Isaiah 44:14–20

¹⁴He cuts down a cedar tree.

Or perhaps he takes a cypress or an oak tree.

It might be a tree that grew in the forest.

Or it might be a pine tree he planted.

And the rain made it grow.

¹⁵Man gets wood from trees for fuel.

He uses some of it to warm himself.

He starts a fire and bakes bread.

But he also uses some of it to make a god and worship it.

He makes a statue of a god and bows down to it.

¹⁶He burns half of the wood in the fire.

He prepares a meal over it.

He cooks meat over it.

He eats until he is full.

He also warms himself. He says,

“Good! I’m getting warm.

The fire is nice and hot.”

¹⁷From the rest of the wood he makes a statue.

It becomes his god.

He bows down and worships it.

He prays to it. He says,

“Save me. You are my god.”

¹⁸People like that don’t even know what they are doing.

Their eyes are shut so that they can’t see the truth.

Their minds are closed so that they can’t understand it.

¹⁹No one even stops to think about this.

No one has any sense or understanding.

If anyone did, he would say,

“I used half of the wood for fuel.

I even baked bread over the fire.

I cooked meat. Then I ate it.

Should I now make a statue of a god

out of the wood that’s left over?

Should I bow down to a block of wood?

The Lord would hate that.”

²⁰That’s as foolish as eating ashes!

The mind of someone like that

has led him down the wrong path.

He can’t save himself.

He can’t bring himself to say,

“This thing I’m holding in my right hand

isn’t really a god at all.”