Isaiah 41:6

⁷The Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp.” They said, “Woe to us! For there has not been such a thing before. ⁸Woe to us! Who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods that struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. ⁹Be strong and behave like men, O you Philistines, that you not be servants to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Strengthen yourselves like men, and fight!”

¹²The blacksmith takes an ax, works in the coals, fashions it with hammers, and works it with his strong arm. He is hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water, and is faint.

¹⁹A workman has cast an image, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts silver chains for it.

¹Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits^[+] and its width six cubits. He set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. ²Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the local governors, the deputies, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. ³Then the local governors, the deputies, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces were gathered together to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

⁴Then the herald cried aloud, “To you it is commanded, peoples, nations, and languages, ⁵that whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. ⁶Whoever doesn’t fall down and worship shall be cast into the middle of a burning fiery furnace the same hour.”

⁷Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, the nations, and the languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

²⁴For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen, ²⁵whom he gathered together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, “Sirs, you know that by this business we have our wealth. ²⁶You see and hear that not at Ephesus alone, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are no gods that are made with hands. ²⁷Not only is there danger that this our trade come into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be counted as nothing and her majesty destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worships.”

²⁸When they heard this they were filled with anger, and cried out, saying, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

⁴Tell those who have a fearful heart, “Be strong! Don’t be afraid! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, God’s retribution. He will come and save you.

⁹Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for war! Stir up the mighty men. Let all the warriors draw near. Let them come up. ¹⁰Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’ ¹¹Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves together.” Cause your mighty ones to come down there, LORD.

³When the people of Ashdod arose early on the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the LORD’s ark. They took Dagon and set him in his place again. ⁴When they arose early on the following morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the LORD’s ark; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold. Only Dagon’s torso was intact. ⁵Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house step on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.