Psalms 135:15
13 Your name, O LORD, endures forever, Your renown, O LORD, through all generations.
14 For the LORD will vindicate His people and will have compassion on His servants.
The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
16 They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see;
17 they have ears, but cannot hear; nor is there breath in their mouths.
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
- KJV
- The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
- WEB
- The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
- ASV
- The idols of the nations are silver and gold, The work of men`s hands.
- DARBY
- The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men's hands:
- BLB
- The idols of the nations [are] silver and gold, the work of the hands of man.
- ÅB
- Hedningenes avguder er sølv og gull, et verk av menneskers hender.
- OTB
- Folkenes avguder er laget av sølv og gull,
Verk av menneskehender. - B1930
- Hedningenes avguder er sølv og gull, et verk av menneskers hender.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Psalms 115:4–8
Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
Read in contextHabakkuk 2:18–19
What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it— or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.
Read in contextJeremiah 10:3–11
For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut down a tree from the forest; it is shaped with a chisel by the hands of a craftsman.
Read in contextIsaiah 37:19
They have cast their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods, but only wood and stone—the work of human hands.
Read in contextActs 17:29
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.
Read in contextIsaiah 44:9–20
All makers of idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Their witnesses fail to see or comprehend, so they are put to shame.
Read in contextIsaiah 46:6–7
They pour out their bags of gold and weigh out silver on scales; they hire a goldsmith to fashion it into a god, so they can bow down and worship.
Read in contextDeuteronomy 4:28
And there you will serve man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.
Read in context