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1Because of the sins that you have committed before God, you will be taken to Babylon as exiles by Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Babylonians.[#2 Kings 24.11–16; 2 Chr 36.10, 20]
2Therefore when you have come to Babylon you will remain there for many years, for a long time, up to seven generations; after that I will bring you away from there in peace.
3Now in Babylon you will see gods made of silver and gold and wood that people carry on their shoulders and that cause the nations to fear.[#v 25; Jer 10.5; Wis 13.10; 2 Macc 2.2]
4So beware of becoming at all like the foreigners or of letting fear of these gods possess you[#1.4 Gk for them]
5when you see the multitude before and behind them worshiping them. But say in your heart, “It is you, O Lord, whom we must worship.”
6For my angel is with you, and he is watching over your lives.[#Ex 23.20]
7Their tongues are smoothed by the carpenter, and they themselves are overlaid with gold and silver, but they are false and cannot speak.[#vv 38, 49 ; Ps 115.5, 7; 135.16]
8People take gold and make crowns for the heads of their gods, as they might for a young woman who loves ornaments.[#1.8 Gk They]
9Sometimes the priests secretly take gold and silver from their gods and spend it on themselves
10or even give some of it to the prostitutes on the terrace. They deck their gods out with garments like humans—these gods of silver and gold and wood[#v 57; Wis 13.10; 2 Macc 2.2; #1.10 Gk them]
11that cannot save themselves from rust and decay. When they have been dressed in purple robes,[#vv 23, 71; Jer 10.9; Mt 6.19; Jas 5.2; #1.11 Gk food]
12their faces are wiped because of the dust from the temple, which is thick upon them.[#v 17]
13One of them holds a scepter like a district judge but is unable to destroy anyone who offends it.
14Another has a dagger in its right hand and an ax but cannot defend itself from war and robbers.[#vv 17, 56]
15From this it is evident that they are not gods, so do not fear them.[#vv 22, 28, 64, 68, 71]
16For just as someone’s dish is useless when it is broken,
17so are their gods when they have been set up in the temples. Their eyes are full of the dust raised by the feet of those who enter. And just as the gates are shut on every side against anyone who has offended a king, as though under sentence of death, so the priests make their temples secure with doors and locks and bars in order that they may not be plundered by robbers.[#vv 12, 14, 56; Jer 37.16]
18They light more lamps for them than they light for themselves, though their gods can see none of them.[#Ps 115.5; Wis 15.15; #1.18 Gk they]
19They are just like a beam of the temple, but their hearts, it is said, are eaten away when crawling creatures from the earth devour them and their robes. They do not notice[#v 54; #1.19 Gk It is]
20when their faces have been blackened by the smoke of the temple.
21Bats, swallows, and birds alight on their bodies and heads, and so do cats.
22From this you will know that they are not gods, so do not fear them.[#v 15]
23As for the gold that they wear for beauty, it will not shine unless someone wipes off the tarnish, for even when they were being cast, they did not feel it.[#vv 7, 11 ; Sir 12.11; #1.23 Lat Syr: Gk they]
24They are bought without regard to cost, but there is no breath in them.[#Ps 135.17; Jer 10.14; Hab 2.19]
25Having no feet, they are carried on the shoulders of others, revealing to humans their worthlessness. And those who serve them are put to shame[#v 3; Wis 13.15, 16]
26because, if any of these gods falls to the ground, they themselves must pick it up. If anyone sets it upright, it cannot move itself, and if it is tipped over, it cannot straighten itself. Gifts are placed before them just as before the dead.[#vv 29, 31; 1 Sam 5.3, 4; Wis 13.16; #1.26 Gk if they fall]
27The priests sell the sacrifices that are offered to these gods and use the money themselves. Likewise their wives preserve some of the meat with salt but give none to the poor or helpless.[#v 32; Deut 14.28, 29; Bel 13; #1.27 Gk to them; #1.27 Gk of them]
28Sacrifices to them may even be touched by women during their periods or after giving birth. Since you know by these things that they are not gods, do not fear them.[#v 15; Lev 12.2, 4]
29For how can they be called gods? Women serve meals for gods of silver and gold and wood,[#vv 3, 26, 30; Lev 21.5, 10; Wis 13.10]
30and in their temples the priests sit with their clothes torn, their heads and beards shaved, and their heads uncovered.
31They howl and shout before their gods as some do at a funeral banquet.[#v 26; 1 Kings 18.26, 28]
32The priests take some of the clothing of their gods to clothe their wives and children.[#vv 10, 27, 57; #1.32 Gk some of their clothing]
33Whether one does evil to them or good, they will not be able to repay it. They cannot set up a king or depose one.[#vv 52, 65; Ps 75.7; Dan 2.21]
34Likewise, they are not able to give either wealth or money; if one makes a vow to them and does not keep it, they will not require it.
