They help one another. They say to one another,“ Be strong!”

他们各人帮助邻舍，各人对弟兄说：“壮胆吧！”

各人互相帮助，对弟兄说：“壮胆吧！”

各人互相帮助，对弟兄说：“壮胆吧！”

彼此帮助，互相勉励说，‘要刚强！’

各人彼此帮助，对自己的兄弟说：“要坚强！”

各人帮助邻舍，对自己的兄弟说：“要坚强！”

他們各人幫助鄰舍，各人對弟兄說：壯膽吧！

各人互相幫助，對弟兄說：「壯膽吧！」

各人互相幫助，對弟兄說：「壯膽吧！」

彼此幫助，互相勉勵說，『要剛強！』

各人彼此幫助，對自己的兄弟說：“要堅強！”

各人都幫助鄰舍，各人都對弟兄說：『要剛強！』

各人幫助鄰舍，對自己的兄弟說：「要堅強！」

互相輔助、互相勸勉、曰壯乃心、

更相勸勉、造作偶像、曰、壯乃心、

彼此扶助、更相勉勵、曰、當壯贍、

they help each other and say to their companions,“ Be strong!”

Everyone helps his neighbor and says to his brother,“ Be strong!”

The idol makers encourage one another, saying to each other,“ Be strong!”

Each one helps the other, and says to another,“ Take courage!”

Each one helps his neighbor And says to his brother,“ Be strong!”

Everyone helped his neighbor, And said to his brother,“ Be of good courage!”

They help every one his neighbor; and every one saith to his brother, Be of good courage.

Each one helps the other, and says to another,“ Take courage!”

They helped every one his neighbour; and[ every one] said to his brother, Be of good courage.

They help one another; one says to the other,‘ Be strong!’

Everyone helps his neighbor. They say to their brothers,“ Be strong!”

There was a man named Demetrius who made things out of silver. He made silver models of the temple of the goddess Artemis. He brought in a lot of business for the other skilled workers there.One day he called them together. He also called others who were in the same kind of business.“ My friends,” he said,“ you know that we make good money from our work.You have seen and heard what this fellow Paul is doing. He has talked to large numbers of people here in Ephesus. Almost everywhere in Asia Minor he has led people away from our gods. He says that the gods made by human hands are not gods at all.Our work is in danger of losing its good name. People’s faith in the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be weakened. Now she is worshiped all over Asia Minor and the whole world. But soon she will be robbed of her greatness.”When they heard this, they became very angry. They began shouting,“ Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

So they were afraid.“ A god has come into their camp,” they said.“ Oh no! Nothing like this has ever happened before.How terrible it will be for us! Who will save us from the power of these mighty gods? They struck down the people of Egypt in the desert. They sent all kinds of plagues on them.Philistines, be strong! Fight like men! If you don’t, you will come under the control of the Hebrews. You will become their slaves, just as they have been your slaves. Fight like men!”

King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue. It was 90 feet tall and 9 feet wide. He set it up on the plain of Dura near the city of Babylon.Then the king sent for the royal rulers, high officials and governors. He sent for the advisers, treasurers, judges and court officers. And he sent for all the other officials of Babylon. He asked them to come to a special gathering to honor the statue he had set up.So the royal rulers, high officials and governors came together. So did the advisers, treasurers, judges and court officers. All the other officials joined them. They came to honor the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. They stood in front of it.Then a messenger called out loudly,“ Listen, you people who come from every nation! Pay attention, you who speak other languages! Here is what the king commands you to do.You will soon hear the sound of horns and flutes. You will hear zithers, lyres, harps and pipes. In fact, you will hear all kinds of music. When you do, you must fall down and worship the gold statue. That is the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.If you don’t, you will be thrown into a blazing furnace right away.”All the people heard the sound of the horns and flutes. They heard the zithers, lyres, harps and other musical instruments. As soon as they did, they fell down and worshiped Nebuchadnezzar’s gold statue. They were people from all nations no matter what language they spoke.

Announce this among the nations. Tell them to prepare for battle. Nations, get your soldiers ready! Bring all your fighting men together and march out to attack.Hammer your plows into swords. Hammer your pruning tools into spears. Let anyone who is weak say,“ I am strong!”Come quickly, all you surrounding nations. Gather together in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. Lord, send down your soldiers from heaven!

A blacksmith gets his tool. He uses it to shape metal over the burning coals. He uses his hammers to make a statue of a god. He forms it with his powerful arm. He gets hungry and loses his strength. He doesn’t drink any water. He gets weaker and weaker.

Will you compare him with a statue of a god? Anyone who works with metal can make a statue. Then another worker covers it with gold and makes silver chains for it.

The people of Ashdod got up early the next day. They saw the statue of Dagon. There it was, lying on the ground! It had fallen on its face in front of the ark of the Lord. So they picked up the statue of Dagon. They put it back in its place.But the following morning when they got up, they saw the statue of Dagon. There it was, lying on the ground again! It had fallen on its face in front of the ark of the Lord. Its head and hands had been broken off. Only the body of the statue was left. Its head and hands were lying in the doorway of the temple.That’s why to this day no one steps on the bottom part of the doorway of Dagon’s temple at Ashdod. Not even the priests of Dagon step there.

Say to those whose hearts are afraid,“ Be strong and do not fear. Your God will come. He will pay your enemies back. He will come to save you.”