3  ^ffor the customs of the peoples are vanity.¹

^gA tree from the forest is cut down

and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.

4  ^hThey decorate it with silver and gold;

ⁱthey fasten it with hammer and nails

so that it cannot move.

5  Their idols² are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,

and ^jthey cannot speak;

^kthey have to be carried,

for they cannot walk.

Do not be afraid of them,

^lfor they cannot do evil,

neither is it in them to do good.”

8  ^oThey are both ^pstupid and foolish;

the instruction of idols is but wood!

9  ^qBeaten silver is brought from ^rTarshish,

and gold from ^sUphaz.

^qThey are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith;

their clothing is violet and purple;

^tthey are all the work of skilled men.

14  ^fEvery man is stupid and without knowledge;

^gevery goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,

for his images are false,

^hand there is no breath in them.

15  They are worthless, a work of delusion;

at the time of their punishment they shall perish.