35They cannot save anyone from death or rescue the weak from the strong.
36They cannot restore sight to the blind; they cannot rescue one who is in distress.[#Ps 146.8]
37They cannot take pity on a widow or do good to an orphan.[#Ps 146.9]
38These things that are made of wood and overlaid with gold and silver are like stones from the mountain, and those who serve them will be put to shame.[#vv 3, 7; Isa 42.17; Hab 2.19]
39Why then must anyone think that they are gods or call them gods?[#Isa 46.1; Wis 13.18; Bel 3]
Besides, even the Chaldeans themselves dishonor them, for when they see someone who cannot speak, they bring Bel and pray that the mute may speak, as though Bel were able to understand!
40Yet they themselves cannot perceive this and abandon them, for they have no sense.
41And the women, with cords around them, sit along the passageways, burning bran for incense.[#Deut 23.17; Jer 7.18]
42When one of them is led off by one of the passers-by and is taken to bed by him, she derides the woman next to her because she was not as attractive as herself and her cord was not broken.
43Whatever is done for these idols is false. Why then must anyone think that they are gods or call them gods?[#1.43 Gk them]
44They are made by carpenters and goldsmiths; they can be nothing but what the artisans wish them to be.[#Isa 40.19, 20; Jer 10.3–9]
45Those who make them will certainly not live very long themselves;
46how then can the things that are made by them be gods? They have left only lies and reproach for those who come after.[#v 71; Isa 44.20]
47For when war or calamity comes upon them, the priests consult together as to where they can hide themselves and their gods.[#1.47 Gk them]
48How then can one fail to see that these are not gods, for they cannot save themselves from war or calamity?
49Since they are made of wood and overlaid with gold and silver, it will afterward be known that they are false.[#vv 3, 7]
50It will be manifest to all the nations and kings that they are not gods but the work of human hands and that there is no work of God in them.[#Ps 115.4; 135.15; Wis 13.10]
51Who, then, does not know that they are not gods?
52For they cannot set up a king over a country or give rain to people.[#v 33 ; Jer 5.24]
53They cannot judge their own cause or deliver one who is wronged, for they have no power;
54they are like crows between heaven and earth. 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 burned up like timbers.[#vv 3, 7, 19; #1.54 Gk they]
55Besides, they can offer no resistance to king or enemy. Why then must anyone admit or think that they are gods?[#vv 14, 39, 57]
56Gods made of wood and overlaid with silver and gold are unable to save themselves from thieves or robbers.[#vv 3, 7, 14, 17]
57Anyone who can will strip them of their gold and silver and of the robes they wear and go off with this plunder, and they will not be able to help themselves.[#vv 10, 14; Wis 13.16]
58So it is better to be a king who shows his courage or a household utensil that serves its owner’s need than to be these false gods, better even the door of a house that protects its contents than these false gods, better also a wooden pillar in a palace than these false gods.[#Wis 13.11; 2 Tim 2.20, 21]
59For sun and moon and stars are bright and, when sent to do a service, they are obedient.[#v 66 ; Ps 104.19]
60So also the lightning when it flashes is widely seen, and the wind likewise blows in every land.
61When God commands the clouds to go over the whole world, they carry out his command.
62And the fire sent from above to consume mountains and woods does what it is ordered. But these idols are not to be compared with them in appearance or power.[#1.62 Gk these things]
63Therefore one must not think that they are gods nor call them gods, for they are unable either to decide a case or to do good to anyone.[#vv 34–37, 53]
64Since you know, then, that they are not gods, do not fear them.[#v 15]
65They can neither curse nor bless kings;[#Jer 10.5]
66they cannot show signs in the heavens for the nations or shine like the sun or give light like the moon.[#v 59]
67The wild animals are better than they are, for they can flee to shelter and help themselves.
68So we have no evidence whatever that they are gods; therefore do not fear them.[#v 15]
69Like a scarecrow in a cucumber bed that guards nothing, so are their gods of wood, overlaid with gold and silver.[#vv 3, 7 ; Isa 1.8; Jer 10.5]
70In the same way, their gods of wood, overlaid with gold and silver, are like a thornbush in a garden on which every bird perches or like a corpse thrown out in the darkness.[#vv 3, 7]
71From the purple and linen that rot upon them you will know that they are not gods, and they will finally be consumed themselves and be a reproach in the land.[#vv 11, 15, 46; #1.71 Cn: Gk marble , Syr silk]
72Better, therefore, is someone upright who has no idols; such a person will be far above reproach.