^19 (A)An idol! A craftsman casts it,
    and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
    and casts for it silver chains.
^20 (B)He who is too impoverished for an offering
    chooses wood^[a] that will not rot;
he seeks out a skillful craftsman
    to set up an idol that will not move.

⁶ Everyone helps his neighbor
    and says to his brother, “Be strong!”
^7 (A)The craftsman strengthens the goldsmith,
    and he who smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil,
saying of the soldering, “It is good”;
    and they strengthen it with nails ^(B)so that it cannot be moved.

^6 (A)Those who lavish gold from the purse,
    and weigh out silver in the scales,
hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;
    ^(B)then they fall down and worship!
^7 (C)They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it,
    they set it in its place, and it stands there;
    ^(D)it cannot move from its place.
If one cries to it, it does not answer
    or save him from his trouble.

^3 (A)for the customs of the peoples are vanity.^[a]
(B)A tree from the forest is cut down
    and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
^4 (C)They decorate it with silver and gold;
    ^(D)they fasten it with hammer and nails
    so that it cannot move.
⁵ Their idols^[b] are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,
    and ^(E)they cannot speak;
^(F)they have to be carried,
    for they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them,
    ^(G)for they cannot do evil,
    neither is it in them to do good.”