Add parallel Print Page Options

IV

15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold,(A)
    the work of human hands.
16 They have mouths but do not speak;
    they have eyes but do not see;
17 They have ears but do not hear;
    nor is there breath in their mouths.
18 Their makers will become like them,
    and anyone who trusts in them.

V

19 House of Israel, bless the Lord!(B)
    House of Aaron, bless the Lord!

Read full chapter

15 For they esteemed all the idols of the nations as gods,
    which cannot use their eyes to see,
    nor nostrils to breathe the air,
Nor ears to hear,
    nor fingers on their hands for feeling;
    even their feet are useless to walk with.(A)
16 For it was a mere human being who made them;(B)
    one living on borrowed breath who fashioned them.
For no one is able to fashion a god like himself;

Read full chapter

[a]Those who fashion idols are all nothing;
    their precious works are of no avail.
They are their witnesses:[b]
    they see nothing, know nothing,
    and so they are put to shame.(A)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 44:9–20 A satire on the makers and worshipers of idols.
  2. 44:9 Their witnesses: Israel has been called to bear witness to the awesome power of God (cf. 43:10, 12; 44:8), but idol makers cannot testify in support of their creations, for idols cannot act (Dt 4:28; Ps 135:15–18).

Chapter 10

The Folly of Idolatry. Hear the word the Lord speaks to you, house of Israel. Thus says the Lord:

Do not learn the ways of the nations,
    and have no fear of the signs in the heavens,[a]
    even though the nations fear them.(A)
For the carvings of the nations are nonentities,
    wood cut from the forest,
Fashioned by artisans with the adze,(B)
    adorned with silver and gold.
With nails and hammers they are fastened,
    so they do not fall.(C)
Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they,
    they cannot speak;
They must be carried about,
    for they cannot walk.
Do not fear them, they can do no harm,
    neither can they do good.(D)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 10:2 Signs in the heavens: phenomena in the sky, such as eclipses or comets, used to predict disasters.