1819 verses about Idols

They said in their heart, “We will crush them completely.” They have burned up all the places in the land where God was worshiped.

Yet they still went on to sin against him, to rebel against the Most High in the desert.

but turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers. They were twisted like a deceitful bow.

For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their engraved images.

When God heard this, he was angry, and greatly abhorred Israel;

So that he abandoned the tent of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men;

There shall be no strange god in you, neither shall you worship any foreign god.

But my people didn’t listen to my voice. Israel desired none of me.

For great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised! He is to be feared above all gods.

For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but Yahweh made the heavens.

Let all them be shamed who serve engraved images, who boast in their idols. Worship him, all you gods!

For you, Yahweh, are most high above all the earth. You are exalted far above all gods.

I will set no vile thing before my eyes. I hate the deeds of faithless men. They will not cling to me.

Our fathers didn’t understand your wonders in Egypt. They didn’t remember the multitude of your loving kindnesses, but were rebellious at the sea, even at the Red Sea.

They soon forgot his works. They didn’t wait for his counsel,

They made a calf in Horeb, and worshiped a molten image.

Thus they exchanged their glory for an image of a bull that eats grass.

They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt,

They joined themselves also to Baal Peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.

Thus they provoked him to anger with their deeds. The plague broke in on them.

They didn’t destroy the peoples, as Yahweh commanded them,

but mixed themselves with the nations, and learned their works.

They served their idols, which became a snare to them.

Yes, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.

They shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. The land was polluted with blood.

Thus were they defiled with their works, and prostituted themselves in their deeds.

Why should the nations say, “Where is their God, now?”

Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.

They have mouths, but they don’t speak. They have eyes, but they don’t see.

They have ears, but they don’t hear. They have noses, but they don’t smell.

They have hands, but they don’t feel. They have feet, but they don’t walk, neither do they speak through their throat.

Those who make them will be like them; yes, everyone who trusts in them.

Turn my eyes away from looking at worthless things. Revive me in your ways.

For I know that Yahweh is great, that our Lord is above all gods.

The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.

They have mouths, but they can’t speak. They have eyes, but they can’t see.

They have ears, but they can’t hear; neither is there any breath in their mouths.

Those who make them will be like them; yes, everyone who trusts in them.

If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill.

Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I don’t remember you; if I don’t prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy.

Don’t put your trust in princes, each a son of man in whom there is no help.

I also gathered silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and of the provinces. I got myself male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men—musical instruments, and that of all sorts.

The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master’s crib; but Israel doesn’t know, my people don’t consider.”

Ah sinful nation, a people loaded with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken Yahweh. They have despised the Holy One of Israel. They are estranged and backward.

“What are the multitude of your sacrifices to me?”, says Yahweh. “I have had enough of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed animals. I don’t delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of male goats.

Bring no more vain offerings. Incense is an abomination to me; new moons, Sabbaths, and convocations: I can’t stand evil assemblies.

My soul hates your New Moons and your appointed feasts. They are a burden to me. I am weary of bearing them.

How the faithful city has become a prostitute! She was full of justice; righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.

Your silver has become dross, your wine mixed with water.

For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which you have desired, and you shall be confounded for the gardens that you have chosen.

For you shall be as an oak whose leaf fades, and as a garden that has no water.

For you have forsaken your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled from the east, with those who practice divination like the Philistines, and they clasp hands with the children of foreigners.

Their land is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures. Their land also is full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots.

Their land also is full of idols. They worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.

For all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, for all the oaks of Bashan,

For every lofty tower, for every fortified wall,

For all the ships of Tarshish, and for all pleasant imagery.

The idols shall utterly pass away.

In that day, men shall cast away their idols of silver, and their idols of gold, which have been made for themselves to worship, to the moles and to the bats;

In that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, the headbands, the crescent necklaces,

the headdresses, the ankle chains, the sashes, the perfume bottles, the charms,

What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? Why, when I looked for it to yield grapes, did it yield wild grapes?

