9 "All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless.   Those who would speak in their behalf are blind; they are ignorant, to their own shame.

10 "Who shapes a mighty one and casts an idol, which can profit him nothing?

11 "He and his kind will be put to shame; craftsmen are nothing but men.   Let them all come together and take their stand; they will be brought down to terror and infamy.

12 "The blacksmith takes a tool and works it in the coals; he shapes an idol with hammers, he forges it with the might of his arm.   He gets hungry and loses his strength; he drinks no water and grows faint.

13 "The carpenter measures with a line and makes an outline with a marker; he roughs it out with chisels and marks it with compasses.   He shapes it in the form of man, of man in all his glory, that it may dwell in a shrine.

14 "He cuts down cedars, or perhaps takes a cypress or oak.   He lets it grow among the trees of the forest, or plants a pine, and the rain makes it grow.

15 "It is man's fuel for burning; some of it he takes and warms himself, he kindles a fire and bakes bread.   But he also fashions a mighty one and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it.

16 "Half of the wood he burns in the fire; over it he prepares his meal, he roasts his meat and eats his fill.   He also warms himself and says, 'Ah!   I am warm; I see the fire.'

17 "From the rest he makes a mighty one, his idol; he bows down to it and worships.   He prays to it and says, 'Save me; you are my mighty one.'

18 "They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand.

19 "No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, 'Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat and I ate.   Shall I make a detestible thing from what is left?   Shall I bow down to a block of wood?'

20 "He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, 'Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?'"