idols

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

⁵Let your behavior be without avarice; be content with what you are offered. For he himself has said, “I will not abandon you, and I will not neglect you.”

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

⁸When my soul was in anguish within me, I called to mind the Lord, so that my prayer might come to you, to your holy temple.

¹⁸Of what benefit is the graven image? For its maker has formed it, a molten and imaginary deception. For its maker has hoped in a figment of his own creation, so as to make a dumb likeness.

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

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.

¹⁹And they have cast their gods into the fire. For these were not gods, but the works of men’s hands, of wood and of stone. And they broke them into pieces.

²²And you will defile the plates of your silver graven images and the vestment of your gold molten idols. And you will throw these things away like the uncleanness of a menstruating woman. You will say to it, “Go away!”

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.”