2:8 Their land is full of worthless idols;
they worship
what their own fingers have fashioned.
2:9 Men bow down to them in homage,
they lie flat on the ground in worship.
Don’t spare them!
44:9 All who form idols are nothing;
the things in which they delight are worthless.
Their witnesses cannot see;
they recognize nothing, so they are put to shame.
44:10 Who forms a god and casts an idol
that will prove worthless?
44:11 Look, all his associates
the craftsmen are mere humans.
Let them all assemble and take their stand!
They will panic and be put to shame.
44:12 A blacksmith works with his tool
and forges metal over the coals.
He forms it
he makes it with his strong arm.
He gets hungry and loses his energy;
he drinks no water and gets tired.
44:13 A carpenter takes measurements;
he marks out an outline of its form;
he scrapes
and marks it with a compass.
He patterns it after the human form,
like a well-built human being,
and puts it in a shrine.
44:14 He cuts down cedars
and acquires a cypress
He gets
he plants a cedar
44:15 A man uses it to make a fire;
he takes some of it and warms himself.
Yes, he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
Then he makes a god and worships it;
he makes an idol and bows down to it.
44:16 Half of it he burns in the fire –
over that half he cooks
he roasts a meal and fills himself.
Yes, he warms himself and says,
‘Ah! I am warm as I look at the fire.’
44:17 With the rest of it he makes a god, his idol;
he bows down to it and worships it.
He prays to it, saying,
‘Rescue me, for you are my god!’
44:18 They do not comprehend or understand,
for their eyes are blind and cannot see;
their minds do not discern.
44:19 No one thinks to himself,
nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves:
‘I burned half of it in the fire –
yes, I baked bread over the coals;
I roasted meat and ate it.
With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol?
Should I bow down to dry wood?’
44:20 He feeds on ashes;
his deceived mind misleads him.
He cannot rescue himself,
nor does he say, ‘Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?’
9:1 O Israel, do not rejoice jubilantly
for you are unfaithful
You love to receive a prostitute's wages
on all the floors where you thresh your grain.
9:10 When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the wilderness.
I viewed your ancestors
Then they came to Baal-Peor and they dedicated themselves to shame –
they became as detestable as what they loved.
2:18 What good
What good is a metal image that gives misleading oracles?
Why would its creator place his trust in it
and make
2:19 The one who says to wood, ‘Wake up!’ is as good as dead
he who says
Can it give reliable guidance?
It is overlaid with gold and silver;
it has no life’s breath inside it.
2:20 But the Lord is in his majestic palace.
The whole earth is speechless in his presence!”