Isaiah 44:9-20
New Living Translation
9 How foolish are those who manufacture idols.
These prized objects are really worthless.
The people who worship idols don’t know this,
so they are all put to shame.
10 Who but a fool would make his own god—
an idol that cannot help him one bit?
11 All who worship idols will be disgraced
along with all these craftsmen—mere humans—
who claim they can make a god.
They may all stand together,
but they will stand in terror and shame.
12 The blacksmith stands at his forge to make a sharp tool,
pounding and shaping it with all his might.
His work makes him hungry and weak.
It makes him thirsty and faint.
13 Then the wood-carver measures a block of wood
and draws a pattern on it.
He works with chisel and plane
and carves it into a human figure.
He gives it human beauty
and puts it in a little shrine.
14 He cuts down cedars;
he selects the cypress and the oak;
he plants the pine in the forest
to be nourished by the rain.
15 Then he uses part of the wood to make a fire.
With it he warms himself and bakes his bread.
Then—yes, it’s true—he takes the rest of it
and makes himself a god to worship!
He makes an idol
and bows down in front of it!
16 He burns part of the tree to roast his meat
and to keep himself warm.
He says, “Ah, that fire feels good.”
17 Then he takes what’s left
and makes his god: a carved idol!
He falls down in front of it,
worshiping and praying to it.
“Rescue me!” he says.
“You are my god!”
18 Such stupidity and ignorance!
Their eyes are closed, and they cannot see.
Their minds are shut, and they cannot think.
19 The person who made the idol never stops to reflect,
“Why, it’s just a block of wood!
I burned half of it for heat
and used it to bake my bread and roast my meat.
How can the rest of it be a god?
Should I bow down to worship a piece of wood?”
20 The poor, deluded fool feeds on ashes.
He trusts something that can’t help him at all.
Yet he cannot bring himself to ask,
“Is this idol that I’m holding in my hand a lie?”
Isaiah 44:9-20
Lexham English Bible
Idolatry Is Ridiculous
9 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?”
Notas al pie
- Isaiah 44:11 Or “be startled”
- Isaiah 44:12 Literally “craftsman of iron”
- Isaiah 44:12 Literally “the arm of his strength”
- Isaiah 44:12 Literally “there is no”
- Isaiah 44:13 Literally “craftsman of wood”
- Isaiah 44:13 Or “house”
- Isaiah 44:14 Literally “takes”
- Isaiah 44:15 Literally “will become for a man as burning”
- Isaiah 44:18 Literally “from seeing”
- Isaiah 44:18 Literally “hearts”
- Isaiah 44:18 Literally “from having insight”
- Isaiah 44:19 Literally “he does not bring back to his heart”
- Isaiah 44:20 Literally “heart deceived”
- Isaiah 44:20 Literally “his soul”
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