Jeremiah 10:3
For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
Cross-reference
In Jeremiah 10:8, the idol is called 'doctrine of vanities' — directly expanding on the vain customs described in verse 3.
In Jeremiah 2:5, Israel walked after 'vanity' and became vain — the same term used here for idolatrous customs, linking back to their apostasy.
In Leviticus 18:3, God forbids following the doings of Egypt and Canaan — the same prohibition against pagan customs reiterated here.
In Romans 1:21, Paul describes futile thinking and exchanging God's glory for images — the same root of idolatry.
In Habakkuk 2:19, woe is pronounced on those who call wood to awake — directly parallels the tottering wooden idol here.
In Habakkuk 2:18, the prophet asks what profit a graven image brings — the same point about idolatry's emptiness.
In Hosea 8:4-6, Israel sets up kings and idols without God — the same condemnation of man-made gods.
In Isaiah 45:20, the nations are called fools for praying to wooden idols that cannot save — directly echoes this futility.
In Isaiah 44:9-20, a craftsman cuts a tree, uses part for fuel, part for an idol — nearly identical satire of wooden idols.
In Isaiah 40:19-31, idols are mocked as man-made and powerless, contrasted with God's sovereignty — the same message.
In 1 Kings 18:26-28, Baal's prophets perform frantic, self-injuring rituals — the same empty idol worship condemned here.
2 Kings 19:18 states idols are the work of men's hands, wood and stone — identical to Jeremiah's description.
Revelation 9:20 describes idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, wood that cannot see or hear — a clear allusion to Jeremiah 10 and Psalm 115.
In Galatians 4:8, Paul says former idolaters were 'enslaved to those that by nature are not gods' — reinforcing Jeremiah's point that idols are nonentities.
Exodus 20:4 prohibits making graven images, directly backing Jeremiah's condemnation of idol-making.
In Acts 14:15, Paul calls idols 'vain things' and urges turning to the living God — directly echoing Jeremiah's dismissal of man-made idols.
Leviticus 26:1 forbids idols and graven images, reinforcing the sin Jeremiah describes.
Deuteronomy 4:28 describes idols as wood and stone, work of hands — same as Jeremiah's cut tree.
In Hosea 8:6, the same critique of idols as 'work of the craftsman' appears — the calf of Samaria is broken because it is man-made, not God.
2 Kings 17:29 depicts nations making their own gods, illustrating the widespread custom Jeremiah criticizes.
Psalm 135:15 repeats the same phrase, underscoring the shared theme of man-made idols being lifeless.
2 Chronicles 32:19 says the gods are the work of men's hands, paralleling Jeremiah's point about vain idol-making.
Isaiah 44:14 explicitly says 'cuts down cedars', closely paralleling Jeremiah's 'cuts a tree out of the forest' for idol-making.
Isaiah 40:20 describes choosing a tree and craftsman for an idol, matching Jeremiah's 'cuts a tree' and 'work of the workman'.
Psalm 115:4 specifies idols as work of hands, echoing Jeremiah's 'work of the hands' and emphasizing their human origin.
Isaiah 37:19 calls idols 'work of men's hands, wood and stone', directly paralleling Jeremiah's description of carved wood.
Isaiah 46:6 describes hiring a goldsmith to make a god, reinforcing that idols are man-made and powerless.
Psalm 96:5 contrasts idols with Yahweh, reinforcing that the handmade idols Jeremiah 10:3 describes are worthless.
Isaiah 44:12 depicts a blacksmith making an idol, similar to Jeremiah's theme of human craftsmanship creating a false god.
Isaiah 41:7 shows craftsmen nailing an idol together, adding detail to the manufacturing process implied in Jeremiah 10:3.