Verse 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.

Referenced Verses

  • Isa 41:24 : 24 Look, you are nothing, and your accomplishments are nonexistent; the one who chooses to worship you is disgusting.
  • Isa 41:29 : 29 Look, all of them are nothing, their accomplishments are nonexistent; their metal images lack any real substance.
  • Ps 97:7 : 7 All who worship idols are ashamed, those who boast about worthless idols. All the gods bow down before him.
  • Ps 115:8 : 8 Those who make them will end up like them, as will everyone who trusts in them.
  • Ps 135:18 : 18 Those who make them will end up like them, as will everyone who trusts in them.
  • Isa 2:20-21 : 20 At 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, 21 so they themselves can go into the crevices of the rocky cliffs and the openings under the rocky overhangs, trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the LORD and his royal splendor, when he rises up to terrify the earth.
  • Isa 37:18-20 : 18 It is true, LORD, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the nations and their lands. 19 They 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. 20 Now, O LORD our God, rescue us from his power, so all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the LORD.”
  • Deut 27:15 : 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!’
  • Judg 10:14 : 14 Go and cry for help to the gods you have chosen! Let them deliver you from trouble!”
  • 1 Kgs 18:26-40 : 26 So they took a bull, as he had suggested, and prepared it. They invoked the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying,“Baal, answer us.” But there was no sound and no answer. They jumped around on the altar they had made. 27 At noon Elijah mocked them,“Yell louder! After all, he is a god; he may be deep in thought, or perhaps he stepped out for a moment or has taken a trip. Perhaps he is sleeping and needs to be awakened.” 28 So they yelled louder and, in accordance with their prescribed ritual, mutilated themselves with swords and spears until their bodies were covered with blood. 29 Throughout the afternoon they were in an ecstatic frenzy, but there was no sound, no answer, and no response. 30 Elijah then told all the people,“Approach me.” So all the people approached him. He repaired the altar of the LORD that had been torn down. 31 Then Elijah took twelve stones, corresponding to the number of tribes that descended from Jacob, to whom the LORD’s message had come,“Israel will be your name.” 32 With the stones he constructed an altar for the LORD. Around the altar he made a trench large enough to contain two seahs of seed. 33 He arranged the wood, cut up the bull, and placed it on the wood. Then he said,“Fill four water jars and pour the water on the offering and the wood.” 34 When they had done so, he said,“Do it again.” So they did it again. Then he said,“Do it a third time.” So they did it a third time. 35 The water flowed down all sides of the altar and filled the trench. 36 When it was time for the evening offering, Elijah the prophet approached the altar and prayed:“O LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are the true God and that you are winning back their allegiance.” 38 Then fire from the LORD fell from the sky. It consumed the offering, the wood, the stones, and the dirt, and licked up the water in the trench. 39 When all the people saw this, they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground and said,“The LORD is the true God! The LORD is the true God!” 40 Elijah told them,“Seize the prophets of Baal! Don’t let even one of them escape!” So they seized them, and Elijah led them down to the Kishon Valley and executed them there.
  • Isa 42:18 : 18 The Lord Reasons with His People“Listen, you deaf ones! Take notice, you blind ones!
  • Isa 43:8 : 8 The Lord Declares His Sovereignty Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes, those who are deaf, even though they have ears!
  • Isa 44:18 : 18 They do not comprehend or understand, for their eyes are blind and cannot see; their minds do not discern.
  • Isa 44:20 : 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 45:20 : 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 46:6-7 : 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.
  • Jer 2:11 : 11 Has 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!
  • 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.
  • Jer 10:3-8 : 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.” 6 I said,“There is no one like you, LORD. You are great. And you are renowned for your power. 7 Everyone should revere you, O King of all nations, because you deserve to be revered. For there is no one like you among any of the wise people of the nations nor among any of their kings. 8 The people of those nations are both stupid and foolish. Instruction from a wooden idol is worthless!
  • 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 14:22 : 22 Do any of the worthless idols of the nations cause rain to fall? Do the skies themselves send showers? Is it not you, O Lord our God, who does this? So we put our hopes in you because you alone do all this.”
  • Jer 16:19-20 : 19 Then I said,“LORD, you give me strength and protect me. You are the one I can run to for safety when I am in trouble. Nations from all over the earth will come to you and say,‘Our ancestors had nothing but false gods– worthless idols that could not help them at all. 20 Can people make their own gods? No, what they make are not gods at all.”
  • Dan 5:23 : 23 Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. You brought before you the vessels from his temple, and you and your nobles, together with your wives and concubines, drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone– gods that cannot see or hear or comprehend! But you have not glorified the God who has in his control your very breath and all your ways!
  • Dan 11:38 : 38 What he will honor is a god of fortresses– a god his fathers did not acknowledge he will honor with gold, silver, valuable stones, and treasured commodities.
  • Hos 8:4-6 : 4 The Political and Cultic Sin of Israel They enthroned kings without my consent! They appointed princes without my approval! They made idols out of their silver and gold, but they will be destroyed! 5 O Samaria, he has rejected your calf idol! My anger burns against them! They will not survive much longer without being punished, even though they are Israelites! 6 That idol was made by a workman– it is not God! The calf idol of Samaria will be broken to bits.
  • Hab 2:18-20 : 18 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? 19 Woe 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. 20 But the LORD is in his majestic palace. The whole earth is speechless in his presence!”
  • Rom 1:22 : 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools
  • 1 Cor 8:4 : 4 With regard then to eating food sacrificed to idols, we know that“an idol in this world is nothing,” and that“there is no God but one.”
  • 2 Cor 4:4 : 4 among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe so they would not see the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God.
  • Eph 4:18 : 18 They are darkened in their understanding, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.
  • Eph 5:8 : 8 for you were at one time darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live like children of light–