Beginning

36 Now it came to pass in the fourteenth shanah of Melech Chizkiyah, that Sancheriv Melech Ashur came up against all the fortified cities of Yehudah, and captured them.

² And Melech Ashur sent Rav Shakeh from Lachish to Yerushalayim unto Melech Chizkiyah with a large army. And he stood by the te’alat haberekhah haelyonah (aqueduct of the Upper Pool) on the highway of the sadeh of the launderer.

³ Then came forth unto him Elyakim Ben Chilkiah, who was over the Bais (palace), and Shevna the Sofer, and Yoach Ben Asaph, the Mazkir (secretary).

⁴ And Rav Shakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Chizkiyah, Thus saith the HaMelech Hagadol, Melech Ashur, What bitachon (confidence) is this wherein thou trustest?

⁵ I say, Your etzah (counsel) and gevurah (strength) for milchamah (war) are only devar sefatayim [words of the lips, empty words]); now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?

⁶ Hinei, thou trustest in the mishenet (staff) of this broken reed, on Mitzrayim; whereon if an ish lean, it will go into his palm, and pierce it; so is Pharaoh Melech Mitzrayim to all that trust in him.

⁷ But if thou say to me, We trust in Hashem Eloheinu; is it not He, whose high places and whose mizbechot Chizkiyah hath taken away, and said to Yehudah and to Yerushalayim, Ye shall worship before this Mizbe’ach?

⁸ Therefore give pledges, now, to adoni HaMelech Ashur, and I will give thee two thousand susim, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.

⁹ How then wilt thou turn away the face of one officer of the least of the avadim of adoni, and put thy trust on Mitzrayim for chariots and for parashim?

¹⁰ And am I now come up without Hashem against this land to destroy it? Hashem said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.

¹¹ Then said Elyakim and Shevna and Yoach unto Rav Shakeh, Speak now, thee, unto thy avadim in Aramit (Aramaic); for we understand it; and speak not to us in Yehudit (Hebrew), in the ears of the people that are on the chomah.

¹² But Rav Shakeh said, Is it to adoneicha and to you that adoni has sent me to speak these words? Hath he not sent me to the anashim that sit upon the chomah, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own urine with you?

¹³ Then Rav Shakeh stood, and cried with a kol gadol in Yehudit, and said, Hear ye the words of HaMelech Hagadol, the Melech Ashur.

¹⁴ Thus saith HaMelech, Let not Chizkiyah deceive you; for he shall not be able to save you.

¹⁵ Neither let Chizkiyah make you trust in Hashem, saying, Hashem will surely save us; this city shall not be given into the Melech Ashur.

¹⁶ Pay heed not to Chizkiyah; for thus saith HaMelech Ashur, Make a brocha with me, and come out to me; and eat ye every one of his gefen, and every one of his te’enah and drink ye every one the waters of his own bor;

¹⁷ Until I come and take you away to an eretz like your own eretz, an eretz dagan and tirosh, an eretz lechem and kramim (vineyards).

¹⁸ Beware lest Chizkiyah mislead you, saying, Hashem will save us. Hath any of the elohei HaGoyim delivered his land out of the yad Melech Ashur?

¹⁹ Where are the elohei Chamat and Arpad? Where are the elohei Sepharvayim? And have they saved Shomron out of my yad?

²⁰ Who are they among all elohim of these lands, that have saved their land out of my yad, that Hashem should save Yerushalayim out of my yad?

²¹ But they held their peace, and answered him not a davar; for the mitzvat HaMelech was saying, Answer him not.

²² Then came Elyakim Ben Chilkiyah, that was over the Bais, and Shevna the Sofer, and Yoach Ben Asaph, the Mazkir, to Chizkiyah with their begadim torn, and told him the words of Rav Shakeh.

37 And it came to pass, when HaMelech Chizkiyah heard it, that he tore his begadim, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the Beis Hashem.

