Letter of Jeremiah 1:45-55

45 They are made by carpenters and goldsmiths; they can be nothing but what the craftsmen wish them to be.
46 The men that make them will certainly not live very long themselves; how then can the things that are made by them be gods?
47 They have left only lies and reproach for those who come after.
48 For when war or calamity comes upon them, the priests consult together as to where they can hide themselves and their gods.
49 How then can one fail to see that these are not gods, for they cannot save themselves from war or calamity?
50 Since they are made of wood and overlaid with gold and silver, it will afterward be known that they are false.
51 It will be manifest to all the nations and kings that they are not gods but the work of men's hands, and that there is no work of God in them.
52 Who then can fail to know that they are not gods?
53 For they cannot set up a king over a country or give rain to men.
54 They cannot judge their own cause or deliver one who is wronged, for they have no power; they are like crows between heaven and earth.
55 When fire breaks out in a temple of wooden gods overlaid with gold or silver, their priests will flee and escape, but the gods will be burnt in two like beams.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.