All who worship idols will be disgraced along with all these craftsmen— mere humans— who claim they can make a god. They may all stand together, but they will stand in terror and shame.

看哪，他的同伴都必羞愧。工匠也不过是人，任他们聚会，任他们站立，都必惧怕，一同羞愧。

看哪，他的同伙都必羞愧。工匠不过是人，任他们聚集，任他们站立吧！他们都必惧怕，一同羞愧。

看哪，他的同伙都必羞愧。工匠不过是人，任他们聚集，任他们站立吧！他们都必惧怕，一同羞愧。

看啊，制造神像的工匠不过是人，他们必羞愧。让他们一起来对质吧，他们必恐惧、羞愧。

看哪！所有与它同伙的都必蒙羞；工匠也不过是人罢了。让他们都集合起来，都站立起来；让他们都惧怕，都一同蒙羞。

看哪！与他同伙的也必蒙羞，因为工匠自己也不过是人。让他们聚集、站立吧！他们都必惧怕、蒙羞！

看哪，他的同伴都必羞愧。工匠也不過是人，任他們聚會，任他們站立，都必懼怕，一同羞愧。

看哪，他的同夥都必羞愧。工匠不過是人，任他們聚集，任他們站立吧！他們都必懼怕，一同羞愧。

看哪，他的同夥都必羞愧。工匠不過是人，任他們聚集，任他們站立吧！他們都必懼怕，一同羞愧。

看啊，製造神像的工匠不過是人，他們必羞愧。讓他們一起來對質吧，他們必恐懼、羞愧。

看哪！所有與它同夥的都必蒙羞；工匠也不過是人罷了。讓他們都集合起來，都站立起來；讓他們都懼怕，都一同蒙羞。

看哪，所有依附着它、的人都必失望，製作它、的匠人極為狼狽；他們儘管集合攏來，儘管挺身而立，都必覺得恐懼、一概失望。

看哪！與他同夥的也必蒙羞，因為工匠自己也不過是人。讓他們聚集、站立吧！他們都必懼怕、蒙羞！

凡宗之者、咸生愧赧、造之之工、世人而已、任其聚會、屹立於此、必同戰慄、而慚恧焉、

豈非人乎、宜其同儔、咸生愧赧、使彼聚會、屹立於此、必令其戰慄不勝、慙恧無地。

其伴侶悉生愧怍、作像者、亦僅人而已、倘彼聚集而立、必皆恐懼、咸蒙羞恥、

People who do that will be put to shame; such craftsmen are only human beings. Let them all come together and take their stand; they will be brought down to terror and shame.

People who do that will be put to shame. Those who make statues of gods are mere human beings. Let all of them come together and state their case. They will be terrified and put to shame.

Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together.

Look, all its worshipers will be put to shame, and the craftsmen are humans. They all will assemble and stand; they all will be startled and put to shame.

Behold, all his companions will be put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are mere men. Let them all assemble themselves, let them stand up, let them tremble, let them be put to shame together.

Surely all his companions would be ashamed; And the workmen, they are mere men. Let them all be gathered together, Let them stand up; Yet they shall fear, They shall be ashamed together.

Behold, all his fellows shall be put to shame; and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; they shall fear, they shall be put to shame together.

Look, all its worshipers will be put to shame, and the craftsmen are humans. They all will assemble and stand; they all will be startled and put to shame.

Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they[ are] of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up;[ yet] they shall fear,[ and] they shall be ashamed together.

Look, 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.

Behold, all his fellows will be disappointed; and the workmen are mere men. Let them all be gathered together. Let them stand up. They will fear. They will be put to shame together.

But those who trust in idols, who say,‘ You are our gods,’ will be turned away in shame.

All craftsmen who make idols will be humiliated. They will all be disgraced together.

Those who worship idols are disgraced— all who brag about their worthless gods— for every god must bow to him.

You will be ashamed of your idol worship in groves of sacred oaks. You will blush because you worshiped in gardens dedicated to idols.

King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue ninety feet tall and nine feet wide and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.Then he sent messages to the high officers, officials, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the provincial officials to come to the dedication of the statue he had set up.So all these officials came and stood before the statue King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.Then a herald shouted out,“ People of all races and nations and languages, listen to the king’s command!When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and other musical instruments, bow to the ground to worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s gold statue.Anyone who refuses to obey will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.”So at the sound of the musical instruments, all the people, whatever their race or nation or language, bowed to the ground and worshiped the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

The whole human race is foolish and has no knowledge! The craftsmen are disgraced by the idols they make, for their carefully shaped works are a fraud. These idols have no breath or power.

But when the citizens of Ashdod went to see it the next morning, Dagon had fallen with his face to the ground in front of the Ark of the Lord! So they took Dagon and put him in his place again.But the next morning the same thing happened— Dagon had fallen face down before the Ark of the Lord again. This time his head and hands had broken off and were lying in the doorway. Only the trunk of his body was left intact.That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor anyone who enters the temple of Dagon in Ashdod will step on its threshold.Then the Lord’s heavy hand struck the people of Ashdod and the nearby villages with a plague of tumors.When the people realized what was happening, they cried out,“ We can’t keep the Ark of the God of Israel here any longer! He is against us! We will all be destroyed along with Dagon, our god.”

The lands beyond the sea watch in fear. Remote lands tremble and mobilize for war.The idol makers encourage one another, saying to each other,“ Be strong!”The carver encourages the goldsmith, and the molder helps at the anvil.“ Good,” they say.“ It’s coming along fine.” Carefully they join the parts together, then fasten the thing in place so it won’t fall over.

The whole human race is foolish and has no knowledge! The craftsmen are disgraced by the idols they make, for their carefully shaped works are a fraud. These idols have no breath or power.

