All idolaters will prove to be stupid and ignorant. Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made. For the image he forges is merely a sham. There is no breath in any of those idols.

“Then there will arise in his place a despicable person ¹  to whom the royal honor has not been rightfully conferred. He will come on the scene in a time of prosperity and will seize the kingdom through deceit.

Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, you Israelites! ¹  Listen closely, ²  O king! ³  For judgment is about to overtake you! ⁴  For you were like a trap ⁵  to Mizpah, ⁶  like a net ⁷  spread out to catch Tabor. ⁸ 

whenever I want to heal Israel, the sin of Ephraim is revealed, and the evil deeds of Samaria are exposed. For they do what is wrong; thieves break into houses, and gangs rob people out in the streets.

But you have plowed wickedness; you have reaped injustice; you have eaten the fruit of deception. Because you have depended on your chariots; ¹  you have relied ²  on your many warriors.

Ephraim continually feeds on the wind; he chases the east wind all day; he multiplies lies and violence. They make treaties ¹  with Assyria, and send olive oil as tribute ²  to Egypt.

If a lying windbag should come and say, ¹  ‘I’ll promise you blessings of wine and beer,’ ²  he would be just the right preacher for these people! ³ 

“Therefore, on that day each prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies and will no longer wear the hairy garment ¹  of a prophet to deceive the people. ² 

You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’” ¹ 

Meanwhile, ¹  when many thousands of the crowd had gathered so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus ²  began to speak first to his disciples, “Be on your guard against ³  the yeast of the Pharisees, ⁴  which is hypocrisy. ⁵ 

But I am afraid that ¹  just as the serpent ²  deceived Eve by his treachery, ³  your minds may be led astray ⁴  from a sincere and pure ⁵  devotion to Christ.

And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their ¹  condemnation pronounced long ago ²  is not sitting idly by; ³  their ⁴  destruction is not asleep.

We are from God; the person who knows God listens to us, but ¹  whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this ²  we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit. ³ 

Moses said, “I am going to go out ¹  from you and pray to the Lord, and the swarms of flies will go away from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people tomorrow. Only do not let Pharaoh deal falsely again ²  by not releasing ³  the people to sacrifice to the Lord.”

because they bring trouble to you by their treachery with which they have deceived ¹  you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, ²  their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague that happened as a result of Peor.”

When David’s ¹  oldest brother Eliab heard him speaking to the men, he became angry ²  with David and said, “Why have you come down here? To whom did you entrust those few sheep in the desert? I am familiar with your pride and deceit! ³  You have come down here to watch the battle!”

He replied, “My lord the king, my servant deceived me! I ¹  said, ‘Let me get my donkey saddled so that I can ride on it and go with the king,’ for I ²  am lame.

So now, bring to me all the prophets of Baal, as well as all his servants and priests. ¹  None of them must be absent, for I am offering a great sacrifice to Baal. Any of them who fail to appear will lose their lives.” But Jehu was tricking them ²  so he could destroy the servants of Baal.

Surely, no one ¹  knows his appointed time! ²  Like fish that are caught in a deadly ³  net, and like birds that are caught in a snare – just like them, all people ⁴  are ensnared ⁵  at an unfortunate ⁶  time that falls upon them suddenly.

Then I said, ¹  “Lord, you give me strength and protect me. You are the one I can run to for safety when I am in trouble. ²  Nations from all over the earth will come to you and say, ‘Our ancestors had nothing but false gods – worthless idols that could not help them at all. ³