Habakkuk 2:18

Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

What profit is an idol when its maker has carved it, or a cast image that teaches falsehood? For its maker trusts in his own creation to make worthless idols that cannot speak.

Additional Resources

Other Translations

  • King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

    What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?

  • KJV1611 – Modern English

    What profit is the carved image that its maker has carved it; the molded image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusts in it, to make mute idols?

  • King James Version 1611 (Original)

    What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?

  • American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

    What profiteth{H3276} the graven image,{H6459} that the maker{H3335} thereof hath graven{H6458} it; the molten image,{H4541} even the teacher{H3384} of lies,{H8267} that he that fashioneth{H3335} its form{H3336} trusteth{H982} therein, to make{H6213} dumb{H483} idols?{H457}

  • King James Version with Strong's Numbers

    What profiteth{H3276}{(H8689)} the graven image{H6459} that the maker{H3335}{(H8802)} thereof hath graven{H6458}{(H8804)} it; the molten image{H4541}, and a teacher{H3384}{(H8688)} of lies{H8267}, that the maker{H3335}{(H8802)} of his work{H3336} trusteth{H982}{(H8804)} therein, to make{H6213}{(H8800)} dumb{H483} idols{H457}?

  • Coverdale Bible (1535)

    What helpe than wil ye ymage do, whom the workman hath fashioned? Or the vayne cast ymage, wherin because the craftesman putteth his trust, therfore maketh he domme Idols?

  • Geneva Bible (1560)

    What profiteth the image? for the maker thereof hath made it an image, and a teacher of lies, though he that made it, trust therein, when he maketh dumme idoles.

  • Bishops' Bible (1568)

    What profiteth the image? for the maker therof hath made it an image and a teacher of lyes, though he that made it trust therin when he maketh dumbe idoles.

  • Authorized King James Version (1611)

    What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?

  • Webster's Bible (1833)

    "What value does the engraved image have, that its maker has engraved it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he who fashions its form trusts in it, to make mute idols?

  • Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

    What profit hath a graven image given That its former hath graven it? A molten image and teacher of falsehood, That trusted hath the former on his own formation -- to make dumb idols?

  • American Standard Version (1901)

    What profiteth the graven image, that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he that fashioneth its form trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?

  • American Standard Version (1901)

    What profiteth the graven image, that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he that fashioneth its form trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?

  • Bible in Basic English (1941)

    What profit is the pictured image to its maker? and as for the metal image, the false teacher, why does its maker put his faith in it, making false gods without a voice?

  • World English Bible (2000)

    "What value does the engraved image have, that its maker has engraved it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he who fashions its form trusts in it, to make mute idols?

  • NET Bible® (New English Translation)

    What good is an idol? Why would a craftsman make it? What good is a metal image that gives misleading oracles? Why would its creator place his trust in it and make such mute, worthless things?

Referenced Verses

  • Isa 42:17 : 17 They will be turned back; they will be utterly ashamed—those who trust in carved idols and say to molten images, 'You are our gods.'
  • Jer 10:8 : 8 They are all senseless and foolish; their instruction comes from worthless idols.
  • Zech 10:2 : 2 For the household idols speak deceit, and the diviners see false visions. They tell deceitful dreams and offer empty comfort. Therefore, the people wander like sheep, oppressed because they have no shepherd.
  • Jer 2:27-28 : 27 They say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave birth to me.’ They have turned their backs to me and not their faces. Yet in their time of trouble, they will say, ‘Arise and save us!’ 28 But where are your gods that you made for yourself? Let them arise and save you in your time of trouble, if they can. For as many as your cities are your gods, Judah.
  • 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?
  • 1 Cor 12:2 : 2 You know that when you were Gentiles, you were led to speechless idols, however you were led.
  • 2 Thess 2:9-9 : 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the workings of Satan, with all kinds of power, false signs, and wonders, 10 and with every kind of deceit targeting those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason, God sends them a powerful delusion, so that they will believe the lie,
  • 1 Tim 4:1-2 : 1 Now the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and the teachings of demons. 2 They will speak lies with hypocrisy, and their consciences will be seared as with a hot iron.
  • Rev 13:11-15 : 11 Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and it makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. 13 It performs great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of the people. 14 It deceives those who dwell on the earth by the signs it was allowed to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 It was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast could speak and cause all who would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
  • Rev 19:20 : 20 But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the signs on his behalf. By these signs he had deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur.
  • Isa 44:14-20 : 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?'
  • Isa 45:16 : 16 They will all be ashamed and humiliated, all of them will walk in disgrace—the makers of idols.
  • Isa 45:20 : 20 Gather together and come; assemble, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, who pray to gods that cannot save.
  • Isa 46:1-2 : 1 Bel has stooped; Nebo has bowed down. Their idols are placed on animals and livestock. These burdens you carry are heavy, a load for the weary. 2 They collapse and bow down together; they cannot rescue the burden, but they themselves go into captivity.
  • Isa 46:6-8 : 6 They pour out gold from their purses and weigh silver on a scale. They hire a craftsman to make it into a god, and they bow down and even worship it. 7 They lift it on their shoulders and carry it; they set it in its place, and there it stays. It does not move from its spot. If someone cries to it, it cannot answer or save them from their troubles. 8 Remember this and show yourselves to be men; take it to heart, you transgressors.
  • 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.
  • Isa 1:31 : 31 The strong one will become tinder, and his work a spark; both will burn together, and no one will extinguish them.
  • Isa 37:38 : 38 While he was worshiping in the house of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat. And his son Esarhaddon reigned in his place.
  • Jer 10:3-5 : 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.
  • Rom 1:23-25 : 23 And they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, animals, and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is forever praised. Amen.
  • Rom 6:21 : 21 But what fruit did you produce then from the things you are now ashamed of? The outcome of those things is death.
  • Jer 10:14-15 : 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.
  • Jer 50:2 : 2 Declare among the nations and proclaim it; raise a banner and proclaim it! Do not hide it. Say, 'Babylon has been captured; Bel is put to shame, Marduk is dismayed. Her idols are disgraced, her images shattered.'
  • Jonah 2:8 : 8 As my life was fading away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer rose to You, to Your holy temple.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Isa 44:9-11
    3 verses
    85%

