Isaiah 44:20

44:20 He feeds on ashes; ¹ 

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?’ ² 

Jeremiah 10:14-15

10:14 All these idolaters ³  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. ⁴ 

There is no breath in any of those idols. ⁵ 

10:15 They are worthless, mere objects to be mocked. ⁶ 

When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed.

Jeremiah 13:25

13:25 This is your fate,

the destiny to which I have appointed you,

because you have forgotten me

and have trusted in false gods.

Jeremiah 16:19

16:19 Then I said, ⁷ 

“Lord, you give me strength and protect me.

You are the one I can run to for safety when I am in trouble. ⁸ 

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. ⁹ 

Amos 2:4

2:4 This is what the Lord says:

“Because Judah has committed three covenant transgressions ¹⁰  –

make that four! ¹¹  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ¹² 

They rejected the Lord’s law; ¹³ 

they did not obey his commands.

Their false gods, ¹⁴ 

to which their fathers were loyal, ¹⁵ 

led them astray.

John 2:8

2:8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the head steward,” ¹⁶  and they did.

Habakkuk 2:18

2:18 What good ¹⁷  is an idol? Why would a craftsman make it? ¹⁸ 

What good is a metal image that gives misleading oracles? ¹⁹ 

Why would its creator place his trust in it ²⁰ 

and make ²¹  such mute, worthless things?

[44:20]  ¹ tn Or perhaps, “he eats on an ash heap.”

[44:20]  ² tn Heb “Is it not a lie in my right hand?”

[10:14]  ³ tn Heb “Every man.” But in the context this is not a reference to all people without exception but to all idolaters. The referent is made explicit for the sake of clarity.

[10:14]  ⁴ tn Or “nothing but a phony god”; Heb “a lie/falsehood.”

[10:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “There is no breath in them.” The referent is made explicit so that no one will mistakenly take it to refer to the idolaters or goldsmiths.

[10:15]  ⁶ tn Or “objects of mockery.”

[16:19]  ⁷ tn The words “Then I said” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation to show the shift from God, who has been speaking to Jeremiah, to Jeremiah, who here addresses God.

[16:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “O Lord, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of trouble. The literal which piles up attributes is of course more forceful than the predications. However, piling up poetic metaphors like this adds to the length of the English sentence and risks lack of understanding on the part of some readers. Some rhetorical force has been sacrificed for the sake of clarity.

[16:19]  ⁹ tn Once again the translation has sacrificed some of the rhetorical force for the sake of clarity and English style: Heb “Only falsehood did our ancestors possess, vanity and [things in which?] there was no one profiting in them.”

[2:4]  ¹⁰ tn This is the same Hebrew term that is translated “crimes” in the previous oracles (see at 1:3). The change to “covenant transgressions” reflects the probability that the prophet is condemning the nation of Israel for violating stipulations of the Mosaic Law.

[2:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Because of three violations of Judah, even because of four.”

[2:4]  ¹² tn Heb “I will not bring it [or “him”] back.” The translation understands the pronominal object to refer to the decree of judgment that follows; the referent (the decree) has been specified in the translation for clarity. For another option see the note on the word “judgment” in 1:3.

[2:4]  ¹³ tn Or “instruction”; NCV “teachings.”

[2:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “lies.” This may very well be a derogatory term for idols (perhaps also at Ps. 40:4 [Heb 40:5]). Elsewhere false gods are called “vanities” (Deut 32:21; 1 Kgs 16:13, 26) and a delusion (Isa 66:3). In no other prophetic passages, however, are they called “lies.” The term could refer to the deceptions of false prophets (note Ezek 13:6-9; cf. Hab 2:3). See F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Amos (AB), 301-6.

[2:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “after which their fathers walked.” The expression “to walk after” is an idiom meaning “to be loyal to.” See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 75-76.

[2:8]  ¹⁶ tn Or “the master of ceremonies.”

[2:18]  ¹⁷ tn Or “of what value.”

[2:18]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “so that the one who forms it fashions it?” Here כִּי (ki) is taken as resultative after the rhetorical question. For other examples of this use, see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 73, §450.

[2:18]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “or a metal image, a teacher of lies.” The words “What good is” in the translation are supplied from the previous parallel line. “Teacher of lies” refers to the false oracles that the so-called god would deliver through a priest. See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 126.

[2:18]  ²⁰ tn Heb “so that the one who forms his image trusts in it?” As earlier in the verse, כִּי (ki) is resultative.

[2:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “to make.”