Isaiah 44:9-20 ▼

9 Those fashioning an idol—all of them are nothing, and their delights cannot benefit. And their own witnesses, they cannot see, and they do not know, so they are put to shame.

10 Who would fashion a god, or cast an idol, that gives no benefit?

11 Behold, all its companions will be put to shame, and its craftsmen, for they are are of men. All of them, let them gather, let them take their stand; let them dread, let them be ashamed together!

12 The craftsman of iron has an ax and works over the coal, and with hammers he fashions it, and works it with the strength of his arm. Even so he grows hungry, and has no strength; he does not drink water, and he becomes faint.

13 The craftsman of wood stretches out the measuring-line; he traces it with the stylus, he fashions it with the chisel, and he marks it out with the compass; he makes it like the figure of a man, like the splendor of mankind, that it may dwell in a house.

14 He cuts down for himself cedars and takes cypress and oak. And he gives strength to it among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir-tree, and the rain makes it grow,

15 and it is for man to burn. And he takes from it and warms himself; also he kindles a fire and bakes bread; also he makes a god and bows down to it; he makes it a carved image and falls down before it!

16 Half of it he burns in the fire, on half of it he eats meat; he roasts a roast and is satisfied; also, he warms himself and says, “Ah, I am warm, I have seen the fire!”

17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, as his idol; he bows down before it, and he bows down and prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”

18 They do not know and they do not understand, for He has covered over their eyes from seeing, their hearts from understanding.

19 And no one turns it back to his heart, and there is no knowledge and no understanding to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire, and also I have baked bread on its coals and roasted meat, and I have eaten. Shall I make the rest of it into an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?”

20 He grazes on ashes, a deceived heart has stretched him aside; and he cannot deliver his soul, and he does not say, “Is not a lie in my right hand?”