12 The blacksmith takes a tooland works with 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 lineand makes an outline with a marker;he roughs it out with chiselsand marks it with compasses.He shapes it in human form,human form in all its glory,that it may dwell in a shrine.
14 He cut down cedars,or perhaps took a cypress or oak.He let it grow among the trees of the forest,or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow.
15 It is used as fuel for burning;some of it he takes and warms himself,he kindles a fire and bakes bread.But he also fashions a god 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 god, his idol;he bows down to it and worships.He prays to it and says,‘Save me! You are my god!’
18 They know nothing, they understand nothing;their eyes are plastered over so that they cannot see,and their minds closed so that they cannot understand.