Deuteronomy 4:28

28 There you can worship your homemade gods to your hearts' content, your wonderful gods of wood and stone that can't see or hear or eat or smell.

Deuteronomy 4:28 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 4:28

And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood
and stone
Idols made by men, cut out of wood and stone; these they should be enticed into the service of, or compelled to serve; which was still more brutish and stupid than to worship the sun, moon, and stars, which were not the works of men's hand, but the glorious works of the eternal God. But since in their captivities they were not subject to idolatry, but were cured of it thereby, another sense of the words is given by some, as by Onkelos and Jonathan, who paraphrase the words of serving the people, that serve idols; but what follows confirms the first sense:

which neither see, nor hear, nor taste, nor smell;
senseless things, which have none of the senses of seeing, hearing, and smelling, nor the faculty of eating, which they need not to support life, of which they are destitute; and therefore it must be monstrous stupidity to worship such lifeless, senseless, objects; see ( Psalms 115:4-7 ) .

Deuteronomy 4:28 In-Context

26 I can tell you right now, with Heaven and Earth as witnesses, that it will be all over for you. You'll be kicked off the land that you're about to cross over the Jordan to possess. Believe me, you'll have a very short stay there. You'll be ruined, completely ruined.
27 God will scatter you far and wide; a few of you will survive here and there in the nations where God will drive you.
28 There you can worship your homemade gods to your hearts' content, your wonderful gods of wood and stone that can't see or hear or eat or smell.
29 But even there, if you seek God, your God, you'll be able to find him if you're serious, looking for him with your whole heart and soul.
30 When troubles come and all these awful things happen to you, in future days you will come back to God, your God, and listen obediently to what he says.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.