Deuteronomy 4:15-19
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Danger of Idolatry. 15 Because you saw no form at all on the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire, be strictly on your guard 16 not to act corruptly by fashioning an idol for yourselves to represent any figure, whether it be the form of a man or of a woman,(A) 17 the form of any animal on the earth, the form of any bird that flies in the sky, 18 the form of anything that crawls on the ground, or the form of any fish in the waters under the earth. 19 And when you look up to the heavens and behold the sun or the moon or the stars, the whole heavenly host, do not be led astray into bowing down to them and serving them.(B) These the Lord, your God, has apportioned to all the other nations under the heavens;
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Psalm 106:20
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
20 They exchanged their glory[a]
for the image of a grass-eating bull.
Footnotes
- 106:20 Their glory: meant as a reference to God.
Wisdom 11:15
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Second Example: Animals Punish the Egyptians and Benefit the Israelites
15 In return for their senseless, wicked thoughts,
which misled them into worshiping dumb[a] serpents and worthless insects,
You sent upon them swarms of dumb creatures for vengeance;(A)
Footnotes
- 11:15 Dumb: that is, irrational.
Wisdom 12:24
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
24 For they went far astray in the paths of error,
taking for gods the worthless and disgusting among beasts,
being deceived like senseless infants.(A)
Wisdom 13:10-19
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
B. Idolatry[a]
10 But wretched are they, and in dead things are their hopes,
who termed gods things made by human hands:
Gold and silver, the product of art, and images of beasts,
or useless stone, the work of an ancient hand.(A)
The Carpenter and Wooden Idols
11 A carpenter may cut down a suitable tree(B)
and skillfully scrape off all its bark,
And deftly plying his art
produce something fit for daily use,(C)
12 And use the scraps from his handiwork
in preparing his food, and have his fill;
13 Then the good-for-nothing refuse from these remnants,
crooked wood grown full of knots,
he takes and carves to occupy his spare time.(D)
This wood he models with mindless skill,
and patterns it on the image of a human being
14 or makes it resemble some worthless beast.
When he has daubed it with red and crimsoned its surface with red stain,
and daubed over every blemish in it,(E)
15 He makes a fitting shrine for it
and puts it on the wall, fastening it with a nail.(F)
16 Thus he provides for it lest it fall down,
knowing that it cannot help itself;
for, truly, it is an image and needs help.(G)
17 But when he prays about his goods or marriage or children,(H)
he is not ashamed to address the thing without a soul.
For vigor he invokes the powerless;
18 for life he entreats the dead;
For aid he beseeches the wholly incompetent;
for travel, something that cannot even walk;
19 For profit in business and success with his hands
he asks power of a thing with hands utterly powerless.
Footnotes
- 13:10–19 The second digression is an example of the polemic against idolatry (cf. Is 44:9–20; Jer 10:3–9; Ps 135:15–18). Whether the idols be of wood or clay, they were made by human beings and have become the source of evil.
Jeremiah 2:11
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
11 Does any other nation change its gods?—
even though they are not gods at all!
But my people have changed their glory
for useless things.(A)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.