² And he sent Elyakim, who was over the Bais, and Shevna the Sofer, and the Ziknei HaKohanim covered with sackcloth, unto HaNavi Yeshayah Ben Amotz.

³ And they said unto him, Thus saith Chizkiyah, This yom is a yom tzarah, and of tokhechah, and of ne’atzah; for the banim are come to the mashber, and there is not ko’ach to bring forth.

⁴ It may be Hashem Eloheicha will hear the words of Rav Shakeh, whom Melech Ashur adonav hath sent to ridicule the Elohim Chai, and will rebuke the devarim which Hashem Eloheicha hath heard; therefore lift up thy tefillah for the she’erit that are left surviving.

⁵ So the avadim of HaMelech Chizkiyah came to Yeshayah.

⁶ And Yeshayah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto adoneichem, Thus saith Hashem, Be not afraid before the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the na’arei Melech Ashur have made gidduf (blasphemy) against Me.

⁷ Hineni, I will put a ruach in him, when he shall hear a shemuah (report), and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the cherev in his own land.

⁸ So Rav Shakeh left [Yerushalayim], and found Melech Ashur warring against Livnah; for he had heard that he [Melech Ashur] was departed from Lachish.

⁹ And he heard concerning Tirhakah Melech Kush, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent malachim to Chizkiyah, saying,

¹⁰ Thus shall ye speak to Chizkiyah Melech Yehudah, saying, Let not Eloheicha, in Whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Yerushalayim shall not be given into the yad Melech Ashur.

¹¹ Hinei, thou hast heard what the melachim of Ashur have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be saved?

¹² Have the elohei HaGoyim delivered them which my avot have destroyed, as Gozan, and Charan, and Retzeph, and the Bnei Eden which were in Telassar?

¹³ Where is Melech Chamat, and Melech Arphad, and the Melech of the Ir of Sepharvayim, Hena, and Ivah?

¹⁴ And Chizkiyah received the sefarim (letters) from the yad hamalachim, and read it; and Chizkiyah went up unto the Beis Hashem, and spread it before Hashem.

¹⁵ And Chizkiyah davened unto Hashem, saying,

¹⁶ Hashem Tzva’os, Elohei Yisroel, that dwellest between the keruvim, Thou art HaElohim, even Thou alone, of kol mamlechot ha’aretz; Thou hast made Shomayim and HaAretz.

¹⁷ Incline Thine ear, Hashem, and hear; open Thine eyes, Hashem, and see; and hear all the words of Sanecheriv, which he sent to insult the Elohim Chai.

¹⁸ Truly, Hashem, the melachim of Ashur have laid waste all the countries and their lands,

¹⁹ And have cast eloheihem into the eish; for they were no elohim, but the ma’aseh yedei adam, etz and even (stone); therefore they have destroyed them.

²⁰ Now therefore, Hashem Eloheinu, save us from his yad, that kol mamlechot ha’aretz may know that Thou art Hashem, even Thou only.

²¹ Then Yeshayah Ben Amotz sent unto Chizkiyah, saying, Thus saith Hashem Elohei Yisroel, Whereas thou hast davened to Me against Sanecheriv Melech Ashur;

²² This is the davar which Hashem hath spoken concerning him; The Betulat Bat Tziyon, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the Bat Yerushalayim hath shaken her head at thee.

²³ Whom hast thou insulted and made gidduf against? And against whom hast thou raised thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes marom? Even against Kadosh Yisroel.

²⁴ By thy avadim hast thou insulted Adonoi, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up marom harim, to the heights of Levanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice pine trees thereof; and I will enter into its most remote height, and the ya’ar (forest) of its fruitful land.

²⁵ I have dug, and drunk mayim; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the streams of the besieged places.

²⁶ Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of yemei kedem (days of old), that I have formed it? Now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps.

²⁷ Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and put to shame; they were as the esev of the sadeh, and as the green herb, as the khatzir (grass) on the gagot (rooftops) is sun-scorched before it is grown up.

²⁸ But I know thy sitting, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against Me.

