Isaiah 44:9-20

⁹Those who fashion an engraved image are all of them vanity; and the things that they delight in shall not profit; and their own witnesses don`t see, nor know: that they may be put to shame. ¹⁰Who has fashioned a god, or molten an image that is profitable for nothing? ¹¹Behold, all his fellows shall be put to shame; and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; they shall fear, they shall be put to shame together.

¹²The smith [makes] an ax, and works in the coals, and fashions it with hammers, and works it with his strong arm: yes, he is hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water, and is faint. ¹³The carpenter stretches out a line; he marks it out with a pencil; he shapes it with planes, and he marks it out with the compasses, and shapes it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. ¹⁴He cuts down cedars for himself, and takes the cypress and the oak, and strengthens for himself one among the trees of the forest: he plants a fir-tree, and the rain nourishes it. ¹⁵Then shall it be for a man to burn; and he takes of it, and warms himself; yes, he kindles it, and bakes bread: yes, he makes a god, and worships it; he makes it an engraved image, and falls down to it. ¹⁶He burns part of it in the fire; with part of it he eats flesh; he roasts roast, and is satisfied; yes, he warms himself, and says, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire. ¹⁷The residue of it he makes a god, even his engraved image; he falls down to it and worships, and prays to it, and says, Deliver me; for you are my god.

¹⁸They don`t know, neither do they consider: for he has shut their eyes, that they can`t see; and their hearts, that they can`t understand. <sup>19</sup>None calls to mind, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yes, also I have baked bread on the coals of it; I have roasted flesh and eaten it: and shall I make the residue of it an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree? <sup>20</sup>He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside; and he can`t deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?