Jeremiah 10:3
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
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)
Jeremiah 10:3
New International Version
Leviticus 18:30
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
30 So keep my charge not to commit any of these abominations that were done before you and not to defile yourselves by them: I am the Lord your God.”(A)
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Leviticus 18:30
New International Version
30 Keep my requirements(A) and do not follow any of the detestable customs that were practiced before you came and do not defile yourselves with them. I am the Lord your God.(B)’”
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 44:9-20
New International Version
9 All who make idols(A) are nothing,
and the things they treasure are worthless.(B)
Those who would speak up for them are blind;(C)
they are ignorant, to their own shame.(D)
10 Who shapes a god and casts an idol,(E)
which can profit nothing?(F)
11 People who do that will be put to shame;(G)
such craftsmen are only human beings.
Let them all come together and take their stand;
they will be brought down to terror and shame.(H)
12 The blacksmith(I) 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.(J)
He gets hungry and loses his strength;
he drinks no water and grows faint.(K)
13 The carpenter(L) 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,(M)
human form in all its glory,
that it may dwell in a shrine.(N)
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,(O) and the rain made it grow.
15 It is used as fuel(P) 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(Q) it;
he makes an idol and bows(R) 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.(S)”
17 From the rest he makes a god, his idol;
he bows down to it and worships.(T)
He prays(U) to it and says,
“Save(V) me! You are my god!”
18 They know nothing, they understand(W) nothing;
their eyes(X) 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(Y) to say,
“Half of it I used for fuel;(Z)
I even baked bread over its coals,
I roasted meat and I ate.
Shall I make a detestable(AA) thing from what is left?
Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”(AB)
20 Such a person feeds on ashes;(AC) a deluded(AD) heart misleads him;
he cannot save himself, or say,
“Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?(AE)”
1 Peter 1:18
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
18 You know that you were ransomed from the futile conduct inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold
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1 Peter 1:18
New International Version
18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed(A) from the empty way of life(B) handed down to you from your ancestors,
Romans 1:21
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)
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Romans 1:21
New International Version
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.(A)
Jeremiah 10:8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Jeremiah 10:8
New International Version
Matthew 6:7
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
7 “When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words.(A)
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Matthew 6:7
New International Version
7 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)
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)
Isaiah 45:20
New International Version
1 Kings 18:26-28
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)
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1 Kings 18:26-28
New International Version
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.
27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.”(C) 28 So they shouted louder and slashed(D) themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed.
Habakkuk 2:18-19
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)
Habakkuk 2:18-19
New International Version
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)
19 Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’
Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’(E)
Can it give guidance?
It is covered with gold and silver;(F)
there is no breath in it.”(G)
Hosea 8:4-6
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
4 They made kings but not through me;
they set up princes but without my knowledge.
With their silver and gold they made idols
for their own destruction.(A)
5 Your calf is rejected, O Samaria.
My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of innocence?(B)
6 For it is from Israel,
an artisan made it;
it is not God.
The calf of Samaria
shall be broken to pieces.(C)
Hosea 8:4-6
New International Version
4 They set up kings without my consent;
they choose princes without my approval.(A)
With their silver and gold
they make idols(B) for themselves
to their own destruction.
5 Samaria, throw out your calf-idol!(C)
My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of purity?(D)
6 They are from Israel!
This calf—a metalworker has made it;
it is not God.(E)
It will be broken in pieces,
that calf(F) of Samaria.(G)
Jeremiah 2:5
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
5 Thus says the Lord:
What wrong did your ancestors find in me
that they went far from me
and went after worthless things and became worthless themselves?(A)
Jeremiah 2:5
New International Version
5 This is what the Lord says:
Isaiah 40:19-31
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
19 An idol? A workman casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and casts for it silver chains.(A)
20 As a gift one chooses mulberry wood[a]
—wood that will not rot—
then seeks out a skilled artisan
to set up an image that will not topple.(B)
21 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?(C)
22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain
and spreads them like a tent to live in,(D)
23 who brings princes to naught
and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.(E)
24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows upon them, and they wither,
and the tempest carries them off like stubble.(F)
25 To whom, then, will you compare me,
or who is my equal? says the Holy One.(G)
26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:
Who created these?
He who brings out their host and numbers them,
calling them all by name;
because he is great in strength,
mighty in power,
not one is missing.(H)
27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
and assert, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?(I)
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.(J)
29 He gives power to the faint
and strengthens the powerless.(K)
30 Even youths will faint and be weary,
and the young will fall exhausted,
31 but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.(L)
Footnotes
- 40.20 Meaning of Heb uncertain
Isaiah 40:19-31
New International Version
19 As for an idol,(A) a metalworker casts it,
and a goldsmith(B) overlays it with gold(C)
and fashions silver chains for it.
20 A person too poor to present such an offering
selects wood(D) that will not rot;
they look for a skilled worker
to set up an idol(E) that will not topple.(F)
21 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?(G)
Has it not been told(H) you from the beginning?(I)
Have you not understood(J) since the earth was founded?(K)
22 He sits enthroned(L) above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.(M)
He stretches out the heavens(N) like a canopy,(O)
and spreads them out like a tent(P) to live in.(Q)
23 He brings princes(R) to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.(S)
24 No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root(T) in the ground,
than he blows(U) on them and they wither,(V)
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.(W)
25 “To whom will you compare me?(X)
Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.(Y)
26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:(Z)
Who created(AA) all these?
He who brings out the starry host(AB) one by one
and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,(AC)
not one of them is missing.(AD)
27 Why do you complain, Jacob?
Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
my cause is disregarded by my God”?(AE)
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?(AF)
The Lord is the everlasting(AG) God,
the Creator(AH) of the ends of the earth.(AI)
He will not grow tired or weary,(AJ)
and his understanding no one can fathom.(AK)
29 He gives strength(AL) to the weary(AM)
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men(AN) stumble and fall;(AO)
31 but those who hope(AP) in the Lord
will renew their strength.(AQ)
They will soar on wings like eagles;(AR)
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.(AS)
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