²⁹ Because thy rage against Me, and thy insolence, is come up into Mine ears, therefore will I put My hook in thy nose, and My bit in thy sfatayim (lips), and I will turn thee back by the derech by which thou camest.

³⁰ And this shall be HaOt unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth from the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant kramim (vineyards), and eat the fruit thereof.

³¹ And the remnant that is escaped of the Bais Yehudah shall again take shoresh (root) downward, and bear pri upward;

³² For out of Yerushalayim shall go forth She’erit (remnant) and they that escape out of Mt Tziyon; the zeal of Hashem Tzva’os shall accomplish this.

³³ Therefore thus saith Hashem concerning Melech Ashur, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot khetz (an arrow) there, nor come before it with mogen, nor cast a siege ramp against it.

³⁴ By the derech that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith Hashem.

³⁵ For I will defend this city to save it for Mine Own sake, and for the sake of Dovid Avdi.

³⁶ Then the Malach Hashem went forth, and struck down in the Machaneh Ashur a hundred and fourscore and five elef; and when they arose early in the boker, hinei, they were all pegarim mesim (dead corpses).

³⁷ So Sanecheriv Melech Ashur departed, and went and returned, and dwelt in Nineveh.

³⁸ And it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the Bais Nisroch elohav, that Adramelech and Saretzer, his banim, cut him down with the cherev; they escaped into Eretz Ararat; Esar Chadon bno reigned in his place.

38 In those days was Chizkiyahu (Hezekiah) sick unto death. And HaNavi Yeshayah Ben Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith Hashem, Set thine bais in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.

² Then Chizkiyahu (Hezekiah) turned his face toward the kir (wall), and davened unto Hashem,

³ And said, Remember now, Hashem, I beseech thee, how I have walked before Thee in emes and with lev shalem, and have done that which is tov in Thy sight. And Chizkiyahu (Hezekiah) wept with bekhi gadol (great weeping).

⁴ Then came the Devar Hashem to Yeshayah, saying,

⁵ Go, and say to Chizkiyahu, Thus saith Hashem Elohei Dovid Avicha, I have heard thy tefillah, I have seen thy tears; hineni, I will add unto thy days chamesh esreh shanah (fifteen years).

⁶ And I will deliver thee and this Ir out of the hand of Melech Ashur (Assyria); and I will defend HaIr Hazot.

⁷ And this shall be HaOt (the Sign) unto thee from Hashem, that Hashem will do this thing that He hath spoken;

⁸ Hineni, I will bring again the tzel (shadow) of the hama’alot (the steps), which has gone down with the shemesh on the Ma’alot Achaz (sundial of Ahaz), so that it goes eser ma’alot (ten steps) backward. So the shemesh went back eser maalot (ten steps) on the ma’alot on which it had gone down.

⁹ The writing of Chizkiyahu Melech Yehudah, when he had been ill, and was recovered from his illness:

¹⁰ I said in the cutting short of my yamim, I shall go to the Sha’arei Sheol; I am deprived of the remainder of my shanot.

¹¹ I said, I shall not see Hashem, even Hashem, in the Eretz HaChayyim; I shall behold adam no more with the inhabitants of the world.

¹² Mine dwelling is pulled up, and is sent into the Golus from me like ohel ro’i; As an oreg (weaver) I rolled up my life; He would have cut me loose from the roll; from yom even to lailah wilt Thou make an end of me.

¹³ I waited until boker, that, like an ari (lion), so will He break all my atzmot; from yom even to lailah wilt Thou make an end of me.

¹⁴ Like a swallow or a crane, so did I chirp; I did moan like a yonah; mine eyes grew weak from looking heavenward; Adonoi, I am oppressed; go surety for me.

¹⁵ What shall I say? He hath both promised me, and Himself hath done it; I shall walk quietly all my shanot in the mar (bitterness) of my nefesh.

¹⁶ Adonoi, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my ruach; so Thou recovered me to health, and made me to live.

