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1 Chronicles 16:26

For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but Yahweh made the heavens.
1 Chronicles 16:26 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV For all the gods of the people are idols: but the LORD made the heavens.
  • BSB For all the gods of the nations are idols, but it is the LORD who made the heavens.
  • NKJV For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the Lord made the heavens.
  • NASB For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the Lord made the heavens.
  • NLT The gods of other nations are mere idols, but the Lord made the heavens!

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

All the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Only the Creator is the true God worthy of worship.

Overview

The psalm contrasts lifeless idols with the living God who created the heavens. Idols are powerless nothings; Yahweh alone is Maker and Lord. This sharp distinction grounds Israel's exclusive devotion and anticipates the New Testament turning from idols to serve the living and true God revealed in Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 11

  • Isa 44:24Yahweh, your Redeemer, and he who formed you from the womb says: “I am Yahweh, who makes all things; who alone stretches out the heavens; who spreads out the earth by myself;
  • Ps 102:25Of old, you laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the work of your hands.
  • Isa 42:5Thus says God Yahweh, he who created the heavens and stretched them out, he who spread out the earth and that which comes out of it, he who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk in it.
  • Lev 19:4“‘Don’t turn to idols, nor make molten gods for yourselves. I am Yahweh your God.
  • Isa 40:26Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these, who brings out their army by number. He calls them all by name. by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, Not one is lacking.
  • Isa 44:9–20Everyone who makes an engraved image is vain. The things that they delight in will not profit. Their own witnesses don’t see, nor know, that they may be disappointed.
  • Acts 19:26You see and hear, that not at Ephesus alone, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are no gods, that are made with hands.
  • 1 Cor 8:4Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that no idol is anything in the world, and that there is no other God but one.
  • Jer 10:10–14But Yahweh is the true God; he is the living God, and an everlasting King. At his wrath, the earth trembles, and the nations are not able to withstand his indignation.
  • Ps 115:4–8Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
  • Rev 14:7He said with a loud voice, “Fear the Lord, and give him glory; for the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and the springs of waters!”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

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Commentaries & study tools

Christ at the center

The genealogies and the everlasting covenant with David trace the single thread of promise running through the generations straight to the Christ in whom the line reaches its goal.

How 1 Chronicles 16:26 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.