Isaiah 44:14–20

¹⁴In order to cut cedars for himself, he takes a ¹cypress or an oak and ²raises it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir, and the rain makes it grow.

¹⁵Then it becomes something for a man to burn, so he takes one of them and warms himself; he also kindles a fire to bake bread. He also ^aworks to produce a god and worships it; he makes it a graven image and ^bfalls down before it.

¹⁶Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he eats meat as he roasts a roast and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Aha! I am warm; I have seen the fire.”

¹⁷But the rest of it he ^amakes into a god, his graven image. He falls down before it and worships; he also ^bprays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god.”

¹⁸They do not ^aknow, nor do they understand, for He has ^bsmeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they will have no insight.

¹⁹No one causes this to return to his heart, nor is there ^aknowledge 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 ¹I make the rest of it into an ^babomination; ²I fall down before a block of wood!”

²⁰He ^1afeeds on ashes; a ^bdeceived heart has turned him aside. And he cannot deliver his soul, and he cannot say, “^cIs there not a lie in my right hand?”