Jer 10:3-5, 8, Hab 2:18-19, Joh 16:2 | ESV | STEP | for the customs of the peoples are vanity . A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman .

Jeremiah 10:3-5

3 ^afor the customs of the peoples are vanity. ^{▼▼Or vapor, or mist}
^cA tree from the forest is cut down
and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
4 ^dThey decorate it with silver and gold;
^ethey fasten it with hammer and nails
so that it cannot move.
5 Their idols ^{▼▼Hebrew They} are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,
and ^gthey cannot speak;
^hthey have to be carried,
for they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them,
ⁱfor they cannot do evil,
neither is it in them to do good.”

Jeremiah 10:8

8 ^jThey are both ^kstupid and foolish;
the instruction of idols is but wood!

Habakkuk 2:18-19

18 ^l“What profit is an idol
when its maker has shaped it,
a metal image, ^ma teacher of lies?
For its maker trusts in his own creation
when he makes ⁿspeechless idols!
19 ^oWoe to him ^pwho says to a wooden thing, Awake;
to a silent stone, Arise!
Can this teach?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
and ^qthere is no breath at all in it.

John 16:2

2 ^rThey will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, ^sthe hour is coming when ^twhoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.