¹⁷ Hinei, for shalom (benefit) did I have great bitterness; for Thou hast in love to my nefesh delivered it from the shachat (pit) of destruction; for Thou hast cast all my chatta’im behind Thy back.

¹⁸ For Sheol cannot thank Thee, mavet can not praise Thee; they that go down into the bor (pit) cannot hope for Thy emes.

¹⁹ The living, the living, he shall thank Thee, as I do today; av to banim shall make known Thy emes.

²⁰ Hashem will save me; therefore we will sing with stringed instruments kol yemei chayyeinu (all the days of our life) in the Beis Hashem.

²¹ For Yeshayah had said, Let them take a cake of te’enim, and apply it upon the shechin (boil, inflamed spot), and he shall recover.

²² Chizkiyahu also had said, What is the Ot (Sign) that I shall go up to the Beis Hashem [See 2Kgs 20:8 which speaks about Yom HaShlishi and on Moshiach cf Isa 53:8 and Isa 38:10-11 and Ps 16 and Isa 38:17.]

39 At that time Merodach Baladan Ben Baladan Melech Bavel sent sefarim (letters) and a minchah (gift) to Chizkiyah; for he had heard that he had been sick, and had recovered.

² And Chizkiyah was glad about them, and showed them the Bais Nekhotoh (Treasure House), the kesef, and the zahav, and the spices, and the shemen hatov, and all the Bais Keli of his, and all that was found in his otzerot; there was nothing in his Bais, nor in all his memshalet, that Chizkiyah did not show them.

³ Then Yeshayah HaNavi came unto HaMelech Chizkiyah, and said unto him, What said these anashim? And from where came they unto thee? And Chizkiyah said, They are come from eretz rechokah (a far country) unto me, even from Babylon.

⁴ Then he said, What have they seen in thine Bais? And Chizkiyah answered, All that is in mine Bais have they seen; there is nothing among my otzerot (treasures) that I have not showed them.

⁵ Then said Yeshayah to Chizkiyah, Hear the Devar Hashem Tzivos;

⁶ Hinei, the days are coming, that all that is in thine Bais, and that which Avoteicha have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith Hashem.

⁷ And of thy Banim that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt father, shall they take away; and they shall be sarisim (eunuchs) in the Heikhal Melech Bavel.

⁸ Then Chizkiyah said to Yeshayah, Tov is the Devar Hashem which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be shalom and emes in my days.

40 Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith Eloheichem.

² Speak ye to the lev Yerushalayim, and preach unto her, that her tzeva’a (time of hard service, warfare) is ended, that her avon (iniquity) is nirtzah (punitively paid for, pardoned); for she hath received of the Yad Hashem kiflayim (double) in payment for all her chattot.

³ The voice of him that preacheth in the midbar, Prepare ye the Derech Hashem, make straight in the Aravah a highway for Eloheinu.

⁴ Every gey (valley) shall be raised up, and every har and givah (hill) shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places bikah (plain, valley);

⁵ And the kavod Hashem shall be revealed, and all basar shall see it together; for the mouth of Hashem hath spoken.

⁶ The voice said, Preach. And he said, What shall I preach? All basar is khatzir (grass), and all the chesed (constancy) thereof is as the tzitz (flower, blossom) of the sadeh;

⁷ The khatzir (grass) withereth, the tzitz (flower, blossom) falleth; because the Ruach of Hashem bloweth upon it; surely the people is khatzir (grass).

⁸ The khatzir withereth, the tzitz falleth; but the Devar Eloheinu shall stand forever.

⁹ O Mevaseret Tziyon (O Herald, Preacher of Besorah [Good News, Gospel] Tziyon, O Lady Evangelist Tziyon), get thee up into the har gavo’ah (high mountain); O Mevaseret Yerushalayim (O Herald, Preacher of Besorah [Good News, Gospel] Yerushalayim, O Lady Evangelist Yerushalayim), lift up thy voice with ko’ach; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the towns of Yehudah, Hinei Eloheichem!

