But their idols are silver and gold,(A)
    made by human hands.(B)

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Some pour out gold from their bags
    and weigh out silver on the scales;
they hire a goldsmith(A) to make it into a god,
    and they bow down and worship it.(B)
They lift it to their shoulders and carry(C) it;
    they set it up in its place, and there it stands.
    From that spot it cannot move.(D)
Even though someone cries out to it, it cannot answer;(E)
    it cannot save(F) them from their troubles.

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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)

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Gods of Babylon

46 Bel(A) bows down, Nebo stoops low;
    their idols(B) are borne by beasts of burden.[a]
The images that are carried(C) about are burdensome,
    a burden for the weary.
They stoop and bow down together;
    unable to rescue the burden,
    they themselves go off into captivity.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 46:1 Or are but beasts and cattle

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)

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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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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)

20 The Lord is in his holy temple;(H)
    let all the earth be silent(I) before him.

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20 Such a person feeds on ashes;(A) a deluded(B) heart misleads him;
    he cannot save himself, or say,
    “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?(C)

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10 Who shapes a god and casts an idol,(A)
    which can profit nothing?(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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35 The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: “Fellow Ephesians,(A) doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven?

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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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17 But those who trust in idols,
    who say to images, ‘You are our gods,’(A)
    will be turned back in utter shame.(B)

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19 They have thrown their gods into the fire(A) and destroyed them,(B) for they were not gods(C) but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.(D)

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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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All who worship images(A) are put to shame,(B)
    those who boast in idols(C)
    worship him,(D) all you gods!(E)

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18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods(A) but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.(B)

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