Isaiah 44:12-14

New International Reader's Version

¹² A blacksmith gets his tool.
    He uses it to shape metal over the burning coals.
He uses his hammers to make a statue of a god.
    He forms it with his powerful arm.
He gets hungry and loses his strength.
    He doesn’t drink any water.
    He gets weaker and weaker.
¹³ A carpenter measures a piece of wood with a line.
    He draws a pattern on it with a marker.
He cuts out a statue with sharp tools.
    He marks it with compasses.
He shapes it into the form of a beautiful human being.
    He does this so he can put it in a temple.
¹⁴ He 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.