Isa 44:12-20 | NASB2020 | STEP | The craftsman of iron shapes a cutting tool and does his work over the coals , fashioning it with hammers and working it with his strong arm . He also gets hungry and his strength fails ; he drinks no water and becomes weary .

Isaiah 44:12-20

12 The ^acraftsman of iron shapes a cutting tool and does his work over the coals, ^{▼▼Lit and fashions}fashioning it with hammers and working it with his strong arm. He also gets hungry and ^{▼▼Lit there is no strength}his strength fails; he drinks no water and becomes weary. 13 ^dThe craftsman of wood extends a measuring line; he outlines it with a marker. He works it with carving knives and outlines it with a compass, and makes it like the form of a man, like the beauty of ^emankind, so that it may sit in a ^fhouse. 14 He will cut cedars for himself, and he takes a holm-oak or another oak and lets it grow strong for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a laurel tree, and the rain makes it grow. 15 Then it becomes something for a person to burn, so he takes one of them and gets warm; he also makes a fire and bakes bread. He also ^gmakes a god and worships it; he makes it a carved image and ^hbows down before it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he eats meat, he roasts a roast, and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire.” 17 Yet the rest of it he ⁱmakes into a god, his carved image. He bows down before it and worships; he also ^jprays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god.”

18 They do not ^kknow, nor do they understand, for He has ^lsmeared over their eyes so that they cannot see, and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend. 19 No one ^{▼▼Lit returns to his heart}remembers, nor is there ⁿknowledge or understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eat it. Then ^{▼▼Or shall I make?}I make the rest of it into an ^pabomination, ^{▼▼Or shall I bow...?}I bow down before a block of wood!” 20 He ^{▼▼Or is a companion of ashes
,} ^sfeeds on ashes; a ^tdeceived heart has misled him. And he cannot save ^{▼▼Lit his soul}himself, nor say, “ ^vIs there not a lie in my right hand?”