22. Know, therefore, that they are not gods; do not fear them.
23. Gold adorns them, but unless someone wipes away the corrosion, they do not shine; they felt nothing when they were molded.
24. They are bought at whatever price, but there is no spirit in them.
25. Since they have no feet, they are carried shoulder high, displaying to all how worthless they are; even those who worship them are put to shame
26. because, if they fall to the ground, the worshipers must pick them up. They neither move of themselves if one sets them upright, nor come upright if they are tipped over; offerings are set out for them as for the dead.
27. Their priests sell their sacrifices for their own advantage. Likewise their wives cure some of the meat, but they do not share it with the poor and the weak;
28. women ritually unclean or at childbirth handle their sacrifices. From such things, know that they are not gods; do not fear them.
29. How can they be called gods? Women set out the offerings for these gods of silver and gold and wood,
30. and in their temples the priests squat with torn tunic and with shaven hair and beard, and with their heads uncovered.
31. They shout and wail before their gods as others do at a funeral banquet.
32. The priests take some of the clothing from their gods and put it on their wives and children.
33. Whether these gods are treated well or badly by anyone, they cannot repay it. They can neither set up nor remove a king.
34. They cannot give anyone riches or pennies; if one fails to fulfill a vow to them, they will not exact it.
35. They neither save anyone from death, nor deliver the weak from the strong,
36. nor do they restore sight to the blind, or rescue anyone in distress.
37. The widow they do not pity, the orphan they do not help.
38. These gilded and silvered wooden statues are no better than stones from the mountains; their worshipers will be put to shame.
39. How then can it be thought or claimed that they are gods?
40. Even the Chaldeans themselves have no respect for them; for when they see a deaf mute, unable to speak, they bring forward Bel and expect him to make a sound, as though he could hear.
41. They themselves are unable to reflect and abandon these gods, for they have no sense.
42. And the women, with cords around them, sit by the roads, burning chaff for incense;