Isaiah 44:9–20

⁹How foolish are those who manufacture idols.

These prized objects are really worthless.

The people who worship idols don’t know this,

so they are all put to shame.

¹⁰Who but a fool would make his own god—

an idol that cannot help him one bit?

¹¹All who worship idols will be disgraced

along with all these craftsmen—mere humans—

who claim they can make a god.

They may all stand together,

but they will stand in terror and shame.

¹²The blacksmith stands at his forge to make a sharp tool,

pounding and shaping it with all his might.

His work makes him hungry and weak.

It makes him thirsty and faint.

¹³Then the wood-carver measures a block of wood

and draws a pattern on it.

He works with chisel and plane

and carves it into a human figure.

He gives it human beauty

and puts it in a little shrine.

¹⁴He cuts down cedars;

he selects the cypress and the oak;

he plants the pine in the forest

to be nourished by the rain.

¹⁵Then he uses part of the wood to make a fire.

With it he warms himself and bakes his bread.

Then—yes, it’s true—he takes the rest of it

and makes himself a god to worship!

He makes an idol

and bows down in front of it!

¹⁶He burns part of the tree to roast his meat

and to keep himself warm.

He says, “Ah, that fire feels good.”

¹⁷Then he takes what’s left

and makes his god: a carved idol!

He falls down in front of it,

worshiping and praying to it.

“Rescue me!” he says.

“You are my god!”

¹⁸Such stupidity and ignorance!

Their eyes are closed, and they cannot see.

Their minds are shut, and they cannot think.

¹⁹The person who made the idol never stops to reflect,

“Why, it’s just a block of wood!

I burned half of it for heat

and used it to bake my bread and roast my meat.

How can the rest of it be a god?

Should I bow down to worship a piece of wood?”

²⁰The poor, deluded fool feeds on ashes.

He trusts something that can’t help him at all.

Yet he cannot bring himself to ask,

“Is this idol that I’m holding in my hand a lie?”