“They sacrificed to demons, not to God,
To gods whom they have not known,
New gods who came lately,
Whom your fathers never feared.

‘See now that I, I am He,
And there is no god besides Me;
It is I who put to death and I who give life.
I have wounded and it is I who heal,
And there is no one who can deliver from [the power of] My hand.

“They chose new gods;
Then war was in the gates.
Was there a shield or spear seen
Among forty thousand in Israel?

He said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth below, who keeps the covenant and shows lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart;

But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?’

They replied, “A man came up to meet us and said to us, ‘Go, return to the king who sent you and tell him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you send to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not leave the bed on which you lie, but you will certainly die.’”’”

Then Elijah said to Ahaziah, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Since you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word?—therefore you will not leave the bed on which you lie, but will certainly die.’”

Then Naaman returned to the man of God, he and all the people in his group, and stood before him. He said, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel; so now accept a blessing and gift from your servant.”

and he said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no god like You in heaven or on the earth, keeping covenant and showing mercy and lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You [in obedience] with all their heart,

So now, do not let Hezekiah deceive or mislead you like this, and do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to rescue his people from my hand or the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God rescue you from my hand!’”

The governor told them that they should not eat of the most holy things [the priests’ food] until a priest stood up with Urim and Thummim [who by consulting these articles in his breastplate could determine God’s will in the matter].

“The tents of the destroyers prosper;
And those who provoke God are [apparently] secure,
Whom God brings into their power.

“But now God has exhausted me.
You [O Lord] have destroyed all my family and my household.

The wicked, in the haughtiness of his face, will not seek nor inquire for Him;
All his thoughts are, “There is no God [so there is no accountability or punishment].”

The [spiritually ignorant] fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they have committed repulsive and unspeakable deeds;
There is no one who does good.

The [empty-headed] fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt and evil, and have committed repulsive injustice;
There is no one who does good.

And not be like their fathers—
A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation that did not prepare its heart to know and follow God,
And whose spirit was not faithful to God.

“You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord,
“And My servant whom I have chosen,
That you may know and believe Me
And understand that I am He.
Before Me there was no God formed,
And there will be none after Me.

“For the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts says this,

‘I am the First and I am the Last;
And there is no God besides Me.

“I am the Lord, and there is no one else;
There is no God except Me.
I will embrace and arm you, though you have not known Me,

That people may know from the rising to the setting of the sun [the world over]
That there is no one except Me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other,

For this is what the Lord says,

“The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush (ancient Ethiopia)
And the Sabeans, men of stature,
Will come over to you and they will be yours;
They will walk behind you, in chains [of subjection to you] they will come over,
And they will bow down before you;
They will make supplication to you, [humbly and earnestly] saying,
‘Most certainly God is with you, and there is no other,
No other God [besides Him].’”

“Why should I [overlook these offenses and] forgive you?
Your children have abandoned (rejected) Me
And sworn [their oaths] by those who are not gods.
When I had fed them until they were full [and bound them to Me by a promise],
They committed [spiritual] adultery,
Assembling in troops at the houses of prostitutes (idols).

‘Will you still say, “I am a god,”
In the presence of him who kills you?
But you are [only] a man [made of earth] and not God,
In the hands of those who wound and profane you.

Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials,

Yet I have been the Lord your God
Since [the time you became a nation in] the land of Egypt;
And you were not to know any god except Me,
For there is no savior besides Me.

God has not rejected His [chosen] people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?

For since the world through all its [earthly] wisdom failed to recognize God, God in His wisdom was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached [regarding salvation] to save those who believe [in Christ and welcome Him as Savior].

In this matter, then, of eating food offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world [it has no real existence], and that there is no God but one.

I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, [only] God knows—such a man was caught up to the third heaven.

And I know that such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, [only] God knows—

They profess to know God [to recognize and be acquainted with Him], but by their actions they deny and disown Him. They are detestable and disobedient and worthless for good work of any kind.

Beloved, we are [even here and] now children of God, and it is not yet made clear what we will be [after His coming]. We know that when He comes and is revealed, we will [as His children] be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is [in all His glory].

We [who teach God’s word] are from God [energized by the Holy Spirit], and whoever knows God [through personal experience] listens to us [and has a deeper understanding of Him]. Whoever is not of God does not listen to us. By this we know [without any doubt] the spirit of truth [motivated by God] and the spirit of error [motivated by Satan].