Isaiah 44:9-20 ▼

9 Those who fashion idols are all nothing; their precious works are of no avail. They are their witnesses: they see nothing, know nothing, and so they are put to shame.

10 Who would fashion a god or cast an idol, that is of no use?

11 Look, all its company will be shamed; they are artisans, mere human beings! They all assemble and stand there, only to cower in shame.

12 The ironsmith fashions a likeness, he works it over the coals, Shaping it with hammers, working it with his strong arm. With hunger his strength wanes, without water, he grows faint.

13 The woodworker stretches a line, and marks out a shape with a stylus. He shapes it with scraping tools, with a compass measures it off, Making it the copy of a man, human display, enthroned in a shrine.

14 He goes out to cut down cedars, takes a holm tree or an oak. He picks out for himself trees of the forest, plants a fir, and the rain makes it grow.

15 It is used for fuel: with some of the wood he warms himself, makes a fire and bakes bread. Yet he makes a god and worships it, turns it into an idol and adores it!

16 Half of it he burns in the fire, on its embers he roasts meat; he eats the roast and is full. He warms himself and says, “Ah! I am warm! I see the flames!”

17 The rest of it he makes into a god, an image to worship and adore. He prays to it and says, “Help me! You are my god!”

18 They do not know, do not understand; their eyes are too clouded to see, their minds, to perceive.

19 He does not think clearly; he lacks the wit and knowledge to say, “Half the wood I burned in the fire, on its embers I baked bread, I roasted meat and ate. Shall I turn the rest into an abomination? Shall I worship a block of wood?”

20 He is chasing ashes! A deluded mind has led him astray; He cannot save himself, does not say, “This thing in my right hand—is it not a fraud?”