"Be careful about everything I've told you, and don't mention the name of other gods. Don't let them be heard in your mouth!"

This man Micah had his own shrine, had crafted his own ephod and some household idols, and had installed one of his sons as a priest.

Their idols are silver and gold, crafted by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see. read more. They have ears, but cannot hear; they have noses, but cannot smell. They have hands, but cannot touch; feet, but cannot walk; they cannot even groan with their throats. Those who craft them will become like them, as will all those who trust in them.

The craftsman encourages the goldsmith, and the hammersmith encourages the one who strikes the anvil. He says about the welding, "It's good!' and he reinforces it with nails so that it won't topple."

The carpenter measures it with a line; he traces its shape with a stylus, then fashions it with planes and shapes it with a compass. He makes the idol like a human figure, with human beauty, to be at home in a shrine.

He divides it up for people to burn. Taking part of it, he warms himself, makes a fire, and bakes bread. Or perhaps he constructs a god and worships it. He makes it an idol and bows down to it.

And they lift it on their shoulders, carry it, set it up in its place, and there it stands. It cannot move from that spot. One may even call to it, but it cannot answer nor save him from his distress.

But as for you who forsake the LORD, who forget my holy mountain, who spread a table for Fortune and fill drink offerings for Destiny,

The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven, and they pour out liquid offerings to other gods in order to provoke me.

They decorate it with silver and gold. They secure it with nails and hammers so it won't totter. Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field. They can't speak! They must always be carried because they can't walk! Don't be afraid of them because they can do no harm, nor can they do any good."

Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz. The idols are the work of a craftsman and of the hands of a goldsmith. Their clothing is violet and purple. The idols are all the work of skilled craftsmen.

"You also took your fine jewelry including my gold and my silver that I had given you. Then you made for yourself male images and had sex with them! You took your embroidered gowns and made clothes to cover them. Then you offered my olive oil and incense to them.

Some time later, king Nebuchadnezzar built a golden statue, making it 60 cubits high and six cubits wide. He set it up in the Dura Valley within the province of Babylon.

They set kings in place, but not by me. They established princes, whom I did not recognize. They crafted idols for themselves from their silver and gold; as a result, they will be destroyed.

but now they are sinning more and more, crafting idols from melted silver. Their idols are made with the most exacting skill, all of it the work of craftsmen. People say about them, "They offer human sacrifice, and kiss calf-shaped idols.'