^29 (A)Being then God's offspring, ^(B)we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.

^4 (A)“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

²⁰ For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, ^(A)have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,^[a] in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. ²¹ For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they ^(B)became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ^22 (C)Claiming to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and ^(D)exchanged the glory of ^(E)the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

The Folly of Idolatry

^9 (A)All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. ^10 (B)Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? ^11 (C)Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together.

^12 (D)The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. ¹³ The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil.^[a] He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. ^(E)He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. ^14 (F)He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. ¹⁵ Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. ¹⁶ Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” ¹⁷ And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. ^(G)He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”

¹⁸ They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. ¹⁹ No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an ^(H)abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” ^20 (I)He feeds on ^(J)ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not ^(K)a lie in my right hand?”