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Isaiah 44:9-20
New English Translation

9 All who form idols are nothing;
the things in which they delight are worthless.
Their witnesses cannot see;
they recognize nothing, so they are put to shame.
10 Who forms a god and casts an idol
that will prove worthless?[a]
11 Look, all his associates[b] will be put to shame;
the craftsmen are mere humans.[c]
Let them all assemble and take their stand.
They will panic and be put to shame.
12 A blacksmith works with his tool[d]
and forges metal over the coals.
He forms it[e] with hammers;
he makes it with his strong arm.
He gets hungry and loses his energy;[f]
he drinks no water and gets tired.
13 A carpenter takes measurements;[g]
he marks out an outline of its form;[h]
he scrapes[i] it with chisels,
and marks it with a compass.
He patterns it after the human form,[j]
like a well-built human being,
and puts it in a shrine.[k]
14 He cuts down cedars
and acquires a cypress[l] or an oak.
He gets[m] trees from the forest;
he plants a cedar[n] and the rain makes it grow.
15 A man uses it to make a fire;[o]
he takes some of it and warms himself.
Yes, he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
Then he makes a god and worships it;
he makes an idol and bows down to it.[p]
16 Half of it he burns in the fire—
over that half he cooks[q] meat;
he roasts a meal and fills himself.
Yes, he warms himself and says,
‘Ah! I am warm as I look at the fire.’
17 With the rest of it he makes a god, his idol;
he bows down to it and worships it.
He prays to it, saying,
‘Rescue me, for you are my god!’
18 They do not comprehend or understand,
for their eyes are blind and cannot see;
their minds do not discern.[r]
19 No one thinks to himself,
nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves:
‘I burned half of it in the fire—
yes, I baked bread over the coals;
I roasted meat and ate it.
With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol?
Should I bow down to dry wood?’[s]
20 He feeds on ashes;[t]
his deceived mind misleads him.
He cannot rescue himself,
nor does he say, ‘Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?’[u]

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 44:10 tn The rhetorical question is sarcastic. The sense is, “Who is foolish enough…?”
  2. Isaiah 44:11 tn The pronoun “his” probably refers to the one who forms/casts an idol (v. 10), in which case it refers to the craftsman’s associates in the idol-manufacturing guild.
  3. Isaiah 44:11 sn The point seems to be this: if the idols are the mere products of human hands, then those who trust in them will be disappointed, for man-made gods are incapable of helping their “creators.”
  4. Isaiah 44:12 tn The noun מַעֲצָד (maʿatsad), which refers to some type of tool used for cutting, occurs only here and in Jer 10:3. See HALOT 615 s.v. מַעֲצָד.
  5. Isaiah 44:12 tn Some English versions take the pronoun “it” to refer to an idol being fashioned by the blacksmith (cf. NIV, NCV, CEV). NLT understands the referent to be “a sharp tool,” which is then used by the carpenter in the following verse to carve an idol from wood.
  6. Isaiah 44:12 tn Heb “and there is no strength”; NASB “his strength fails.”
  7. Isaiah 44:13 tn Heb “stretches out a line” (ASV similar); NIV “measures with a line.”
  8. Isaiah 44:13 tn Heb “he makes an outline with the [?].” The noun שֶׂרֶד (shered) occurs only here; it apparently refers to some type of tool or marker. Cf. KJV “with a line”; ASV “with a pencil”; NAB, NRSV “with a stylus”; NASB “with red chalk”; NIV “with a marker.”
  9. Isaiah 44:13 tn Heb “works” (so NASB) or “fashions” (so NRSV); NIV “he roughs it out.”
  10. Isaiah 44:13 tn Heb “he makes it like the pattern of a man”; NAB “like a man in appearance.”
  11. Isaiah 44:13 tn Heb “like the glory of man to sit [in] a house”; NIV “that it may dwell in a shrine.”
  12. Isaiah 44:14 tn It is not certain what type of tree this otherwise unattested noun refers to. Cf. ASV “a holm-tree” (NRSV similar).
  13. Isaiah 44:14 tn Heb “strengthens for himself,” i.e., “secures for himself” (see BDB 55 s.v. אָמֵץ Pi.2).
  14. Isaiah 44:14 tn Some prefer to emend אֹרֶן (ʾoren) to אֶרֶז (ʾerez, “cedar”), but the otherwise unattested noun appears to have an Akkadian cognate, meaning “cedar.” See H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 44-45. HALOT 90 s.v. I אֹרֶן offers the meaning “laurel.”
  15. Isaiah 44:15 tn Heb “and it becomes burning [i.e., firewood] for a man”; NAB “to serve man for fuel.”
  16. Isaiah 44:15 tn Or perhaps, “them.”
  17. Isaiah 44:16 tn Heb “eats” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV “roasts.”
  18. Isaiah 44:18 tn Heb “for their eyes are smeared over so they cannot see, so their heart cannot be wise.”
  19. Isaiah 44:19 tn There is no formal interrogative sign here, but the context seems to indicate these are rhetorical questions. See GKC 473 §150.a.
  20. Isaiah 44:20 tn Or perhaps, “he eats on an ash heap.”
  21. Isaiah 44:20 tn Heb “Is it not a lie in my right hand?”
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Isaiah 44:9-20
International Standard Version

