Psalm 96:5
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.(A)
Psalm 115:15
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15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.(A)
Isaiah 42:5
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5 Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people upon it
and spirit to those who walk in it:(A)
1 Corinthians 8:4
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4 Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “no idol in the world really exists” and that “there is no God but one.”(A)
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Jeremiah 10:11-12
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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.[a](A)
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.(B)
Footnotes
- 10.11 This verse is in Aramaic
Psalm 135:18
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
18 Those who make them
and all who trust them
shall become like them.
Acts 19:26
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26 You also see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost the whole of Asia this Paul has persuaded and drawn away a considerable number of people by saying that gods made with hands are not gods.(A)
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Jeremiah 10:14-15
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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)
15 They are worthless, a work of delusion;
at the time of their punishment they shall perish.
Jeremiah 10:3-5
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)
4 they deck it with silver and gold;
they fasten it with hammers and nails
so that it cannot move.(B)
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.(C)
Footnotes
- 10.5 Heb They
Isaiah 46:1-2
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)
2 They stoop; they bow down together;
they cannot save the burden
but themselves go into captivity.(B)
Isaiah 44:8-28
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
8 Do not fear or be afraid;
have I not told you from of old and declared it?
You are my witnesses!
Is there any god besides me?
There is no other rock; I know not one.(A)
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.(B) 10 Who would fashion a god or cast an image that can do no good?(C) 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.(D)
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.(E) 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.(F) 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.(G) 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!”(H)
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.(I) 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?”(J) 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?”(K)
Israel Is Not Forgotten
21 Remember these things, O Jacob,
and Israel, for you are my servant;
I formed you, you are my servant;
O Israel, do not forget me.[c](L)
22 I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud
and your sins like mist;
return to me, for I have redeemed you.(M)
23 Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it;
shout, O depths of the earth;
break forth into singing, O mountains,
O forest and every tree in it!
For the Lord has redeemed Jacob
and will be glorified in Israel.(N)
24 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,
who formed you in the womb:
I am the Lord, who made all things,
who alone stretched out the heavens,
who by myself spread out the earth;(O)
25 who frustrates the omens of soothsayers
and makes fools of diviners;
who turns back the wise
and makes their knowledge foolish;(P)
26 who confirms the word of his servant
and fulfills the prediction of his messengers;
who says of Jerusalem, “It shall be inhabited,”
and of the cities of Judah, “They shall be rebuilt,
and I will raise up their ruins”;(Q)
27 who says to the deep, “Be dry—
I will dry up your rivers”;(R)
28 who says of Cyrus, “He is my shepherd,
and he shall carry out all my purpose”;
and who says of Jerusalem, “It shall be rebuilt,”
and of the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.”(S)
Psalm 135:15
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.(A)
Psalm 115:3-8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
3 Our God is in the heavens;
he does whatever he pleases.(A)
4 Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.(B)
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.(C)
Genesis 1:1
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Six Days of Creation and the Sabbath
1 When God began to create[a] the heavens and the earth,(A)
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1.1 Or In the beginning God created
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.