Thematic Bible: Idols characterized, as


Thematic Bible



A drought will come on her waters,
and they will be dried up.
For it is a land of carved images,
and they go mad because of terrifying things.

Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you and your nobles, wives, and concubines drank wine from them, you praised the gods made of silver and gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or understand. But you have not glorified the God who holds your life-breath in His hand and who controls the whole course of your life.

Being God’s offspring then, we shouldn’t think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination.

They are worthless, a work to be mocked.
At the time of their punishment
they will be destroyed.

What use is a carved idol
after its craftsman carves it?
It is only a cast image, a teacher of lies.
For the one who crafts its shape trusts in it
and makes idols that cannot speak.

Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch,
their idols cannot speak.
They must be carried because they cannot walk.
Do not fear them for they can do no harm
and they cannot do any good.

Everyone is stupid and ignorant.
Every goldsmith is put to shame by his carved image,
for his cast images are a lie;
there is no breath in them.

What am I saying then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?


Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.

You know that when you were pagans, you used to be led off to the idols that could not speak.

About eating food offered to idols, then, we know that “an idol is nothing in the world,” and that “there is no God but one.”


“Come, gather together,
and draw near, you fugitives of the nations.
Those who carry their wooden idols,
and pray to a god who cannot save,
have no knowledge.

Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch,
their idols cannot speak.
They must be carried because they cannot walk.
Do not fear them for they can do no harm
and they cannot do any good.

Even though they said these things, they barely stopped the crowds from sacrificing to them.


Their idols are silver and gold,
made by human hands.



To one who shapes a pedestal,
choosing wood that does not rot?
He looks for a skilled craftsman
to set up an idol that will not fall over.


Being God’s offspring then, we shouldn’t think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination.


A drought will come on her waters,
and they will be dried up.
For it is a land of carved images,
and they go mad because of terrifying things.

Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you and your nobles, wives, and concubines drank wine from them, you praised the gods made of silver and gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or understand. But you have not glorified the God who holds your life-breath in His hand and who controls the whole course of your life.

Being God’s offspring then, we shouldn’t think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination.

They are worthless, a work to be mocked.
At the time of their punishment
they will be destroyed.

What use is a carved idol
after its craftsman carves it?
It is only a cast image, a teacher of lies.
For the one who crafts its shape trusts in it
and makes idols that cannot speak.

Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch,
their idols cannot speak.
They must be carried because they cannot walk.
Do not fear them for they can do no harm
and they cannot do any good.

Everyone is stupid and ignorant.
Every goldsmith is put to shame by his carved image,
for his cast images are a lie;
there is no breath in them.

What am I saying then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?


Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.

You know that when you were pagans, you used to be led off to the idols that could not speak.

About eating food offered to idols, then, we know that “an idol is nothing in the world,” and that “there is no God but one.”


Their idols are silver and gold,
made by human hands.



To one who shapes a pedestal,
choosing wood that does not rot?
He looks for a skilled craftsman
to set up an idol that will not fall over.


Being God’s offspring then, we shouldn’t think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination.


Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers.