Habakkuk 2:18

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?

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Referenced Verses

  • Isa 42:17 : 17 Those who trust in idols will turn back and be utterly humiliated, those who say to metal images,‘You are our gods.’”
  • Jer 10:8 : 8 The people of those nations are both stupid and foolish. Instruction from a wooden idol is worthless!
  • Zech 10:2 : 2 For the household gods have spoken wickedness, the soothsayers have seen a lie, and as for the dreamers, they have disclosed emptiness and give comfort in vain. Therefore the people set out like sheep and become scattered because they have no shepherd.
  • Jer 2:27-28 : 27 They say to a wooden idol,‘You are my father.’ They say to a stone image,‘You gave birth to me.’ Yes, they have turned away from me instead of turning to me. Yet when they are in trouble, they say,‘Come and save us!’ 28 But where are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them save you when you are in trouble. The sad fact is that you have as many gods as you have towns, Judah.
  • Isa 44:9-9 : 9 All who form idols are nothing; the things in which they delight are worthless. Their witnesses cannot see; they recognize nothing, so they are put to shame. 10 Who forms a god and casts an idol that will prove worthless?
  • 1 Cor 12:2 : 2 You know that when you were pagans you were often led astray by speechless idols, however you were led.
  • 2 Thess 2:9-9 : 9 The arrival of the lawless one will be by Satan’s working with all kinds of miracles and signs and false wonders, 10 and with every kind of evil deception directed against those who are perishing, because they found no place in their hearts for the truth so as to be saved. 11 Consequently God sends on them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false.
  • 1 Tim 4:1-2 : 1 Timothy’s Ministry in the Later Times Now the Spirit explicitly says that in the later times some will desert the faith and occupy themselves with deceiving spirits and demonic teachings, 2 influenced by the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared.
  • Rev 13:11-15 : 11 Then I saw another beast coming up from the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but was speaking like a dragon. 12 He exercised all the ruling authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and those who inhabit it worship the first beast, the one whose lethal wound had been healed. 13 He performed momentous signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people 14 and, by the signs he was permitted to perform on behalf of the beast, he deceived those who live on the earth. He told those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who had been wounded by the sword, but still lived. 15 The second beast was empowered to give life to the image of the first beast so that it could speak, and could cause all those who did not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
  • Rev 19:20 : 20 Now the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet who had performed the signs on his behalf– signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur.
  • Isa 44:14-20 : 14 He cuts down cedars and acquires a cypress or an oak. He gets trees from the forest; he plants a cedar and the rain makes it grow. 15 A man uses it to make a fire; he takes some of it and warms himself. Yes, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Then he makes a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire– over that half he cooks meat; he roasts a meal and fills himself. Yes, he warms himself and says,‘Ah! I am warm as I look at the fire.’ 17 With the rest of it he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships it. He prays to it, saying,‘Rescue me, for you are my god!’ 18 They do not comprehend or understand, for their eyes are blind and cannot see; their minds do not discern. 19 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?’ 20 He feeds on ashes; his deceived mind misleads him. He cannot rescue himself, nor does he say,‘Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?’
  • Isa 45:16 : 16 They will all be ashamed and embarrassed; those who fashion idols will all be humiliated.
  • Isa 45:20 : 20 Gather together and come! Approach together, you refugees from the nations! Those who carry wooden idols know nothing, those who pray to a god that cannot deliver.
  • Isa 46:1-2 : 1 The Lord Carries His People Bel kneels down, Nebo bends low. Their images weigh down animals and beasts. Your heavy images are burdensome to tired animals. 2 Together they bend low and kneel down; they are unable to rescue the images; they themselves head off into captivity.
  • Isa 46:6-8 : 6 Those who empty out gold from a purse and weigh out silver on the scale hire a metalsmith, who makes it into a god. They then bow down and worship it. 7 They put it on their shoulder and carry it; they put it in its place and it just stands there; it does not move from its place. Even when someone cries out to it, it does not reply; it does not deliver him from his distress. 8 Remember this, so you can be brave! Think about it, you rebels!
  • Ps 115:4-8 : 4 Their idols are made of silver and gold– they are man-made. 5 They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see, 6 ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell, 7 hands, but cannot touch, feet, but cannot walk. They cannot even clear their throats. 8 Those who make them will end up like them, as will everyone who trusts in them.
  • Ps 135:15-18 : 15 The nations’ idols are made of silver and gold, they are man-made. 16 They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see, 17 and ears, but cannot hear. Indeed, they cannot breathe. 18 Those who make them will end up like them, as will everyone who trusts in them.
  • Isa 1:31 : 31 The powerful will be like a thread of yarn, their deeds like a spark; both will burn together, and no one will put out the fire.
  • Isa 37:38 : 38 One day, as he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword. They ran away to the land of Ararat; his son Esarhaddon replaced him as king.
  • Jer 10:3-5 : 3 For the religion of these people is worthless. They cut down a tree in the forest, and a craftsman makes it into an idol with his tools. 4 He decorates it with overlays of silver and gold. He uses hammer and nails to fasten it together so that it will not fall over. 5 Such idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field. They cannot talk. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them because they cannot hurt you. And they do not have any power to help you.”
  • Rom 1:23-25 : 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor their bodies among themselves. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
  • Rom 6:21 : 21 So what benefit did you then reap from those things that you are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death.
  • Jer 10:14-15 : 14 All these idolaters will prove to be stupid and ignorant. Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made. For the image he forges is merely a sham. There is no breath in any of those idols. 15 They are worthless, mere objects to be mocked. When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed.
  • Jer 50:2 : 2 “Announce the news among the nations! Proclaim it! Signal for people to pay attention! Declare the news! Do not hide it! Say:‘Babylon will be captured. Bel will be put to shame. Marduk will be dismayed. Babylon’s idols will be put to shame. Her disgusting images will be dismayed.
  • Jonah 2:8 : 8 Those who worship worthless idols forfeit the mercy that could be theirs.

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%

    9All who form idols are nothing; the things in which they delight are worthless. Their witnesses cannot see; they recognize nothing, so they are put to shame.

    10Who forms a god and casts an idol that will prove worthless?

    11Look, all his associates will be put to shame; the craftsmen are mere humans. Let them all assemble and take their stand! They will panic and be put to shame.

  • Hab 2:19
    83%

    19Woe to the one who says to wood,‘Wake up!’– he who says to speechless stone,‘Awake!’ Can it give reliable guidance? It is overlaid with gold and silver; it has no life’s breath inside it.

  • Jer 51:17-18
    2 verses
    80%

    17All idolaters will prove to be stupid and ignorant. Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made. For the image he forges is merely a sham. There is no breath in any of those idols.

    18They are worthless, objects to be ridiculed. When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed.

  • Jer 10:14-15
    2 verses
    79%

    14All these idolaters will prove to be stupid and ignorant. Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made. For the image he forges is merely a sham. There is no breath in any of those idols.

    15They are worthless, mere objects to be mocked. When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed.

  • Isa 40:18-20
    3 verses
    78%

    18To whom can you compare God? To what image can you liken him?

    19A craftsman casts an idol; a metalsmith overlays it with gold and forges silver chains for it.

    20To make a contribution one selects wood that will not rot; he then seeks a skilled craftsman to make an idol that will not fall over.

  • Ps 135:18
    77%

    18Those who make them will end up like them, as will everyone who trusts in them.

  • Ps 115:8
    76%

    8Those who make them will end up like them, as will everyone who trusts in them.

  • Ps 135:15-16
    2 verses
    76%

    15The nations’ idols are made of silver and gold, they are man-made.

    16They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see,

  • Isa 2:8
    75%

    8Their land is full of worthless idols; they worship the product of their own hands, what their own fingers have fashioned.

  • Isa 44:17
    75%

    17With the rest of it he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships it. He prays to it, saying,‘Rescue me, for you are my god!’

  • Ps 115:4
    75%

    4Their idols are made of silver and gold– they are man-made.

  • Jer 10:8
    75%

    8The people of those nations are both stupid and foolish. Instruction from a wooden idol is worthless!

  • Jer 16:20
    74%

    20Can people make their own gods? No, what they make are not gods at all.”

  • Isa 42:17
    73%

    17Those who trust in idols will turn back and be utterly humiliated, those who say to metal images,‘You are our gods.’”

  • Deut 27:15
    73%

    15‘Cursed is the one who makes a carved or metal image– something abhorrent to the LORD, the work of the craftsman– and sets it up in a secret place.’ Then all the people will say,‘Amen!’

  • Isa 17:8
    73%

    8They will no longer trust in the altars their hands made, or depend on the Asherah poles and incense altars their fingers made.

  • Jer 7:8
    72%

    8“‘But just look at you! You are putting your confidence in a false belief that will not deliver you.

  • Isa 44:15
    72%

    15A man uses it to make a fire; he takes some of it and warms himself. Yes, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Then he makes a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it.

  • Isa 31:7
    72%

    7For at that time everyone will get rid of the silver and gold idols your hands sinfully made.

  • Hos 8:6
    72%

    6That idol was made by a workman– it is not God! The calf idol of Samaria will be broken to bits.

  • Isa 46:6
    72%

    6Those who empty out gold from a purse and weigh out silver on the scale hire a metalsmith, who makes it into a god. They then bow down and worship it.

  • Hos 13:2
    71%

    2Even now they persist in sin! They make metal images for themselves, idols that they skillfully fashion from their own silver; all of them are nothing but the work of craftsmen! There is a saying about them:“Those who sacrifice to the calf idol are calf kissers!”

  • Deut 4:28
    71%

    28There you will worship gods made by human hands– wood and stone that can neither see, hear, eat, nor smell.

  • Isa 2:20
    71%

    20At that time men will throw their silver and gold idols, which they made for themselves to worship, into the caves where rodents and bats live,

  • Isa 41:29
    71%

    29Look, all of them are nothing, their accomplishments are nonexistent; their metal images lack any real substance.

  • Mic 5:13
    70%

    13I will remove your idols and sacred pillars from your midst; you will no longer worship what your own hands made.

  • Ezek 20:32
    70%

    32“‘What you plan will never happen. You say,“We will be like the nations, like the clans of the lands, who serve gods of wood and stone.”

  • Isa 45:16
    70%

    16They will all be ashamed and embarrassed; those who fashion idols will all be humiliated.

  • Isa 37:19
    70%

    19They have burned the gods of the nations, for they are not really gods, but only the product of human hands manufactured from wood and stone. That is why the Assyrians could destroy them.

  • Isa 30:22
    70%

    22You will desecrate your silver-plated idols and your gold-plated images. You will throw them away as if they were a menstrual rag, saying to them,“Get out!”

  • Jer 2:11
    69%

    11Has a nation ever changed its gods(even though they are not really gods at all)? But my people have exchanged me, their glorious God, for a god that cannot help them at all!

  • Exod 20:4
    69%

    4“You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below.

  • Isa 2:18
    69%

    18The worthless idols will be completely eliminated.

  • 2 Kgs 19:18
    69%

    18They have burned the gods of the nations, for they are not really gods, but only the product of human hands manufactured from wood and stone. That is why the Assyrians could destroy them.

  • Jer 10:3
    69%

    3For the religion of these people is worthless. They cut down a tree in the forest, and a craftsman makes it into an idol with his tools.

  • Deut 5:8
    69%

    8You must not make for yourself an image of anything in heaven above, on earth below, or in the waters beneath.

  • Jer 50:38
    69%

    38A drought will come upon her land; her rivers and canals will be dried up. All of this will happen because her land is filled with idols. Her people act like madmen because of those idols they fear.

  • Deut 4:23
    69%

    23Be on guard so that you do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God that he has made with you, and that you do not make an image of any kind, just as he has forbidden you.