Isaiah 41:29
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
29 No, they are all a delusion;
their works are nothing;
their images are empty wind.(A)
Jeremiah 5:13
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
13 The prophets are nothing but wind,
for the word is not in them.
Thus shall it be done to them!(A)
Isaiah 41:24
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
24 You, indeed, are nothing,
and your work is nothing at all;
whoever chooses you is an abomination.(A)
Habakkuk 2:18
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
18 What use is an idol
once its maker has shaped it—
a cast image, a teacher of lies?
For its maker trusts in what has been made,
though the product is only an idol that cannot speak!(A)
Jeremiah 10:2-16
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
2 Thus says the Lord:
Do not learn the way of the nations
or be dismayed at the signs of the heavens,
for the nations are dismayed at them.(A)
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;(B)
4 they deck it with silver and gold;
they fasten it with hammers and nails
so that it cannot move.(C)
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.(D)
6 There is none like you, O Lord;
you are great, and your name is great in might.(E)
7 Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?
For that is your due;
among all the wise ones of the nations
and in all their kingdoms
there is no one like you.(F)
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.(H)
10 But the Lord is the true God;
he is the living God and the everlasting King.
At his wrath the earth quakes,
and the nations cannot endure his indignation.[c](I)
11 Thus shall you say to them: The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.[d](J)
12 It is he who made the earth by his power,
who established the world by his wisdom
and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.(K)
13 When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain
and brings out the wind from his storehouses.(L)
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.(M)
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.(N)
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)
Read full chapter
Psalm 135:15-18
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
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.
Psalm 115:4-8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
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)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.