_Or one takes an ilex or oak,_ _And picks for himself from the trees of the wood;_ _One has planted a pine, and the rain makes it big,_ _And 'tis there for a man to burn._ _And one has taken of it, and been warmed;_ _Yea, kindles and bakes bread,--_ _Yea, works out a god, and has worshipped it!_ _Has made it an idol, and bows down before it!_ _Part of it burns he with fire,_ _Upon part eats flesh,_ _Roasts roast and is full;_ _Yea, warms him and saith,_ _"Aha, I am warm, have seen fire!"_ _And the rest of it--to a god he has made--to his image!_ _He bows to it, worships it, prays to it,_ _And says, "Save me, for my god art thou!"_ 5. _They know not and deem not!_ _For He hath bedaubed, past seeing, their eyes,_ _Past thinking, their hearts._ _And none takes to heart, Neither has knowledge nor sense to say,_ _"Part of it burned I in fire--_ _Yea, have baked bread on its coals,_ _Do roast flesh that I eat,--_ _And the rest o't, to a Disgust should I make it?_ _The trunk of a tree should I worship?"_ _Herder of ashes,_[90] _a duped heart has sent him astray,_ _That he cannot deliver his soul, neither say,_ _"Is there not a lie in my right hand?"_ Is not the prevailing note in these verses surprise at the mental condition of an idol-worshipper? _They see not and know not_ enough _to feel shame. None takes it to heart, neither has knowledge nor sense to say, Part of it I have burned in fire ... and the rest, should I make it a god?_ This intellectual confidence, breaking out into scorn, is the second great token of truth, which distinguishes the religion of this poor slave of a people. 3. The third token is its moral character. The intellectual truth of a religion would go for little, had the religion nothing to say to man's moral sense--did it not concern itself with his sins, had it no redemption for his guilt. Now, the chapters before us are full of judgement and mercy. If they have scorn for the idols, they have doom for sin, and grace for the sinner. They are no mere political manifesto for the occasion, declaring how Israel shall be liberated from Babylon. They are a gospel for sinners in all time. By this they farther accredit themselves as a universal religion.