19. They are like any timber in the temple; their hearts, it is said, are eaten away. Though crawling creatures from the ground consume them and their garments, they do not feel it.
20. Their faces become sooty from the smoke in the temple.
21. Bats and swallows alight on their bodies and heads—any bird, and cats as well.
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.