Isaiah 45:20
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Idols Cannot Save Babylon
20 Assemble yourselves and come together;
draw near, you survivors of the nations!
They have no knowledge—
those who carry about their wooden idols
and keep on praying to a god
that cannot save.(A)
Jeremiah 10:5
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
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.(A)
Footnotes
- 10.5 Heb They
Isaiah 44:17-20
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
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!”(A)
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.(B) 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?”(C) 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?”(D)
Read full chapter
Isaiah 43:9
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
9 Let all the nations gather together,
and let the peoples assemble.
Who among them declared this
and foretold to us the former things?
Let them bring their witnesses to justify them,
and let them hear and say, “It is true.”(A)
Isaiah 46:1
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
46 Bel bows down; Nebo stoops;
their idols are on beasts and cattle;
these things you carry are loaded
as burdens on weary animals.(A)
Psalm 115:8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
8 Those who make them are like them;
so are all who trust in them.(A)
Revelation 18:3-18
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
3 For all the nations have fallen[a]
from the wine of the wrath of her prostitution,
and the kings of the earth have engaged in sexual immorality[b] with her,
and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power[c] of her luxury.”(A)
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,
“Come out of her, my people,
so that you do not take part in her sins
and so that you do not share in her plagues,(B)
5 for her sins are heaped high as heaven,
and God has remembered her iniquities.(C)
6 Render to her as she herself has rendered,
and repay her double for her deeds;
mix a double dose for her in the cup she mixed.(D)
7 As she glorified herself and lived luxuriously,
so give her a like measure of torment and grief.
Since in her heart she says,
‘I rule as a queen;
I am no widow,
and I will never see grief,’(E)
8 therefore her plagues will come in a single day—
pestilence and mourning and famine—
and she will be burned with fire,
for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.”(F)
9 And the kings of the earth, who engaged in sexual immorality[d] and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning;(G) 10 they will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,
“Alas, alas, the great city,
Babylon, the mighty city!
For in one hour your judgment has come.”(H)
11 And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo any more, 12 cargo of gold, silver, jewels and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet, all kinds of scented wood, all articles of ivory, all articles of costly wood, bronze, iron, and marble,(I) 13 cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, choice flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, slaves—and human lives.[e](J)
14 “The fruit for which your soul longed
has gone from you,
and all your delicacies and your splendor
are lost to you,
never to be found again!”
15 The merchants of these wares, who grew wealthy from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,(K)
16 “Alas, alas, the great city,
clothed in fine linen,
in purple and scarlet,
adorned with gold,
with jewels, and with pearls!(L)
17 For in one hour all this wealth has been laid waste!”
And all shipmasters and seafarers, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off(M) 18 and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning,
“What city was like the great city?”(N)
Ephesians 2:16
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
16 and might reconcile both to God in one body[a] through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it.[b](A)
Read full chapter
Ephesians 2:12
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
12 remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.(A)
Read full chapter
Romans 1:21-23
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
21 for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless hearts were darkened.(A) 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.(B)
Read full chapter
Habakkuk 2:18-20
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)
19 Alas for you who say to the wood, “Wake up!”
to silent stone, “Rouse yourself!”
Can it teach?
See, it is gold and silver plated,
and there is no breath in it at all.(B)
20 But the Lord is in his holy temple;
let all the earth keep silence before him!(C)
Jeremiah 51:17-18
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
17 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)
18 They are worthless, a work of delusion;
at the time of their punishment they shall perish.(B)
Jeremiah 51:6-9
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
6 Flee from the midst of Babylon;
save your lives, each of you!
Do not perish because of her guilt,
for this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance;
he is repaying her what is due.(A)
7 Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord’s hand,
making all the earth drunken;
the nations drank of her wine,
and so the nations went mad.(B)
8 Suddenly Babylon has fallen and is shattered;
wail for her!
Bring balm for her wound;
perhaps she may be healed.(C)
9 We tried to heal Babylon,
but she could not be healed.
Forsake her, and let each of us go
to our own country,
for her judgment has reached up to heaven
and has been lifted up even to the skies.(D)
Jeremiah 50:28
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
28 Listen! Fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon are coming to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, vengeance for his temple.(A)
Read full chapter
Jeremiah 25:15-29
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Cup of God’s Wrath
15 For thus the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it.(A) 16 They shall drink and stagger and go out of their minds because of the sword that I am sending among them.(B)
17 So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand and made all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink it: 18 Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a desolation and a waste, an object of hissing and of cursing, as they are today;(C) 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, and all his people; 20 all the mixed people;[a] all the kings of the land of Uz; all the kings of the land of the Philistines—Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;(D) 21 Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites;(E) 22 all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastland across the sea;(F) 23 Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who have shaved temples;(G) 24 all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the mixed peoples[b] that live in the desert;(H) 25 all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media; 26 all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth. And after them the king of Sheshach[c] shall drink.(I)
27 Then you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink; get drunk and vomit; fall and rise no more because of the sword that I am sending among you.(J)
28 And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord of hosts: You must drink! 29 See, I am beginning to bring disaster on the city that is called by my name, and how can you possibly avoid punishment? You shall not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, says the Lord of hosts.(K)
Read full chapter
Jeremiah 10:14
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
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)
Jeremiah 10:8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Jeremiah 2:27-28
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
27 who say to a tree, “You are my father,”
and to a stone, “You gave me birth.”
For they have turned their backs to me
and not their faces.
But in the time of their trouble they say,
“Come and save us!”(A)
28 But where are your gods
that you made for yourself?
Let them come, if they can save you,
in your time of trouble,
for you have as many gods
as you have towns, O Judah.(B)
Isaiah 48:5-7
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
5 I declared them to you from long ago,
before they came to pass I announced them to you,
so that you would not say, “My idol did them;
my carved image and my cast image commanded them.”(A)
6 You have heard; now see all this;
and will you not declare it?
From this time forward I tell you new things,
hidden things that you have not known.(B)
7 They are created now, not long ago;
before today you have never heard of them,
so that you could not say, “I already knew them.”
Isaiah 46:6-7
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
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!(A)
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.(B)
Isaiah 42:17-18
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
17 They shall be turned back and utterly put to shame—
those who trust in carved images,
who say to cast images,
“You are our gods.”(A)
18 Listen, you who are deaf,
and you who are blind, look up and see!
Isaiah 41:21
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Futility of Idols
21 Set forth your case, says the Lord;
bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob.(A)
Isaiah 41:5-6
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
5 The coastlands have seen and are afraid;
the ends of the earth tremble;
they have drawn near and come.(A)
6 Each one helps the other,
saying to one another, “Take courage!”(B)
Isaiah 4:2
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Future Glory of the Survivors in Zion
2 On that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and glory of the survivors of Israel.(A)
Read full chapter
1 Kings 18:26-29
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
26 So they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, crying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice and no answer. They limped about the altar that they had made.(A) 27 At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud! Surely he is a god; either he is meditating, or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” 28 Then they cried aloud, and, as was their custom, they cut themselves with swords and lances until the blood gushed out over them.(B) 29 As midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice, no answer, and no response.(C)
Read full chapterNew 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.