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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?”

The Foolishness of Idolatry

Those who fashion an idol are all futile, and their treasured things are of no benefit; even their own witnesses fail to see or know, so that they will be (A)put to shame. 10 Who has fashioned a god or cast an idol to (B)no benefit? 11 Behold, all his companions will be (C)put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are mere men. Let them all assemble themselves, let them stand up, let them tremble, let them be put to shame together.

12 The (D)craftsman of iron shapes a cutting tool and does his work over the coals, [a]fashioning it with hammers and working it with his strong arm. He also gets hungry and [b]his strength fails; he drinks no water and becomes weary. 13 (E)The craftsman of wood extends a measuring line; he outlines it with a marker. He works it with carving knives and outlines it with a compass, and makes it like the form of a man, like the beauty of (F)mankind, so that it may sit in a (G)house. 14 He will cut cedars for himself, and he takes a holm-oak or another oak and lets it grow strong for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a laurel tree, and the rain makes it grow. 15 Then it becomes something for a person to burn, so he takes one of them and gets warm; he also makes a fire and bakes bread. He also (H)makes a god and worships it; he makes it a carved image and (I)bows down before it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he eats meat, he roasts a roast, and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire.” 17 Yet the rest of it he (J)makes into a god, his carved image. He bows down before it and worships; he also (K)prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god.”

18 They do not (L)know, nor do they understand, for He has (M)smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see, and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend. 19 No one [c]remembers, nor is there (N)knowledge or understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eat it. Then [d]I make the rest of it into an (O)abomination, [e]I bow down before a block of wood!” 20 He [f](P)feeds on ashes; a (Q)deceived heart has misled him. And he cannot save [g]himself, nor say, “(R)Is there not a lie in my right hand?”

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 44:12 Lit and fashions
  2. Isaiah 44:12 Lit there is no strength
  3. Isaiah 44:19 Lit returns to his heart
  4. Isaiah 44:19 Or shall I make?
  5. Isaiah 44:19 Or shall I bow...?
  6. Isaiah 44:20 Or is a companion of ashes
  7. Isaiah 44:20 Lit his soul