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
5 To whom will you liken me and make me equal
and compare me, as though we were alike?(A)
6 Those who lavish gold from the purse
and weigh out silver in the scales—
they hire a goldsmith, who makes it into a god;
then they fall down and worship!(B)
7 They lift it to their shoulders; they carry it;
they set it in its place, and it stands there;
it cannot move from its place.
If one cries out to it, it does not answer
or save anyone from trouble.(C)
Footnotes
- 46.8 Meaning of Heb uncertain
Isaiah 44:9-20
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Absurdity of Idol Worship
9 All who make idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit; their witnesses neither see nor know, and so they will be put to shame.(A) 10 Who would fashion a god or cast an image that can do no good?(B) 11 All its devotees shall be put to shame; the artisans, too, are merely human. Let them all assemble; let them stand up; they shall be terrified; they shall all be put to shame.(C)
12 The blacksmith works it with a tool over the coals, shaping it with hammers and forging it with his strong arm; he becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint.(D) 13 The carpenter stretches a line, marks it out with a stylus, fashions it with planes, and marks it with a compass; he makes it in human form, with human beauty, to be set up in a shrine.(E) 14 He cuts down cedars or chooses a holm tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it can be used as fuel. Part of it he takes and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Then he makes a god and worships it, makes it a carved image and bows down before it.(F) 16 Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he roasts meat, eats it,[a] and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Ah, I am warm[b] by the fire!” 17 The rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, bows down to it and worships it; he prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god!”(G)
18 They do not know, nor do they comprehend, for their eyes are shut, so that they cannot see, and their minds as well, so that they cannot understand.(H) 19 No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. Now shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?”(I) 20 He feeds on ashes; a deluded mind has led him astray, and he cannot save himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a fraud?”(J)
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Isaiah 42:8
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8 I am the Lord; that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to idols.(A)
Revelation 13:14-15
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14 and by the signs that it is allowed to perform on behalf of the beast it deceives the inhabitants of earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that had been wounded by the sword[a] and yet lived,(A) 15 and it was allowed to give breath[b] to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast could even speak and cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
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Revelation 9:20
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20 The rest of humankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands or give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk.(A)
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