'Idol' in the Bible

Therefore through this the wickedness [the sin, the injustice, the wrongdoing] of Jacob (Israel) will be atoned for and forgiven;And this will be the full price [that God requires] for taking away his sin:When Israel makes all the stones of the [pagan] altars like crushed chalk stones;When the Asherim and the incense altars will not stand.

To an idol?—something that a smelter casts,and a metalworker plates with goldand makes silver welds for it?

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

They each help his neighborAnd say to his brother [as he fashions his idols], “Be of good courage!”

“I have stirred up and put into action one from the north [the king of Persia, Cyrus the Great], and he has come;From the rising of the sun he will call on My Name [in prayer].And he will trample on [the Babylonian] officials as on mortar,Even as a potter treads clay.”

Who [among the idols] has declared this from the beginning, so that we could know?Or from earlier times, so that we could say, “He is [unquestionably] right!”?In fact, there was no one who declared it,Indeed, there was no one who proclaimed it;There was no one at all who heard you speak [for you pagan gods are speechless].

All those who form an idol [are] nothing, and their delightful things do not profit. And their witnesses do not see or know, so they will be ashamed.

Who has fashioned a god or cast an idol to no profit?

The ironworker labors over the coals,shapes the idol with hammers,and works it with his strong arm.Also he grows hungry and his strength fails;he doesn’t drink water and is faint.

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.

It serves as fuel for man.He takes some of it and warms himself;also he kindles a fire and bakes bread;he even makes it into a god and worships it;he makes an idol from it and bows down to it.

He makes a god or his idol with the rest of it.He bows down to it and worships;He prays to it, “Save me, for you are my god.”

No one thinks to himself, nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves: 'I burned half of it in the fire -- yes, I baked bread over the coals; I roasted meat and ate it. With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol? Should I bow down to dry wood?'

“Gather yourselves and come;Draw near together, you fugitives of the nations;They have no knowledge,Who carry about their wooden idolAnd pray to a god who cannot save.

“They lift it on their shoulders [in religious processions or into battle] and carry it;They set it in its place and there it remains standing.It cannot move from its place.Even if one cries to it [for help], the idol cannot answer;It cannot save him from his distress.

I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them.

“Behind the door and the doorpostYou have set up your [pagan] symbol;Indeed, far removed from Me, you have uncovered yourself,And have gone up and made your bed wide.And you have made a [new] agreement for yourself with the adulterers,You have loved their bed,You have looked [with passion] on their manhood.

He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.