Judges 17:3 Cross References - ISV

³ Her son gave back the 1,100 silver coins to his mother, and she said, “I’m totally giving this silver—from my hand to the LORD—so my son can make a carved image and a cast image. So I’m returning it to you.”

⁴ “You are not to make for yourselves an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above, or on earth below, or in the water under the earth.

²³ You are not to make gods of silver alongside me, nor are you to make for yourselves gods of gold.

¹⁷ “You are not to make molten gods for yourselves.

⁴ “You are not to turn to their idols or cast gods out of melted metal for yourselves. I am the LORD your God.

³ Tear down their altars, cut down their sacred poles, and burn them. Cut down the carved images of their gods to erase their memory from that place.”

¹³ As for Micah, he kept saying, “Now I know the LORD will make me rich, because I have a descendant of Levi for a priest!”

⁵ They replied, “Go ask God, please, about whether or not we’ll be successful in this journey.”

⁴ Their idols are silver and gold, crafted by human hands. ⁵ They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see. ⁶ They have ears, but cannot hear; they have noses, but cannot smell. ⁷ They have hands, but cannot touch; feet, but cannot walk; they cannot even groan with their throats. ⁸ Those who craft them will become like them, as will all those who trust in them.

¹⁸ “To whom, then, will you compare me, the One who is God? Or to what image will you liken me? ¹⁹ To an idol? A craftsman makes the image, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts silver chains. ²⁰ To the impoverished person? He prepares an offering— wood that won’t rot— Or to the one who chooses a skilled craftsman and seeks to erect an idol that won’t topple?”
²¹ The Majesty of the LORD“You know, don’t you? You have heard, haven’t you? Hasn’t it been told you from the beginning? Haven’t you understood from the foundations of the earth? ²² He’s the one who sits above the disk of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. He’s the one who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to live in, ²³ who brings princes to nothing, and makes void the rulers of the earth. ²⁴ No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner have their stems taken root in the earth, than he blows on them, and they wither, and the tempest sweeps them away like stubble. ²⁵ “To whom, then, will you compare me, and to whom should I be equal?” asks the Holy One.

⁹ A Rebuke to Idol WorshipNow, all the forming of images means nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Their own witnesses cannot see, and they know nothing. So they will be put to shame.
¹⁰ Who would shape a god or cast an image that profits nothing? ¹¹ To be sure, all who associate with it will be put to shame; and as for the craftsmen, they are only human. Let them all gather together and take their stand. Then let them be terrified—they will be humiliated together.
¹² The blacksmith prepares a tool and works in the coals, then fashions an idol with hammers, working by the strength of his arm. He even becomes hungry and loses his strength; he drinks no water and grows faint.
¹³ The carpenter measures it with a line; he traces its shape with a stylus, then fashions it with planes and shapes it with a compass. He makes the idol like a human figure, with human beauty, to be at home in a shrine. ¹⁴ He cuts down cedars, or chooses a cypress tree or an oak, and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. Or he plants a cedar, and the rain makes it grow. ¹⁵ He divides it up for people to burn. Taking part of it, he warms himself, makes a fire, and bakes bread. Or perhaps he constructs a god and worships it. He makes it an idol and bows down to it. ¹⁶ Half the wood he burns in the fire, and over that half he places meat so he can eat. He sits by its coals, warms himself, and says, “Ah! I am warm in front of the fire.” ¹⁷ And the rest of it he makes into a god. To blocks of wood he bows down, worships, prays, and says, “Save me, since you are my god.”
¹⁸ They don’t realize; they don’t understand, because their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds, too, so they cannot understand. ¹⁹ No one stops to think. No one has the knowledge or understanding to think—yes to think!—“Half of it I burned in the fire. I even baked bread on its coals, and I roasted meat and ate it. And am I about to make detestable things from what is left? Am I about to bow down to blocks of wood?” ²⁰ He tends ashes. A deceived mind has lead him astray. It cannot be his life, nor can he say, “There’s a lie in my right hand.”

³ “Whoever slaughters an ox is just like one who kills a human being; whoever sacrifices a lamb is just like one who breaks a dog’s neck; whoever makes a grain offering is just like one who offers pig’s blood; and whoever makes a memorial offering of frankincense is just like one who blesses an idol. Yes, these have chosen their own ways, and they take delight in their contaminated actions.

³ For the practices of the people are worthless. Indeed, a tree is cut down from the forest; it’s the work of the hands of a craftsman with an ax. ⁴ They decorate it with silver and gold. They secure it with nails and hammers so it won’t totter. ⁵ Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field. They can’t speak! They must always be carried because they can’t walk! Don’t be afraid of them because they can do no harm, nor can they do any good.”

⁸ Everyone is stupid and senseless. They follow worthless instruction from a piece of wood!

¹⁸ Judgment on the Idol Maker“Where is the benefit in owning a carved image, that motivates its maker to carve it? It is only a cast image— a teacher that lies— because the engraver entrusts himself to his carving, crafting speechless idols. ¹⁹ “Woe to the one who says to a tree, ‘Wake up!’ or ‘Arise!’ to a speechless stone. Idols like this can’t teach, can they? Look, even though it is overlaid with gold and silver, there’s no breath in it at all.”

² You’ll be thrown out of the synagogues. Yes, a time is coming when the one who kills you will think he’s serving God.