The Foolishness of Idolatry

⁹ Those who fashion an idol are all futile, and their treasured things are of no benefit; even their own witnesses fail to see or know, so that they will be ^(A)put to shame. ¹⁰ Who has fashioned a god or cast an idol to ^(B)no benefit? ¹¹ Behold, all his companions will be ^(C)put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are mere men. Let them all assemble themselves, let them stand up, let them tremble, let them be put to shame together.

¹² The ^(D)craftsman of iron shapes a cutting tool and does his work over the coals, ^[a]fashioning it with hammers and working it with his strong arm. He also gets hungry and ^[b]his strength fails; he drinks no water and becomes weary. ^13 (E)The craftsman of wood extends a measuring line; he outlines it with a marker. He works it with carving knives and outlines it with a compass, and makes it like the form of a man, like the beauty of ^(F)mankind, so that it may sit in a ^(G)house. ¹⁴ He will cut cedars for himself, and he takes a holm-oak or another oak and lets it grow strong for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a laurel tree, and the rain makes it grow. ¹⁵ Then it becomes something for a person to burn, so he takes one of them and gets warm; he also makes a fire and bakes bread. He also ^(H)makes a god and worships it; he makes it a carved image and ^(I)bows down before it. ¹⁶ Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he eats meat, he roasts a roast, and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire.” ¹⁷ Yet the rest of it he ^(J)makes into a god, his carved image. He bows down before it and worships; he also ^(K)prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god.”

¹⁸ They do not ^(L)know, nor do they understand, for He has ^(M)smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see, and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend. ¹⁹ No one ^[c]remembers, nor is there ^(N)knowledge or understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eat it. Then ^[d]I make the rest of it into an ^(O)abomination, ^[e]I bow down before a block of wood!” ²⁰ He ^[f](P)feeds on ashes; a ^(Q)deceived heart has misled him. And he cannot save ^[g]himself, nor say, “^(R)Is there not a lie in my right hand?”

²³ But ^[a](A)a time is coming, and ^[b]even now has arrived, when the true worshipers will worship the Father ^(B)in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be ^[c]His worshipers.

²⁴ God is ^[a]spirit, and those who worship Him must worship ^(A)in spirit and truth.”

²⁹ Therefore, since we are the descendants of God, we ^(A)ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by human skill and thought.