Isaias

Hebrew Bible

Hebrew Bible, Isaias, Ottley, Cambridge, 1904

9 They that form a graven image are all of them waste; and their desirable things shall not profit; and their witnesses, they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.

10 Who hath formed a god, and molten a graven, image, to no profit?

11 Behold, all his company shall be ashamed; and the craftsmen, they are of men; they shall all be gathered together, they shall stand up; they shall fear, they shall be ashamed together.

[*](5. ‘call on . . . ,’ or, ‘proclaim, In the name of Jacob.’ ‘write with . . . ’: or, ‘inscribe on his hand, To the Lord.’ ‘entitle’: or, ‘call in honour.)[*](7. Some render, ‘let him tell it, and . . . ‘to them’; or, ‘on their part’ (ethic dat.).)

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12 The craftsman in iron (hath) an adze, and worketh in the coals, and formeth it with hammers, with the arm of his strehgth moreover he is hungry, and there is no strength: he drinketh no water, and is faint.

13 The craftsman in wood stretcheth out a line, he marketh it with a pencil; he shapeth it with planes, and marketh it out with the compass; and maketh it like the ﬁgure of a man, like the beauty of mankind: to dwell in a house.

14 He will hew him down cedars, and taketh ilex and oak, and strengtheneth for himself (one) among the trees of the forest: he planteth a pine, and the rain maketh it great.

15 And it shall be for man for burning: and he taketh of them, and warmeth himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he fashioneth a god, and boweth himself; he maketh it a grav image, and falleth down thereto.

16 He burneth half thereof in the ﬁre: with half thereof he eateth ﬂesh: he roasteth roast, and is satisfied; yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen ﬁre:

17 And the remainder thereof he maketh to be a god, to be his (graven) image 3 he falleth down unto it, and boweth himself, and prayeth unto it, saith, Deliver me 3 for thou (art) my god.

18 They know not, and they discern not; for one hath daubed their eyes, that they see not, and their hearts, that they consider not.

19 And he recalleth it not to his heart, and there is no knowledge, and no discernment to say, I have burned half of it in the ﬁre, and also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof: I have roasted ﬂesh and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I bow myself to the produce of a tree?

[*](12. ‘(hath).’: or, ‘maketh.’ Some render the clause, ‘one worketh in iron with an ’: and so ver. 13, ‘one worketh (or, he carveth) in wood.’)[*](13. ‘pencil’: word not found elsewhere, and of uncertain meaning. ‘Shapeth it with planes,’ or, ‘maketh it with chisels.)[*](14. ‘He will hew¹: Heb. verb. is infin. ‘a pine’: or,)[*](18. ‘consider not’: perhaps, ‘act not wisely.)[*](19. ‘residue’: or, ‘superﬂuity.’)

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20 He is a feeder on ashes; a deluded heart hath turned him aside, and he delivereth not his soul, nor saith, Is there not a lie in my right hand?

21 Remember these things, O Jacob; and Israel, for thou art my servant; I have formed thee, thou art my servant: Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me.

22 I have blotted out, as a mist, thy rebellions, and as a cloud thy sins; return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.

23 Sing, O ye heavens, for the Lord hath done it; shout, ye lowest parts of the earth; break forth, ye mountains, into singing; the forest, and every tree therein; for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and will beautify himself in Israel.

24 Thus saith the Lord, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord, that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth forth the earth: who was with me?

25 That shattereth the signs of the praters, and diviners he will madden; that tumeth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish:

26 That setteth up the word of his servant, and fulfilleth the counsel of his messengers: that saith to Jerusalem, She shall be inhabited, and to the cities of Judah, They shall be built, and I will set up the wastes thereof:

27 That saith to the deep, Be wasted, I will dry up thy rivers:

28 That saith to Cyrus, My shepherd, and all my pleasure shall he fulfil; 3 and saying to Jerusalem, She shall be built, and a temple shall be founded.