12 One idol has a royal staff, like a person who is a regional judge, but the idol can’t destroy the person who offends it.
13 Another one has a dagger or an ax in its right hand, but it can’t defend itself from war or robbers.
14 Clearly they are no gods, so don’t be afraid of them.
15 Just as a person’s utensil is useless after it’s broken, so are the Gentiles’ gods after they have been placed in their temples.
16 Their eyes are full of dust from the feet of visitors.
17 Even as the courtyards are locked up on every side when one is sentenced to death for doing wrong against a king, so the priests secure their temples with doors, bolts, and bars from robbers and thieves.
18 The priests light more lamps for the idols than for themselves, but their gods can’t see them.