God’s Blessing on Israel

I am the First and the Last

A Rebuke to Idol Worship

⁹ Now,^[l] all the forming of^[m] images means nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Their own witnesses cannot see, and they^[n] know nothing. So they will be put to shame.

¹⁰ Who would shape a god or cast an image that profits nothing? ¹¹ To be sure, all who associate with it will be put to shame; and as for the craftsmen, they are only human. Let them all gather together and^[o] take their stand. Then^[p] let them be terrified—they will be humiliated together.

¹² The blacksmith prepares a tool and works in the coals, then^[q] fashions an idol with hammers, working by the strength of his arm. He even becomes hungry and loses his strength; he drinks no water and grows faint.

¹³ The carpenter measures it^[r] with a line; he traces its shape with a stylus, then fashions it with planes and shapes it with a compass. He makes the idol like a human figure, with human beauty, to be at home^[s] in a shrine. ¹⁴ He cuts down cedars, or chooses a cypress tree or an oak, and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. Or he plants a cedar, and the rain makes it grow. ¹⁵ He divides it up^[t] for people to burn. Taking part of it, he warms himself, makes a fire, and bakes bread. Or perhaps^[u] he constructs a god and worships it. He makes it an idol and bows down to it. ¹⁶ Half the wood he burns in the fire, and^[v] over^[w] that half he places^[x] meat so he can eat. He sits by its coals, warms himself,^[y] and says, “Ah! I am warm in front of^[z] the fire.” ¹⁷ And the rest of it he makes into a god. To blocks^[aa] of wood he bows down, worships, prays, and says, “Save me, since you are my god.”

¹⁸ They don’t realize; they don’t understand, because their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds, too, so they cannot understand. ¹⁹ No one stops to think. No one has the knowledge or understanding to think—yes to think!—^[ab]“Half of it I burned in the fire. I even baked bread on its coals, and^[ac] I roasted meat and ate it. And^[ad] am I about to make detestable things^[ae] from what is left? Am I about to bow down to blocks^[af] of wood?” ²⁰ He tends ashes. A deceived mind has lead him astray. It cannot be his life,^[ag] nor can he say, “There’s a lie in my right hand.”^[ah]

A Call to Remembrance and Joy