Idolatry Is Foolishness

(A)Those who make an image, all of them are useless,
And their precious things shall not profit;
They are their own witnesses;
(B)They neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed.
10 Who would form a god or mold an image
(C)That profits him nothing?
11 Surely all his companions would be (D)ashamed;
And the workmen, they are mere men.
Let them all be gathered together,
Let them stand up;
Yet they shall fear,
They shall be ashamed together.

12 (E)The blacksmith with the tongs works one in the coals,
Fashions it with hammers,
And works it with the strength of his arms.
Even so, he is hungry, and his strength fails;
He drinks no water and is faint.

13 The craftsman stretches out his rule,
He marks one out with chalk;
He fashions it with a plane,
He marks it out with the compass,
And makes it like the figure of a man,
According to the beauty of a man, that it may remain in the house.
14 He cuts down cedars for himself,
And takes the cypress and the oak;
He [a]secures it for himself among the trees of the forest.
He plants a pine, and the rain nourishes it.

15 Then it shall be for a man to burn,
For he will take some of it and warm himself;
Yes, he kindles it and bakes bread;
Indeed he makes a god and worships it;
He makes it a carved image, and falls down to it.
16 He burns half of it in the fire;
With this half he eats meat;
He roasts a roast, and is satisfied.
He even warms himself and says,
“Ah! I am warm,
I have seen the fire.”
17 And the rest of it he makes into a god,
His carved image.
He falls down before it and worships it,
Prays to it and says,
“Deliver me, for you are my god!”

18 (F)They do not know nor understand;
For (G)He has [b]shut their eyes, so that they cannot see,
And their hearts, so that they cannot (H)understand.
19 And no one (I)considers in his heart,
Nor is there knowledge nor understanding to say,
“I have burned half of it in the fire,
Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals;
I have roasted meat and eaten it;
And shall I make the rest of it an abomination?
Shall I fall down before a block of wood?”
20 He feeds on ashes;
(J)A deceived heart has turned him aside;
And he cannot deliver his soul,
Nor say, “Is there not a (K)lie in my right hand?”

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 44:14 Lit. appropriates
  2. Isaiah 44:18 Lit. smeared over

Idolatry Is Ridiculous

All those who form an idol are nothing,
    and their delightful things do not profit.
And their witnesses do not see or know,
    so they will be ashamed.
10     Who would form a god
    and cast an image of which he cannot profit?
11 Look! all his companions shall be ashamed,
    and the artisans are human!
Let all of them assemble;
    let them stand up.
They shall tremble;[a]
    they shall be ashamed together.
12 The ironsmith[b] works in the coals with his tool
    and forms it with hammers.
And he makes it with his strong arm;[c]
    indeed, he becomes hungry, and he lacks[d] strength;
    he does not drink water, and he is faint.
13 The woodworker[e] stretches out a line;
    he makes an outline of it with a marker.
He makes it with a knife
    and makes an outline of it with a compass.
He makes it like the image of a man,
    like the beauty of a human, to dwell in a temple.[f]
14 Cutting down cedars for himself,
    he chooses[g] a holm tree and an oak,
and he lets it grow strong for him among the trees of the forest.
    He plants a cedar, and the rain makes it grow.
15 And it becomes fuel for a human,[h]
    and he takes some of it and grows warm;
    also, he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
Also, he makes a god and bows in worship;
    he makes himself an image and bows down to it!
16 He burns half of it in the fire;
    he eats meat over half of it;
    he roasts a roast and is satisfied.
Also he grows warm and says, “Ah!
    I am warm! I see the fire!”
17 And he makes the remainder of it into a god!
    He bows down to his idol,
and he bows in worship and prays to him,
    and he says, “Save me, for you are my god!”
18 They do not know,
    and they do not understand,
for their eyes are besmeared so that they cannot see,[i]
    their minds[j] so that they have no insight.[k]
19 And no one takes it to heart,[l] and there is no knowledge
    and no understanding to say, “I burned half of it in the fire
and also I baked bread on its coals;
    I roasted meat, and I have eaten.
And I shall make the rest of it into an abomination!
    I shall bow down to a block of wood!”
20 He feeds on ashes; a deceived mind[m] misleads him.
    And he cannot save himself,[n] and he cannot say,
        “Is this not an illusion in my right hand?”

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 44:11 Or “be startled”
  2. Isaiah 44:12 Literally “craftsman of iron”
  3. Isaiah 44:12 Literally “the arm of his strength”
  4. Isaiah 44:12 Literally “there is no”
  5. Isaiah 44:13 Literally “craftsman of wood”
  6. Isaiah 44:13 Or “house”
  7. Isaiah 44:14 Literally “takes”
  8. Isaiah 44:15 Literally “will become for a man as burning”
  9. Isaiah 44:18 Literally “from seeing”
  10. Isaiah 44:18 Literally “hearts”
  11. Isaiah 44:18 Literally “from having insight”
  12. Isaiah 44:19 Literally “he does not bring back to his heart”
  13. Isaiah 44:20 Literally “heart deceived”
  14. Isaiah 44:20 Literally “his soul”