Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.
Parallel translations
- WEB Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold, or silver, or stone, engraved by art and design of man.
- BSB Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination.
- NKJV Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising.
- NASB Therefore, since we are the descendants of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by human skill and thought.
- NLT And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.
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
Since we are God's offspring, we should not imagine God as gold, silver, or carved stone.
Overview
Paul draws the logical conclusion: living beings made by God cannot be honored by lifeless idols crafted by human art. Idolatry reverses the order, reducing the Creator to the work of His creatures' hands. The argument exposes the absurdity of worshiping images and prepares the call to repentance that follows.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Isa 40:25To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.
- Exod 20:4Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
- Isa 46:5–6To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?
- Ps 115:4–8Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
- Hab 2:19–20Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.
- Rom 1:20–23For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
- Jer 10:4–10They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
- Ps 106:20Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.
- Isa 44:9–20They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.
- Exod 32:4And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
- Isa 40:12–20Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
- Ps 94:7–9Yet they say, The LORD shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.
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Christ at the center
Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.
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Original language
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