13
When dust from the temple settles on their faces, someone has to wipe it off for them.
14
Like human judges they hold scepters in their hands, but they have no power to punish anyone who wrongs them.
15
Sometimes they have daggers and axes in their hands, but they cannot protect themselves from being destroyed in war or from being carried off by thieves.
16
All of this proves that they are not gods - do not worship them.
17
Those gods sitting in their temples are as useless as a broken bowl. Their eyes are filled with the dust that people kick up when they come in.
18
The priests fortify the temples with doors and bars and bolts, so that thieves cannot break in. The gods are locked up as securely as a prisoner about to be executed for a crime against the king.
19
The priests light lamps for the gods, far more than they need for their own use, but the idols can't see even one of them.
20
Their insides are eaten away by termites, just like the wooden beams of the temple, and their clothing is destroyed, but they don't even know it.
21
Their faces are blackened by the smoke in the temple.
22
Bats, swallows, and other birds perch on them, and even cats sit on them.
23
All of this proves that they are not gods - do not worship them.