Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageWhat good is an idol that a craftsman has carved? What use is a cast image — a teacher of lies? The one who shapes it trusts in his own creation, making gods that cannot speak a single word!
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GWhat profit is a carved image when its maker has shaped it — a molten image, a teacher of lies? For the craftsman trusts in his own handiwork when he makes speechless nothings!
KJV
King James VersionWhat profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?
BSB
Berean Standard BibleWhat use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it—or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.
Footnotes
Elilim (rendered 'nothings' in F.O.G) is a word of devastating irony — it sounds like El (God) but means 'worthless things/nothings.' Paired with illemim (mute/speechless), the wordplay exposes idols as anti-gods: things that look like God, named like God, but utterly voiceless and dead. F.O.G renders the semantic dismissal; F.O.G Message emphasises the absurdity of the trust placed in them.
