1 Sailors preparing to travel across dangerous waters will pray for safety to a flimsy piece of wood, less sturdy than their ship.
2 Shipmakers use their own wisdom to build a ship that will make them rich.
3 But, our Father, you are the one who guides it safely through the sea
4 to show that you alone can protect inexperienced travelers from danger.
5 By your wisdom you created the laws of nature, and so people trust even the smallest splinter of wood to bring them safely to land.
6-7 When this world was still young, you sent a flood to destroy giants, while at the same time you gave hope for a generation of good people by letting their ancestors find safety in a boat made of wood that God had blessed.
8 Idols are under your curse because those perishable things are called gods, and their makers are under your curse for having made them.
9 In fact, you hate evil people as much as you hate the evil they produce,
10 and you will equally punish evildoers together with their deeds.
11 You will destroy those horrible pagan idols, because they were made from part of your creation and have become a trap for foolish people.
12 Our God, the idea of making an idol was itself the first step toward being unfaithful to you.
13 Idols were not here in the beginning, and they won't be around forever.
14 They resulted from human pride, and so you have plans for them to end quickly.
15 For example, a father made an idol to look like his child who had suddenly died, and the dead child then became an object of worship by later generations, who followed mysterious and secret ceremonies.
16 Over the years, such godless ceremonies became customs and then laws, as rulers commanded idols of themselves to be carved and worshiped.
17 And when people lived far from their rulers, they tried to make idols that looked like their rulers, so that they could honor and flatter those rulers as if they were there with them.
18-19 In fact, some people who did not know what their rulers looked like were led to worship them, because of the skill and the tireless efforts of those who made beautiful idols to please their rulers.
20 Finally, many people started worshiping their earthly rulers as gods.
21 As a result, idolatry became a hidden trap for those who were suffering or were under the authority of rulers, and they called these idols gods, although you alone are God.
22 Not only are such people ignorant about you, but this ignorance makes them terrible enemies of each other, even while they think they are living at peace.
23 They kill their children as sacrifices and conduct secret ceremonies, they follow strange customs and act like wild people,
24 they are immoral and cause great pain by being unfaithful in marriage, and they are deceitful murderers.
25 Violence, murder, robbery, deceit, corruption, dishonesty, riots, and lying are everywhere.
26 No one knows right from wrong or shows gratitude or cares about anyone else; all of them are sexual perverts or share weird marriage unions or are otherwise completely disgusting.
27 The worship of worthless idols is the cause and result of all kinds of evil.
28 Their worshipers act crazy, or give false messages in the name of God, or live sinful lives. They never speak the truth, and they tell lies in court
29 because they trust in these lifeless idols and don't expect to be punished.
30 But they will be punished for worshiping idols instead of you, the Holy God, and for disgracing you with their deceitful lies.
31 Sinners don't receive help from the idols they worship, but the penalty for their sins follows them in hot pursuit.