The Philistine rulers held a great festival, offering sacrifices and praising their god, Dagon. They said,“ Our god has given us victory over our enemy Samson!”When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying,“ Our god has delivered our enemy to us! The one who killed so many of us is now in our power!”Half drunk by now, the people demanded,“ Bring out Samson so he can amuse us!” So he was brought from the prison to amuse them, and they had him stand between the pillars supporting the roof.Samson said to the young servant who was leading him by the hand,“ Place my hands against the pillars that hold up the temple. I want to rest against them.”Now the temple was completely filled with people. All the Philistine rulers were there, and there were about 3,000 men and women on the roof who were watching as Samson amused them.Then Samson prayed to the Lord,“ Sovereign Lord, remember me again. O God, please strengthen me just one more time. With one blow let me pay back the Philistines for the loss of my two eyes.”Then Samson put his hands on the two center pillars that held up the temple. Pushing against them with both hands,he prayed,“ Let me die with the Philistines.” And the temple crashed down on the Philistine rulers and all the people. So he killed more people when he died than he had during his entire lifetime.

It began with Demetrius, a silversmith who had a large business manufacturing silver shrines of the Greek goddess Artemis. He kept many craftsmen busy.He called them together, along with others employed in similar trades, and addressed them as follows:“ Gentlemen, you know that our wealth comes from this business.But as you have seen and heard, this man Paul has persuaded many people that handmade gods aren’t really gods at all. And he’s done this not only here in Ephesus but throughout the entire province!Of course, I’m not just talking about the loss of public respect for our business. I’m also concerned that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will lose its influence and that Artemis— this magnificent goddess worshiped throughout the province of Asia and all around the world— will be robbed of her great prestige!”At this their anger boiled, and they began shouting,“ Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”Soon the whole city was filled with confusion. Everyone rushed to the amphitheater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, who were Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia.Paul wanted to go in, too, but the believers wouldn’t let him.Some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, also sent a message to him, begging him not to risk his life by entering the amphitheater.Inside, the people were all shouting, some one thing and some another. Everything was in confusion. In fact, most of them didn’t even know why they were there.The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander forward and told him to explain the situation. He motioned for silence and tried to speak.But when the crowd realized he was a Jew, they started shouting again and kept it up for about two hours:“ Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

The people said to each other,“ Who did this?” And after asking around and making a careful search, they learned that it was Gideon, the son of Joash.“ Bring out your son,” the men of the town demanded of Joash.“ He must die for destroying the altar of Baal and for cutting down the Asherah pole.”But Joash shouted to the mob that confronted him,“ Why are you defending Baal? Will you argue his case? Whoever pleads his case will be put to death by morning! If Baal truly is a god, let him defend himself and destroy the one who broke down his altar!”From then on Gideon was called Jerub baal, which means“ Let Baal defend himself,” because he broke down Baal’s altar.

Now summon all Israel to join me at Mount Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who are supported by Jezebel.”So Ahab summoned all the people of Israel and the prophets to Mount Carmel.Then Elijah stood in front of them and said,“ How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!” But the people were completely silent.Then Elijah said to them,“ I am the only prophet of the Lord who is left, but Baal has 450 prophets.Now bring two bulls. The prophets of Baal may choose whichever one they wish and cut it into pieces and lay it on the wood of their altar, but without setting fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood on the altar, but not set fire to it.Then call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by setting fire to the wood is the true God!” And all the people agreed.Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal,“ You go first, for there are many of you. Choose one of the bulls, and prepare it and call on the name of your god. But do not set fire to the wood.”So they prepared one of the bulls and placed it on the altar. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning until noontime, shouting,“ O Baal, answer us!” But there was no reply of any kind. Then they danced, hobbling around the altar they had made.About noontime Elijah began mocking them.“ You’ll have to shout louder,” he scoffed,“ for surely he is a god! Perhaps he is daydreaming, or is relieving himself. Or maybe he is away on a trip, or is asleep and needs to be wakened!”So they shouted louder, and following their normal custom, they cut themselves with knives and swords until the blood gushed out.They raved all afternoon until the time of the evening sacrifice, but still there was no sound, no reply, no response.

“ What sort of guilt offering should we send?” they asked. And they were told,“ Since the plague has struck both you and your five rulers, make five gold tumors and five gold rats, just like those that have ravaged your land.Make these things to show honor to the God of Israel. Perhaps then he will stop afflicting you, your gods, and your land.

Then I saw the beast and the kings of the world and their armies gathered together to fight against the one sitting on the horse and his army.And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who did mighty miracles on behalf of the beast— miracles that deceived all who had accepted the mark of the beast and who worshiped his statue. Both the beast and his false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.Their entire army was killed by the sharp sword that came from the mouth of the one riding the white horse. And the vultures all gorged themselves on the dead bodies.

“ Israel is like a thief who feels shame only when he gets caught. They, their kings, officials, priests, and prophets— all are alike in this.To an image carved from a piece of wood they say,‘ You are my father.’ To an idol chiseled from a block of stone they say,‘ You are my mother.’ They turn their backs on me, but in times of trouble they cry out to me,‘ Come and save us!’

Then Elijah commanded,“ Seize all the prophets of Baal. Don’t let a single one escape!” So the people seized them all, and Elijah took them down to the Kishon Valley and killed them there.

Many years later King Belshazzar gave a great feast for 1,000 of his nobles, and he drank wine with them.While Belshazzar was drinking the wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver cups that his predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar, had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem. He wanted to drink from them with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines.So they brought these gold cups taken from the Temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines drank from them.While they drank from them they praised their idols made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.Suddenly, they saw the fingers of a human hand writing on the plaster wall of the king’s palace, near the lampstand. The king himself saw the hand as it wrote,and his face turned pale with fright. His knees knocked together in fear and his legs gave way beneath him.