    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.

  • 19 Woe to him who says to wood, 'Awake!' or to silent stone, 'Arise!' Can it teach? Look, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet there is no breath at all within it.

  • Jer 51:17-18
    2 verses
    80%

    17 Every human is senseless, lacking knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, for his images are false, and there is no breath in them.

    18 They are worthless, a work of delusion; at the time of their punishment, they will perish.

  • Jer 10:14-15
    2 verses
    79%

    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.

  • Isa 40:18-20
    3 verses
    78%

    18 To whom, then, will you compare God? What image can you find to resemble Him?

    19 As for an idol, a craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it.

    20 A person who is too poor to afford such an idol selects wood that will not rot; they look for a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not topple.

  • 18 Those who make them will become like them; so will all who trust in them.

  • 8 Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.

  • Ps 135:15-16
    2 verses
    76%

    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.

  • 8 Their land is filled with idols. They bow down to the work of their own hands, to what their fingers have made.

  • 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.'

  • 4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.

  • 8 They are all senseless and foolish; their instruction comes from worthless idols.

  • 20 Can people make their own gods? Such gods are not gods at all!

  • 17 They will be turned back; they will be utterly ashamed—those who trust in carved idols and say to molten images, 'You are our gods.'

  • 15 Cursed is anyone who makes a carved or cast idol, an abomination to the LORD, the work of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret. Then all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

  • 8 They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands, nor will they regard what their fingers have made, neither the Asherim nor the incense altars.

  • 8 But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.

  • 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.

  • 7 For on that day each of you will reject the idols of silver and gold that your hands have sinfully made.

  • 6 This calf comes from Israel! A craftsman made it; it is not God. It will be shattered into pieces—this calf of Samaria.

  • 6 They pour out gold from their purses and weigh silver on a scale. They hire a craftsman to make it into a god, and they bow down and even worship it.

  • 2 Now they continue to sin and make for themselves cast images, idols skillfully crafted from their silver, all of it the work of artisans. They say about them, 'Those who sacrifice kiss the calves!'

  • 28 There you will serve gods made by human hands—objects of wood and stone that cannot see, hear, eat, or smell.

  • 20 On that day, people will throw away their silver idols and their gold idols, which they made to worship, to the moles and bats.

  • 29 Behold, all of them are worthless; their works are nothing; their metal idols are wind and emptiness.

  • 13 I will uproot your Asherah poles from among you and demolish your cities.

  • 32 What you have in mind will never happen. You say, 'We will be like the nations, like the peoples of the world, who serve wood and stone.'

  • 16 They will all be ashamed and humiliated, all of them will walk in disgrace—the makers of idols.

  • 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.

  • 22 Then you will defile your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, 'Away with you!'

  • 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.

  • 4 You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth.

  • 18 The idols will completely vanish.

  • 18 They have cast their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but merely the work of human hands—wood and stone.

  • 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.

  • 8 You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.

  • 38 A drought is upon her waters; they will dry up. For it is a land of idols, and they go mad over terrifying images.

  • 23 Be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which He made with you, and not to make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything He has forbidden you.