²⁵ “To^(A) whom then will you liken Me,
Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One.

²⁰ “But^(A) the Lord is in His holy temple.
Let all the earth keep silence before Him.”

⁵ “To^(A) whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal
And compare Me, that we should be alike?
^6 (B)They lavish gold out of the bag,
And weigh silver on the scales;
They hire a ^(C)goldsmith, and he makes it a god;
They prostrate themselves, yes, they worship.

⁶ Inasmuch as there is none ^(E)like You, O Lord
(You are great, and Your name is great in might),
^7 (F)Who would not fear You, O King of the nations?
For this is Your rightful due.
For ^(G)among all the wise men of the nations,
And in all their kingdoms,
There is none like You.
⁸ But they are altogether ^(H)dull-hearted and foolish;
A wooden idol is a ^[a]worthless doctrine.
⁹ Silver is beaten into plates;
It is brought from Tarshish,
And ^(I)gold from Uphaz,
The work of the craftsman
And of the hands of the metalsmith;
Blue and purple are their clothing;
They are all ^(J)the work of skillful men.
¹⁰ But the Lord is the true God;
He is ^(K)the living God and the ^(L)everlasting King.
At His wrath the earth will tremble,
And the nations will not be able to endure His indignation.

^12 (E)The blacksmith with the tongs works one in the coals,
Fashions it with hammers,
And works it with the strength of his arms.
Even so, he is hungry, and his strength fails;
He drinks no water and is faint.

¹³ The craftsman stretches out his rule,
He marks one out with chalk;
He fashions it with a plane,
He marks it out with the compass,
And makes it like the figure of a man,
According to the beauty of a man, that it may remain in the house.
¹⁴ He cuts down cedars for himself,
And takes the cypress and the oak;
He ^[a]secures it for himself among the trees of the forest.
He plants a pine, and the rain nourishes it.

¹⁵ Then it shall be for a man to burn,
For he will take some of it and warm himself;
Yes, he kindles it and bakes bread;
Indeed he makes a god and worships it;
He makes it a carved image, and falls down to it.
¹⁶ He burns half of it in the fire;
With this half he eats meat;
He roasts a roast, and is satisfied.
He even warms himself and says,
“Ah! I am warm,
I have seen the fire.”
¹⁷ And the rest of it he makes into a god,
His carved image.
He falls down before it and worships it,
Prays to it and says,
“Deliver me, for you are my god!”

^18 (F)They do not know nor understand;
For ^(G)He has ^[b]shut their eyes, so that they cannot see,
And their hearts, so that they cannot ^(H)understand.
¹⁹ And no one ^(I)considers in his heart,
Nor is there knowledge nor understanding to say,
“I have burned half of it in the fire,
Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals;
I have roasted meat and eaten it;
And shall I make the rest of it an abomination?
Shall I fall down before a block of wood?”
²⁰ He feeds on ashes;
^(J)A deceived heart has turned him aside;
And he cannot deliver his soul,
Nor say, “Is there not a ^(K)lie in my right hand?”