¹⁰ Hinei, Adonoi Hashem will come with chazak, and His zero’a [Moshiach, see Isaiah 53:1] shall rule for Him; hinei, His sachar (reward) is with Him, and His pe’ullah (work, recompense, retribution, penal reward [for His enemies]) before Him.

¹¹ He shall feed His Eder like a Ro’eh; He shall gather the tela’im (lambs) with His zero’a, and carry them in His kheyk, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

¹² Who hath measured the mayim in the hollow of His Hand, and meted out Shomayim with a handbreadth, and enclosed the aphar ha’aretz in a measure, and weighed the harim (mountains) in scales, and the geva’ot (hills) in a balance? [See Prov 30:4.]

¹³ Who hath directed the Ruach of Hashem, or being His ish etzah (counselor) hath taught Him?

¹⁴ With whom did He take counsel, and who gave Him binah, and taught Him in the orakh mishpat, and taught Him da’as, and showed Him the derech tevunot (way of understanding, intelligence)?

¹⁵ Surely the Goyim are like a drop in a bucket, and are accounted as dust of the scales; surely He taketh up the iyim (islands) like fine dust.

¹⁶ Levanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for an olah.

¹⁷ Kol HaGoyim before Him are as nothing; and they are counted to Him less than nothing, and tohu.

¹⁸ To whom then will ye liken El? Or what demut (likeness) will ye compare unto Him?

¹⁹ The charash (workman, craftsman) melteth a pesel (idol, image), and the goldsmith overlayeth it with zahav, and casteth for it chains of kesef.

²⁰ He that is so impoverished that He hath no terumah chooseth an etz that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a charash chacham (skilled craftsman) to prepare a pesel, that shall not topple.

²¹ Have ye not known? Have ye not heard? Hath it not been told you from the beginning? Have ye not understood from the mosedot ha’aretz (foundations of the earth)?

²² It is He that sitteth above the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are like chagavim (grasshoppers); that stretcheth out Shomayim like a curtain, and spreadeth them out like an ohel to dwell in;

²³ That bringeth the roznim (rulers) to nothing; He maketh the Shoftei Eretz like tohu.

²⁴ Indeed, they shall not be planted; indeed, they shall not be sown; indeed, their stem shall not take root ba’aretz (in the ground); and He shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the se’arah (storm wind) shall take them away like the kash (straw, stubble, chaff).

²⁵ To whom then will ye liken Me, or shall I be equal? saith the Kadosh.

²⁶ Lift up your eyes marom (on high, i.e,. into the heavens), and behold. Who hath created [T.N. This chp needs to be seen also in light of Ac chp 2 and Jerusalem’s Besurah HaGeulah proclaimed there.] these things, that bringeth out their tzeva’a (host, legions) by mispar (number); He calleth them all b’shem (by name) because of the abundance of His power and the might of His ko’ach; not one [star] is missing.

²⁷ Why sayest thou, O Ya’akov, and speakest, O Yisroel, My derech is hid from Hashem, and my mishpat is passed over and disregarded by Elohai?

²⁸ Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the Elohei Olam, Hashem, Boreh Ketzot HaAretz (Creator of the ends of the earth), fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of His tevunah (understanding, intelligence).

²⁹ He giveth ko’ach to the faint; and to them that have no might He increaseth power.

³⁰ Even the ne’arim (youths) shall faint and grow weary, and the bochurim shall utterly fall;

³¹ But they that wait upon Hashem shall renew their ko’ach; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not grow weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

41 Keep silence before Me, O iyim (islands); and let the people renew their ko’ach (strength); let them come near; then let them speak; let us come near together for mishpat (judgment, i.e., G-d’s tribunal)

² Who awakened the just one [Koresh, Cyrus 44:28] from the mizrach (east), called him to His raglayim, gave the Goyim before him, and made him rule over melachim? He gave them as the aphar to his [the conqueror’s] cherev, and as windblown kash (chaff, stubble) to his [the conqueror’s] keshet (bow).

