9. Those who fashion idols are all nothing;their precious works are of no avail.They are their witnesses:they see nothing, know nothing,and so they are put to shame.
10. Who would fashion a god or cast an idol,that is of no use?
11. Look, all its company will be shamed;they are artisans, mere human beings!They all assemble and stand there,only to cower in shame.
12. The ironsmith fashions a likeness,he works it over the coals,Shaping it with hammers,working it with his strong arm.With hunger his strength wanes,without water, he grows faint.
13. The woodworker stretches a line,and marks out a shape with a stylus.He shapes it with scraping tools,with a compass measures it off,Making it the copy of a man,human display, enthroned in a shrine.
14. He goes out to cut down cedars,takes a holm tree or an oak.He picks out for himself trees of the forest,plants a fir, and the rain makes it grow.
15. It is used for fuel:with some of the wood he warms himself,makes a fire and bakes bread.Yet he makes a god and worships it,turns it into an idol and adores it!
16. Half of it he burns in the fire,on its embers he roasts meat;he eats the roast and is full.He warms himself and says, “Ah!I am warm! I see the flames!”
17. The rest of it he makes into a god,an image to worship and adore.He prays to it and says,“Help me! You are my god!”
18. They do not know, do not understand;their eyes are too clouded to see,their minds, to perceive.
19. He does not think clearly;he lacks the wit and knowledge to say,“Half the wood I burned in the fire,on its embers I baked bread,I roasted meat and ate.Shall I turn the rest into an abomination?Shall I worship a block of wood?”
20. He is chasing ashes!A deluded mind has led him astray;He cannot save himself,does not say, “This thing in my right hand—is it not a fraud?”
21. Remember these things, Jacob,Israel, for you are my servant!I formed you, a servant to me;Israel, you shall never be forgotten by me: