Habakkuk 2:19

Terrible things will happen to you who say to lifeless idols that are made of wood, ‘Wake up!’ Idols certainly cannot [RHQ] tell you what you should do; they look nice/beautiful because they are covered with silver and gold, but they are not alive.

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

Woe 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.

In Context

18You people of Babylonia need to know that your idols are completely [RHQ] useless, because it is people who made them. Statues that have been carved or made in a mold deceive you. Those who trust in idols are trusting in things that they themselves created, things that cannot speak!

20But Yahweh is in his holy temple; everyone on the earth should be silent in his presence.”

Read all of Habakkuk 2

Cross References

Psalms 97:7Everyone who worships idols should be ashamed; all those who are proud of their false gods should realize that their gods are useless, It is as though all those gods bow down to worship Yahweh.

Isaiah 40:19Can you compare him to an idol that is made in a mold, and then is covered with a thin sheet of gold and decorated with silver chains?

Isaiah 46:6So it is stupid/ridiculous that some people pour out gold and silver from their bags and weigh it on a scale. Then they hire a man who makes things from gold to make an idol from it. After he makes an idol, they bow down and worship it!

Jeremiah 10:4Then people decorate the idol with silver and gold. Then they fasten it securely with nails in order that it will not topple/fall over.

Jeremiah 10:14People are senseless and know very little [HYP]; those who make idols are always disappointed because their idols do nothing for them. The images/statues that they make are not real gods; they are lifeless.

Daniel 3:1King Nebuchadnezzar ordered his men to make a gold statue. It was ◄90 feet/27 meters► high and ◄9 feet/2.7 meters► wide. They set it up in the Dura plain in Babylon province.

Matthew Henry on Habakkuk 2:16-20

Judgment Predicted. ( b. c. 600.) 15 Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness! 16 Thou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the Lord 's right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory. 17 For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee, and the spoil of beasts, which made them afraid, because of men's blood, and for the… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Habakkuk 2:19