A Rebuke to Idol Worship

9 Now,[a] all the forming of[b] images means nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Their own witnesses cannot see, and they[c] 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[d] take their stand. Then[e] let them be terrified—they will be humiliated together.

12 The blacksmith prepares a tool and works in the coals, then[f] 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[g] 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[h] 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[i] for people to burn. Taking part of it, he warms himself, makes a fire, and bakes bread. Or perhaps[j] 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[k] over[l] that half he places[m] meat so he can eat. He sits by its coals, warms himself,[n] and says, “Ah! I am warm in front of[o] the fire.” 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god. To blocks[p] 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!—[q]“Half of it I burned in the fire. I even baked bread on its coals, and[r] I roasted meat and ate it. And[s] am I about to make detestable things[t] from what is left? Am I about to bow down to blocks[u] of wood?” 20 He tends ashes. A deceived mind has lead him astray. It cannot be his life,[v] nor can he say, “There’s a lie in my right hand.”[w]

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 44:9 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX lack Now
  2. Isaiah 44:9 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read those who form
  3. Isaiah 44:9 So MT LXX; 1QIsaa reads They
  4. Isaiah 44:11 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT lacks and
  5. Isaiah 44:11 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX lack Then
  6. Isaiah 44:12 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX lack then
  7. Isaiah 44:13 I.e. the idol; so 1QIsaa LXX; MT lacks it
  8. Isaiah 44:13 Lit. to rest
  9. Isaiah 44:15 So 1QIsaa; MT reads It is; LXX reads so that it is
  10. Isaiah 44:15 So 1QIsaa; MT reads Also
  11. Isaiah 44:16 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT lacks and
  12. Isaiah 44:16 1QIsaa lacks over, but inserts it above the line
  13. Isaiah 44:16 Lit. half is
  14. Isaiah 44:16 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read eats meat he roasted as a roast and is satisfied. He also warms himself
  15. Isaiah 44:16 So 1QIsaa; MT reads I see; LXX reads and I have seen
  16. Isaiah 44:17 Or to his Baals (i.e. to Canaanite deities); so 1QIsaa copyist error; MT LXX read god, for his idol
  17. Isaiah 44:19 So 1QIsaa; MT lacks —yes to think!—
  18. Isaiah 44:19 So 1QIsaa; MT lacks and
  19. Isaiah 44:19 So 1QIsaa MT; 4QIsab lacks And
  20. Isaiah 44:19 So 1QIsaa; 4QIsab MT LXX read make a detestable thing
  21. Isaiah 44:19 So 1QIsaa; MT reads to a block
  22. Isaiah 44:20 So 1QIsaa; 4QIsab MT LXX read He does not save his life
  23. Isaiah 44:20 So 1QIsaa; 4QIsab MT LXX read “There’s no lie in my right hand, is there?”
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