The harp, lyre, tambourine, and flute, with wine, are at their feasts; but they don’t respect the work of Yahweh, neither have they considered the operation of his hands.

“Let’s go up against Judah, and tear it apart, and let’s divide it among ourselves, and set up a king within it, even the son of Tabeel.”

When they tell you, “Consult with those who have familiar spirits and with the wizards, who chirp and who mutter:” shouldn’t a people consult with their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?

They will pass through it, very distressed and hungry; and it will happen that when they are hungry, they will worry, and curse by their king and by their God. They will turn their faces upward,

What will you do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? Where will you leave your wealth?

However he doesn’t mean so, neither does his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off not a few nations.

As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, whose engraved images exceeded those of Jerusalem and of Samaria;

shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?

My hand has found the riches of the peoples like a nest, and like one gathers eggs that are abandoned, I have gathered all the earth. There was no one who moved their wing, or that opened their mouth, or chirped.”

Should an ax brag against him who chops with it? Should a saw exalt itself above him who saws with it? As if a rod should lift those who lift it up, or as if a staff should lift up someone who is not wood.

They have gone up to Bayith, and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep. Moab wails over Nebo and over Medeba. Baldness is on all of their heads. Every beard is cut off.

Therefore they will carry away the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have stored up, over the brook of the willows.

It will happen that when Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself on the high place, and comes to his sanctuary to pray, that he will not prevail.

They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands; neither shall they respect that which their fingers have made, either the Asherah poles, or the incense altars.

For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not remembered the rock of your strength. Therefore you plant pleasant plants, and set out foreign seedlings.

The burden of Egypt. “Behold, Yahweh rides on a swift cloud, and comes to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence; and the heart of Egypt will melt within it.

The spirit of Egypt will fail within it. I will destroy its counsel. They will seek the idols, the charmers, those who have familiar spirits, and the wizards.

Moreover those who work in combed flax, and those who weave white cloth, will be confounded.

The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish. The counsel of the wisest counselors of Pharaoh has become stupid. How do you say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?”

The princes of Zoan have become fools. The princes of Memphis are deceived. They have caused Egypt to go astray, who are the cornerstone of her tribes.

In that day, there will be an altar to Yahweh in the middle of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to Yahweh at its border.

Yahweh will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know Yahweh in that day. Yes, they will worship with sacrifice and offering, and will vow a vow to Yahweh, and will perform it.

They will be dismayed and confounded, because of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.

Behold, here comes a troop of men, horsemen in pairs.” He answered, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the engraved images of her gods are broken to the ground.

You also made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you didn’t look to him who had done this, neither did you have respect for him who purposed it long ago.

Pass over to Tarshish! Wail, you inhabitants of the coast!

It will happen after the end of seventy years that Yahweh will visit Tyre, and she shall return to her wages, and will play the prostitute with all the kingdoms of the world on the surface of the earth.

Yahweh our God, other lords besides you have had dominion over us, but by you only will we make mention of your name.

Therefore by this the iniquity of Jacob will be forgiven, and this is all the fruit of taking away his sin: that he makes all the stones of the altar as chalk stones that are beaten in pieces, so that the Asherah poles and the incense altars shall rise no more.

You turn things upside down! Should the potter be thought to be like clay; that the thing made should say about him who made it, “He didn’t make me”; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding?”

who set out to go down into Egypt, and have not asked my advice; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt!

Therefore the strength of Pharaoh will be your shame, and the refuge in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.

They shall all be ashamed because of a people that can’t profit them, that are not a help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.”

For Egypt helps in vain, and to no purpose; therefore I have called her Rahab who sits still.

Get out of the way. Turn away from the path. Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.”

but you said, “No, for we will flee on horses”; therefore you will flee; and, “We will ride on the swift”; therefore those who pursue you will be swift.

You shall defile the overlaying of your engraved images of silver, and the plating of your molten images of gold. You shall cast them away as an unclean thing. You shall tell it, “Go away!”

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but they don’t look to the Holy One of Israel, and they don’t seek Yahweh!