idol

⁹All of those who create idols are nothing, and their most beloved things will not benefit them. These are their witnesses, for they do not see, and they do not understand, so that they might be confounded. ¹⁰Who has formed a god or cast a molten image, which is useful for nothing? ¹¹Behold, all those who partake in this will be confounded. For these makers are men. They will all assemble together. They will stand and be terrified. And they will be confounded together. ¹²The maker of iron has wrought with his file. With coals and hammers, he has formed it, and he has wrought with the strength of his arm. He will hunger and grow faint. He will not drink water, and he will become weary. ¹³The maker of wood has extended his ruler. He has formed it with a plane. He has made it with corners, and he has smoothed its curves. And he has made the image of a man, a seemingly beautiful man, dwelling in a house. ¹⁴He has cut down cedars; he has taken the evergreen oak, and the oak that stood among the trees of the forest. He has planted the pine tree, which the rain has nourished.

¹⁴Because of this, most beloved of mine, flee from the worship of idols.

²¹Little sons, keep yourselves from false worship. Amen.

³You shall not have strange gods before me. ⁴You shall not make for yourself a graven image, nor a likeness of anything that is in heaven above or on earth below, nor of those things which are in the waters under the earth. ⁵You shall not adore them, nor shall you worship them. I am the Lord your God: strong, zealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the sons to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,

⁴Do not be willing to convert to idols, neither should you make molten gods for yourselves. I am the Lord your God.

²⁹Therefore, since we are of the family of God, we must not consider gold or silver or precious stones, or the engravings of art and of the imagination of man, to be a representation of what is Divine.

³For the laws of the people are empty. For the work of the hand of the craftsman has cut a tree from the forest with an axe. ⁴He has adorned it with silver and gold. He has put it together with nail and hammer, so that it will not fall apart. ⁵They have been fabricated in the likeness of a palm tree, and they will not speak. They must be carried to be moved, because they do not have the ability to walk. Therefore, do not be willing to fear them, for they can do neither evil nor good.”

²⁰And the rest of men, who were not slain by these afflictions, did not repent from the works of their hands, so that they would not worship demons, or idols of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood, which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk.

²²For, while proclaiming themselves to be wise, they became foolish. ²³And they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of flying things, and of four-legged beasts, and of serpents. ²⁴For this reason, God handed them over to the desires of their own heart for impurity, so that they afflicted their own bodies with indignities among themselves. ²⁵And they exchanged the truth of God for a lie. And they worshipped and served the creature, rather than the Creator, who is blessed for all eternity. Amen.

¹⁵The idols of the Gentiles are silver and gold, the works of the hands of men. ¹⁶They have a mouth, and do not speak. They have eyes, and do not see. ¹⁷They have ears, and do not hear. For neither is there any breath in their mouths. ¹⁸Let those who make them become like them, along with all who trust in them.

¹²The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the works of the hands of men. ¹³They have mouths, and do not speak; they have eyes, and do not see. ¹⁴They have ears, and do not hear; they have noses, and do not smell. ¹⁵They have hands, and do not feel; they have feet, and do not walk. Neither will they cry out with their throat. ¹⁶Let those who make them become like them, along with all who trust in them.

¹⁵And so, guard your souls carefully. You saw no likeness on the day that the Lord God spoke to you on Horeb from the midst of fire. ¹⁶Otherwise, perhaps being deceived, you might have made a graven image, or an image of male or female, ¹⁷a likeness of any of the beasts, which are upon the earth, or of birds, which fly under heaven, ¹⁸or of reptiles, which move across the earth, or of fish, which abide in the waters under the earth. ¹⁹Otherwise, perhaps lifting up your eyes to heaven, you might look upon the sun and the moon and all the stars of heaven, and being deceived by error, you might adore and worship these things, which the Lord your God created for the service of all the nations, which are under heaven.

¹I am the Lord your God. You shall not make for yourselves an idol or a graven image. Neither shall you erect a monument, or set up a conspicuous stone in your land, in order that you may adore it. For I am the Lord your God.

⁹Do you not know that the iniquitous will not possess the kingdom of God? Do not choose to wander astray. For neither fornicators, nor servants of idolatry, nor adulterers, ¹⁰nor the effeminate, nor males who sleep with males, nor thieves, nor the avaricious, nor the inebriated, nor slanderers, nor the rapacious shall possess the kingdom of God.

²²For, while proclaiming themselves to be wise, they became foolish. ²³And they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of flying things, and of four-legged beasts, and of serpents.

⁷You shall not have strange gods in my sight. ⁸You shall not make for yourself a graven image, nor the likeness of anything, which is in heaven above, or on earth below, or which abides in the waters under the earth. ⁹You shall not adore and you shall not worship these things. For I am the Lord your God, a jealous God, repaying the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons to the third and fourth generation to those who hate me,

⁸And their land has been filled with horses. And their four-horse chariots are innumerable. And their land has been filled with idols. They have adored the work of their hands, which their own fingers have made.

¹³No servant is able to serve two lords. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will cling to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

⁴You shall not make for yourself a graven image, nor a likeness of anything that is in heaven above or on earth below, nor of those things which are in the waters under the earth. ⁵You shall not adore them, nor shall you worship them. I am the Lord your God: strong, zealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the sons to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,

¹⁵Cursed be the man who makes a graven or molten idol, an abomination to the Lord, a work of the hands of its maker, and who puts it in a secret place. And all the people shall respond by saying: Amen.