⁵ “O Samaria, I reject this calf—
    this idol you have made.
My fury burns against you.
    How long will you be incapable of innocence?
⁶ This calf you worship, O Israel,
    was crafted by your own hands!
It is not God!
    Therefore, it must be smashed to bits.

⁹ They bring beaten sheets of silver from Tarshish
    and gold from Uphaz,
and they give these materials to skillful craftsmen
    who make their idols.
Then they dress these gods in royal blue and purple robes
    made by expert tailors.

³ Their ways are futile and foolish.
    They cut down a tree, and a craftsman carves an idol.

¹⁶ I will pronounce judgment
    on my people for all their evil—
for deserting me and burning incense to other gods.
    Yes, they worship idols made with their own hands!

¹⁶ He burns part of the tree to roast his meat
    and to keep himself warm.
    He says, “Ah, that fire feels good.”
¹⁷ Then he takes what’s left
    and makes his god: a carved idol!
He falls down in front of it,
    worshiping and praying to it.
“Rescue me!” he says.
    “You are my god!”

¹⁸ Such stupidity and ignorance!
    Their eyes are closed, and they cannot see.
    Their minds are shut, and they cannot think.
¹⁹ The person who made the idol never stops to reflect,
    “Why, it’s just a block of wood!
I burned half of it for heat
    and used it to bake my bread and roast my meat.
How can the rest of it be a god?
    Should I bow down to worship a piece of wood?”
²⁰ The poor, deluded fool feeds on ashes.
    He trusts something that can’t help him at all.
Yet he cannot bring himself to ask,
    “Is this idol that I’m holding in my hand a lie?”