¶May all those be ashamed who serve carved images, Who boast in idols; Worship Him, all you gods.
Parallel translations
- WEB Let all them be shamed who serve engraved images, who boast in their idols. Worship him, all you gods!
- KJV Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols: worship him, all ye gods.
- BSB All worshipers of images are put to shame—those who boast in idols. Worship Him, all you gods!
- NKJV Let all be put to shame who serve carved images, Who boast of idols. Worship Him, all you gods.
- NLT Those who worship idols are disgraced— all who brag about their worthless gods— for every god must bow to him.
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
Idolaters are put to shame, and the LORD alone is to be worshiped. Every false god must bow before Him.
Overview
The psalm contrasts the futility of idol worship with the supremacy of the true God, declaring shame on those who trust carved images. The call for 'all you gods' to worship Him affirms God's sovereignty over every supposed power. Hebrews 1:6 applies this verse to Christ, summoning the angels to worship the Son, underscoring His full deity.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Jer 10:14Every man has become brutish and without knowledge; every goldsmith is disappointed by his engraved image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
- Heb 1:6When he again brings in the firstborn into the world he says, “Let all the angels of God worship him.”
- Isa 42:17“Those who trust in engraved images, who tell molten images, ‘You are our gods’ will be turned back. They will be utterly disappointed.
- Lev 26:1“‘You shall make for yourselves no idols, and you shall not raise up an engraved image or a pillar, and you shall not place any figured stone in your land, to bow down to it; for I am Yahweh your God.
- Rev 5:11–14I saw, and I heard something like a voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousands of ten thousands, and thousands of thousands;
- Isa 44:9–11Everyone 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.
- Exod 20:4“You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
- Isa 41:29Behold, all of them, their deeds are vanity and nothing. Their molten images are wind and confusion.
- 2 Chr 3:13The wings of these cherubim spread themselves out twenty cubits. They stood on their feet, and their faces were toward the house.
- Isa 37:18–19Truly, Yahweh, the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the countries and their land,
- Deut 27:15‘Cursed is the man who makes an engraved or molten image, an abomination to Yahweh, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ All the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’
- Exod 25:20The cherubim shall spread out their wings upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces toward one another. The faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat.
- Rev 14:8–10Another, a second angel, followed, saying, “Babylon the great has fallen, which has made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality.”
- 1 Pet 1:12To them it was revealed, that not to themselves, but to you, they ministered these things, which now have been announced to you through those who preached the Good News to you by the Holy Spirit sent out from heaven; which things angels desire to look into.
- Deut 5:8“You shall not make an engraved image for yourself, any likeness of what is in heaven above, or what is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 97:7 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.