Psalm 135:15
New King James Version
15 (A)The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
The work of men’s hands.
Psalm 115:4-8
New King James Version
4 (A)Their idols are silver and gold,
The work of men’s hands.
5 They have mouths, but they do not speak;
Eyes they have, but they do not see;
6 They have ears, but they do not hear;
Noses they have, but they do not smell;
7 They have hands, but they do not handle;
Feet they have, but they do not walk;
Nor do they mutter through their throat.
8 (B)Those who make them are like them;
So is everyone who trusts in them.
Acts 17:29
New King James Version
29 Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, (A)we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising.
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Habakkuk 2:18-19
New King James Version
18 “What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it,
The molded image, a teacher of lies,
That the maker of its mold should trust in it,
To make mute idols?
19 Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’
To silent stone, ‘Arise! It shall teach!’
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
Yet in it there is no breath at all.
Jeremiah 10:3-11
New King James Version
3 For the customs of the peoples are [a]futile;
For (A)one cuts a tree from the forest,
The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.
4 They decorate it with silver and gold;
They (B)fasten it with nails and hammers
So that it will not topple.
5 They are upright, like a palm tree,
And (C)they cannot speak;
They must be (D)carried,
Because they cannot go by themselves.
Do not be afraid of them,
For (E)they cannot do evil,
Nor can they do any good.”
6 Inasmuch as there is none (F)like You, O Lord
(You are great, and Your name is great in might),
7 (G)Who would not fear You, O King of the nations?
For this is Your rightful due.
For (H)among all the wise men of the nations,
And in all their kingdoms,
There is none like You.
8 But they are altogether (I)dull-hearted and foolish;
A wooden idol is a [b]worthless doctrine.
9 Silver is beaten into plates;
It is brought from Tarshish,
And (J)gold from Uphaz,
The work of the craftsman
And of the hands of the metalsmith;
Blue and purple are their clothing;
They are all (K)the work of skillful men.
10 But the Lord is the true God;
He is (L)the living God and the (M)everlasting King.
At His wrath the earth will tremble,
And the nations will not be able to endure His indignation.
11 Thus you shall say to them: (N)“The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth (O)shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Jeremiah 10:3 Lit. vanity
- Jeremiah 10:8 vain teaching
Isaiah 46:6-7
New King James Version
6 (A)They lavish gold out of the bag,
And weigh silver on the scales;
They hire a (B)goldsmith, and he makes it a god;
They prostrate themselves, yes, they worship.
7 (C)They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it
And set it in its place, and it stands;
From its place it shall not move.
Though (D)one cries out to it, yet it cannot answer
Nor save him out of his trouble.
Isaiah 44:9-20
New King James Version
Idolatry Is Foolishness
9 (A)Those who make an image, all of them are useless,
And their precious things shall not profit;
They are their own witnesses;
(B)They neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed.
10 Who would form a god or mold an image
(C)That profits him nothing?
11 Surely all his companions would be (D)ashamed;
And the workmen, they are mere men.
Let them all be gathered together,
Let them stand up;
Yet they shall fear,
They shall be ashamed together.
12 (E)The blacksmith with the tongs works one in the coals,
Fashions it with hammers,
And works it with the strength of his arms.
Even so, he is hungry, and his strength fails;
He drinks no water and is faint.
13 The craftsman stretches out his rule,
He marks one out with chalk;
He fashions it with a plane,
He marks it out with the compass,
And makes it like the figure of a man,
According to the beauty of a man, that it may remain in the house.
14 He cuts down cedars for himself,
And takes the cypress and the oak;
He [a]secures it for himself among the trees of the forest.
He plants a pine, and the rain nourishes it.
15 Then it shall be for a man to burn,
For he will take some of it and warm himself;
Yes, he kindles it and bakes bread;
Indeed he makes a god and worships it;
He makes it a carved image, and falls down to it.
16 He burns half of it in the fire;
With this half he eats meat;
He roasts a roast, and is satisfied.
He even warms himself and says,
“Ah! I am warm,
I have seen the fire.”
17 And the rest of it he makes into a god,
His carved image.
He falls down before it and worships it,
Prays to it and says,
“Deliver me, for you are my god!”
18 (F)They do not know nor understand;
For (G)He has [b]shut their eyes, so that they cannot see,
And their hearts, so that they cannot (H)understand.
19 And no one (I)considers in his heart,
Nor is there knowledge nor understanding to say,
“I have burned half of it in the fire,
Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals;
I have roasted meat and eaten it;
And shall I make the rest of it an abomination?
Shall I fall down before a block of wood?”
20 He feeds on ashes;
(J)A deceived heart has turned him aside;
And he cannot deliver his soul,
Nor say, “Is there not a (K)lie in my right hand?”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 44:14 Lit. appropriates
- Isaiah 44:18 Lit. smeared over
Isaiah 40:19-20
New King James Version
19 (A)The workman molds an image,
The goldsmith overspreads it with gold,
And the silversmith casts silver chains.
20 Whoever is too impoverished for such [a]a contribution
Chooses a tree that will not rot;
He seeks for himself a skillful workman
(B)To prepare a carved image that will not totter.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 40:20 an offering
Isaiah 37:19
New King James Version
19 and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were (A)not gods, but the work of men’s hands—wood and stone. Therefore they destroyed them.
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Deuteronomy 4:28
New King James Version
28 And (A)there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, (B)which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.
Read full chapterScripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.