One workman uses tools to heat iron, and he works over hot coals. With his hammer he beats the metal and makes a statue, using his powerful arms. But when he becomes hungry, he loses his power. If he does not drink water, he becomes tired.
Some people make idols, but they are worth nothing. People treasure them, but they are useless. Those people are witnesses for the statues, but those people cannot see. They know nothing, so they will be ashamed.
“You people who have escaped from other nations, gather together and come before me; come near together. People who carry idols of wood don’t know what they are doing. They pray to a god who cannot save them.
They put it on their shoulders and carry it. They set it in its place, and there it stands; it cannot move from its place. People may yell at it, but it cannot answer. It cannot save them from their troubles.
Their idols are like scarecrows in melon fields; they cannot talk. Since they cannot walk, they must be carried. Do not be afraid of those idols, because they can’t hurt you, and they can’t help you either.”
Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz, so the idols are made by craftsmen and goldsmiths. They put blue and purple clothes on the idols. All these things are made by skilled workers.
So I will throw you out of this country and send you into a land that you and your ancestors never knew. There you can serve other gods day and night, because I will not help you or show you any favors.’
“ ‘What you want will not come true. You say, “We want to be like the other nations, like the people in other lands. We want to worship idols made of wood and stone.”
“ ‘This is what the Lord God says: People of Israel, go serve your idols for now. But later you will listen to me; you will not continue to dishonor my holy name with your gifts and gods.
But look at what this man Paul is doing. He has convinced and turned away many people in Ephesus and in almost all of Asia! He says the gods made by human hands are not real.
But God turned against them and did not try to stop them from worshiping the sun, moon, and stars. This is what is written in the book of the prophets: God says, ‘People of Israel, you did not bring me sacrifices and offerings while you traveled in the desert for forty years.
Then the Lord will scatter you among the nations—from one end of the earth to the other. There you will serve other gods of wood and stone, gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known.
The other people who were not killed by these terrible disasters still did not change their hearts and turn away from what they had made with their own hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—things that cannot see or hear or walk.
My master and king, listen to me. If the Lord made you angry with me, let him accept an offering. But if people did it, may the Lord curse them! They have made me leave the land the Lord gave me. They have told me, ‘Go and serve other gods.’