Isaiah 44:16

44:16 Half of it he burns in the fire –

over that half he cooks ¹  meat;

he roasts a meal and fills himself.

Yes, he warms himself and says,

‘Ah! I am warm as I look at the fire.’

Isaiah 57:5

57:5 you who practice ritual sex ²  under the oaks and every green tree,

who slaughter children near the streams under the rocky overhangs. ³ 

Isaiah 44:15

44:15 A man uses it to make a fire; ⁴ 

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. ⁵ 

Isaiah 47:14

47:14 Look, they are like straw,

which the fire burns up;

they cannot rescue themselves

from the heat ⁶  of the flames.

There are no coals to warm them,

no firelight to enjoy. ⁷ 

[44:16]  ¹ tn Heb “eats” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV “roasts.”

[57:5]  ² tn Heb “inflame yourselves”; NRSV “burn with lust.” This verse alludes to the practice of ritual sex that accompanied pagan fertility rites.

[57:5]  ³ sn This apparently alludes to the practice of child sacrifice (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT).

[44:15]  ³ tn Heb “and it becomes burning [i.e., firewood] for a man”; NAB “to serve man for fuel.”

[44:15]  ⁴ tn Or perhaps, “them.”

[47:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “hand,” here a metaphor for the strength or power of the flames.

[47:14]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “there is no coal [for?] their food, light to sit before it.” Some emend לַחְמָם (lakhmam, “their food”) to לְחֻמָּם (lÿkhummam, “to warm them”; see HALOT 328 s.v. חמם). This statement may allude to Isa 44:16, where idolaters are depicted warming themselves over a fire made from wood, part of which was used to form idols. The fire of divine judgment will be no such campfire; its flames will devour and destroy.