Verse 8

But in the past, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those who by nature are not gods.

Other Translations

Referenced Verses

  • 1 Cor 1:21 : 21 For since in God’s wisdom the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
  • 1 Thess 4:5 : 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God.
  • 2 Thess 1:8 : 8 In flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
  • 1 Cor 8:4 : 4 So then, concerning eating food sacrificed to idols: we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and there is no God but one.
  • 2 Chr 13:9 : 9 Have you not driven out the priests of the LORD, the descendants of Aaron, and the Levites, and appointed your own priests like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes with a young bull and seven rams can become a priest of what are not gods.
  • Isa 37:19 : 19 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but the work of human hands—wood and stone. So they have destroyed them.
  • Eph 2:11-12 : 11 Therefore, remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh—who are called 'the uncircumcision' by those who are called 'the circumcision,' which is done in the flesh by human hands— 12 were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
  • 1 Thess 1:9 : 9 For they themselves tell about how you welcomed us and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.
  • Eph 4:18 : 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.
  • 1 Pet 4:3 : 3 For you have already spent enough time in the past doing what the Gentiles choose to do, living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.
  • 1 John 3:1 : 1 See how great a love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and this is what we are! The world does not know us because it did not know Him.
  • Isa 44:9-9 : 9 All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Their witnesses see nothing and know nothing, so they will be put to shame. 10 Who fashions a god or casts an idol that can profit nothing? 11 Behold, all his companions will be put to shame, and the craftsmen are mere men. Let them all assemble and take their stand; they will be terrified and put to shame together. 12 The blacksmith works with iron, shaping it in the coals. He hammers it with his tools and works it with the strength of his arms. Yet he grows hungry and loses his strength; he drinks no water and becomes faint. 13 The carpenter measures out wood; he marks it with a stylus. He shapes it with chisels and marks it with a compass. He crafts it in the form of a man, a human figure, to dwell in a house. 14 He cuts down cedars or chooses a cypress or an oak. He lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a pine, and the rain makes it grow. 15 It becomes fuel for a man; he takes part of it to warm himself, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. But he also makes a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. 16 Half of the wood he burns in the fire; he roasts meat over it, eats, and is satisfied. He warms himself and says, 'Ah, I am warm; I see the fire.' 17 From the rest he makes a god, his idol, and bows down to it. He worships it and prays to it, saying, 'Save me, for you are my god.' 18 They have no knowledge or understanding; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their hearts so they cannot understand. 19 No one considers in his heart, no one has the knowledge or insight to say, 'Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals, roasted meat, and ate. Now, should I make an abomination of the rest? Should I bow down to a block of wood?' 20 He feeds on ashes. A deceived heart has led him astray, and he cannot save himself or say, 'Isn't there a lie in my right hand?'
  • Jer 2:11 : 11 Has a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.) But my people have exchanged their glory for worthless idols.
  • Jer 10:3-9 : 3 For the customs of the nations are worthless. They cut down a tree from the forest; it is shaped by the hands of a craftsman with a chisel. 4 They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with nails and hammers so it will not totter. 5 They are like scarecrows in a cucumber field; they cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them, for they can do no harm—nor can they do any good. 6 There is no one like You, Lord. You are great, and Your name is mighty in power. 7 Who should not fear You, King of the nations? This is Your due. Among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like You. 8 They are all senseless and foolish; their instruction comes from worthless idols. 9 Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz—the work of the craftsman and of the goldsmith. Their clothing is blue and purple, all made by skilled workers. 10 But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God, the eternal King. When He is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure His wrath. 11 Tell them this: 'The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.' 12 God made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding. 13 At the sound of His thunder, water roars in the heavens. He causes clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain and brings wind out of His storehouses. 14 Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by their idols. The images he makes are a fraud; they have no breath in them. 15 They are worthless, a work of mockery; at the time of their punishment, they will perish. 16 The portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the Maker of all things, and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance—the Lord Almighty is His name.
  • Jer 10:25 : 25 Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge You and on the families that do not call on Your name. For they have devoured Jacob; they have consumed him, destroyed him, and ruined his homeland.
  • John 1:10 : 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him.
  • Acts 14:12 : 12 They called Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.
  • Acts 17:23 : 23 As I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. So, you are worshiping in ignorance the very one I proclaim to you.
  • Acts 17:29-30 : 29 Therefore, since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold, silver, or stone—an image formed by human skill and imagination. 30 In the past, God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
  • Rom 1:23 : 23 And they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, animals, and creeping things.
  • Rom 1:28 : 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
  • Ps 115:4-8 : 4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. 5 They have mouths but cannot speak, eyes but cannot see. 6 They have ears but cannot hear, noses but cannot smell. 7 They have hands but cannot touch, feet but cannot walk, nor can they make a sound with their throats. 8 Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.
  • Ps 135:15-18 : 15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. 16 They have mouths but cannot speak, eyes but cannot see. 17 They have ears but cannot hear; there is no breath in their mouths. 18 Those who make them will become like them; so will all who trust in them.
  • Exod 5:2 : 2 But Pharaoh replied, "Who is the Lord that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go."
  • Josh 24:2 : 2 Joshua said to all the people, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Long ago, your ancestors, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods.
  • Josh 24:15 : 15 But if it seems undesirable to you to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve—whether the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD.
  • 1 Cor 10:19-20 : 19 What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or that food sacrificed to idols is anything? 20 No, but what the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to become participants with demons.
  • 1 Cor 12:2 : 2 You know that when you were Gentiles, you were led to speechless idols, however you were led.