Those who pour out their bags of gold and weigh out silver on scales – they hire a goldsmith and he makes it into a god. Then they kneel and bow down to it.
Since, then, we are God’s offspring, we shouldn’t think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination.
Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz. , The work of a craftsman and of a goldsmith’s hands is clothed in blue and purple, all the work of skilled craftsmen.
So the king sought advice. Then he made two golden calves, and he said to the people, ‘Going to Jerusalem is too difficult for you. Israel, here are your gods who brought you up from the land of Egypt.’
‘Come, gather together, and approach, you fugitives of the nations. Those who carry their wooden idols and pray to a god who cannot save have no knowledge.
Now they continue to sin and make themselves a cast image, idols skilfully made from their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. People say about them, ‘Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves.’
They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them; they have made for themselves an image of a calf. They have bowed down to it, sacrificed to it, and said, “Israel, these are your gods, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” ’