³ He [the conqueror] pursued them, and passed on in shalom; even by the orach (path) that his feet do not even come.

⁴ Who hath wrought and done it, calling forth the dorot from the beginning? I Hashem, the Rishon (First), and with the Acharonim (Last ones); I am He.

⁵ The iyim (islands) saw it, and feared; the ketzot ha’aretz (ends of the earth) trembled; they approached and came near.

⁶ They helped everyone his re’a; and everyone said to his brother, chazak!

⁷ So the charash (craftsman) encouraged the tzoref (goldsmith), and he that smootheth with the patish (hammer) encouraged him that strikes the anvil, saying, of the soldering, tov hu; and he fastened it with nails, so that it should not topple.

⁸ But thou, Yisroel, art Avdi, Ya’akov whom I have chosen, the zera Avraham Ohavi (My friend).

⁹ Thou whom I have taken hold of from the ketzot ha’aretz, and called thee from the farthest borders thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art Avdi; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.

¹⁰ Fear thou not; for I am with thee; be not dismayed; for I am Eloheicha; I will strengthen thee; indeed, I will help thee; indeed, I will uphold thee with My yamin tzedek.

¹¹ Surely, all they that were raging against thee shall be ashamed and disgraced; they shall be as nothing; and the anshei rivecha (they that strive with thee) shall perish.

¹² Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even the anshei matzutecha (them that contended with thee): the anshei matzutecha (they that war against thee) shall be as nothing, and as a thing of naught.

¹³ For I Hashem Eloheicha will take hold of thy yamin (right hand), saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

¹⁴ Fear not, thou tola’at (worm) Ya’akov, and ye men of Yisroel; I will help thee, saith Hashem, and thy Go’el (Redeemer), the Kadosh Yisroel.

¹⁵ Hinei, I will make thee a new sharp threshing iron having pifiyyot (blades); thou shalt thresh the harim, and beat them small, and shalt make the geva’ot (hills) as motz (chaff).

¹⁶ Thou shalt winnow them, and the ru’ach shall carry them away, and the se’arah shall scatter them; and thou shalt rejoice in Hashem, and shalt glory in Kadosh Yisroel.

¹⁷ When the aniyim and evyonim seek mayim, and there is none, and their leshon faileth for tzama (thirst), I Hashem will hear them, I the Elohei Yisroel will not forsake them.

¹⁸ I will open neharot on the hilltops, and springs in the midst of the valleys; I will make the midbar a pool of mayim, and the dry land sources of mayim.

¹⁹ I will plant in the midbar the cedar, the acacia, and the myrtle, and the etz shemen; I will set in the Aravah the cypress, and the fir, and the box tree together;

²⁰ So that they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the Yad Hashem hath done this, and the Kadosh Yisroel hath created it.

²¹ Present your case, saith Hashem; bring forth your strong arguments for proof, saith Melech Ya’akov.

²² Let them bring them forth, and tell us what shall happen; let them tell the rishonot (former things), what they are, that we may consider them, and know the acharit (latter end, final outcome) of them; or declare us things to come.

²³ Tell the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are elohim; indeed, do tov, or do rah, that we may be afraid, and terrified.

²⁴ See, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought; a toevah (abomination) is he that chooseth you.

²⁵ I have awakened one [Koresh, Cyrus] from the tzafon (north), and he shall come; from the rising of the shemesh shall he call upon My Shem; and he shall come upon rulers as upon mortar, and as the yotzer (potter) treadeth clay.

²⁶ Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? And from beforehand, that we may say, He was in the right? Indeed, there is none that telleth, indeed, there is none that preacheth, indeed, there is none that heareth your words.

²⁷ The rishon shall say to Tziyon, Hinei, behold them; and I will give to Yerushalayim mevaser (one that bringeth good news).

²⁸ For I beheld, and there was no ish; even among them, and there was no Yo’etz (counselor), that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.

²⁹ See, they [the idols] are all aven (wickedness); their ma’asim are nothing; their molten images are ruach and tohu.