“Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.”
The culmination of the legal challenge—'Tell us what is to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods; do good or do harm, that we may be afraid and terrified together'—demands that idols demonstrate their power and knowledge. The sarcastic demand for any action at all—'do good or do harm'—satirizes the idols' complete incapacity to affect the world. The final phrase about being 'afraid and terrified together' mocks both the idols and their worshippers: true power inspires awe, but these lifeless objects inspire nothing. This verse completes the lawsuit by establishing idolatry's incoherence: the supposed gods cannot think, act, or inspire genuine fear.
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