And so the people fashioned a calf [out of gold] and offered [an animal] sacrifice to this idol and [then] celebrated joyously over what they had done [See Exodus 32:4-6; 17-19].

[No], you set up a tent for Moloch [i.e., a heathen idol worshiped by the Ammonites] and [another one for] the star [representing the false god] Rephan and images used in worshiping them. I will allow you to be transported beyond [the country of] Babylon.'

"Gentlemen, why are you doing these things? [Do you not know that] we are also human beings with the same kind of feelings that you have? And we are just bringing you the good news that you should turn away from these useless things [i.e., idol worship] and [turn] to the living God, who created the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them.

but to write [urging] them to avoid [eating] what is contaminated by [its association with] idol worship, from sexual immorality, from [eating] strangled animals and from [drinking] blood.

Since therefore we are God's children, we should not think that the Deity is like gold, silver or stone, to be carved [into an idol] by the design and skill of men.

And now you have seen and heard, not only here in Ephesus, but throughout almost all of [the province of] Asia, that this Paul has been convincing people, [even] to the point of turning many away [from idol worship]. [He is] saying that hand-made gods [like we make] are not real [gods at all].

Now concerning [the matter of] eating foods [once] offered as sacrifices to idols, we know that an idol is [really] nothing in the world [at all], and that there is only one God.

However, not every person knows this [truth]. For some people have been so used to an idol all this time that they still think of the idol [as a reality] when eating food that has been sacrificed to it. And their weak conscience becomes polluted. [Note: These people cannot seem to shake off the idea that somehow the idol is real, so feel guilty of wrongdoing when eating food sacrificed to it].

For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, who have [correct] knowledge [in this matter], eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged to eat food sacrificed to idols?

Therefore, my dearly loved ones, run away from idol worship.

So, what am I saying? That an animal sacrificed to idols is [really] anything, or that an idol [itself] is anything?

But if anyone says to you, "This [food] has been offered as a sacrifice [to an idol]," do not eat it, for the sake of the person who pointed this out to you, and for conscience' sake ---

idol worship, occultic practices, hatefulness, dissension, jealousy, angry outbursts, factious spirits, divisiveness, party spirits,

For you [should] know this for certain: No sexually immoral or [morally] impure person, or greedy person, who is [the same as] an idol worshiper, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

For the time you have [already] spent in the past [i.e., as Gentile unbelievers] was long enough to have practiced unrestrained, indecent conduct, improper sexual cravings, riotous living, wild parties, drunken orgies and disgusting idol worship.