Isaiah 41

¹⁸“Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.

²⁰But the Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth be silent before Him.

¹³Be silent before the Lord, all people, for He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling.”

¹⁰“Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted over the earth.”

⁶Each one helps the other and says to his brother, “Be strong!”

⁷The craftsman encourages the goldsmith, and he who wields the hammer cheers him who strikes the anvil, saying of the welding, “It is good.” He nails it down so it will not be toppled.

¹¹On that day the Lord will extend His hand a second time to recover the remnant of His people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

¹This is what the Lord says to Cyrus His anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, to disarm kings, to open the doors before him, so that the gates will not be shut:

⁴³I ground them as the dust of the earth; I crushed and trampled them like mud in the streets.

²“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, who has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, has appointed me to build a house for Him at Jerusalem in Judah.

¹¹I summon a bird of prey from the east, a man for My purpose from a far-off land. Truly I have spoken, and truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, and I will surely do it.

²⁴No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner have their stems taken root in the ground, than He blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like stubble.

²⁵I have raised up one from the north, and he has come—one from the east who calls on My name. He will march over rulers as if they were mortar, like a potter who treads the clay.

²Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest, lying down in death.

²⁴You will know that your tent is secure, and find nothing amiss when inspecting your home.

¹²Listen to Me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I have called: I am He; I am the first, and I am the last.

¹³I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”

¹⁷When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. But He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last,

¹⁰I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’

⁶Thus says the Lord, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the Lord of Hosts: “I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God but Me.

⁷Who then is like Me? Let him say so! Let him declare his case before Me, since I established an ancient people. Let him foretell the things to come, and what is to take place.

⁸“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and was and is to come—the Almighty.

¹⁵This is what the Lord God says to Tyre: ‘Will not the coastlands quake at the sound of your downfall, when the wounded groan at the slaughter in your midst?

¹⁶All the princes of the sea will descend from their thrones, remove their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments. Clothed with terror, they will sit on the ground, trembling every moment, appalled over you.

⁷God blesses us, that all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.

¹Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the Israelites until they had crossed over, their hearts melted and their spirits failed for fear of the Israelites.

⁸Those who live far away fear Your wonders; You make the dawn and sunset shout for joy.

³Say to God, “How awesome are Your deeds! So great is Your power that Your enemies cower before You.

¹⁴The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the dwellers of Philistia.

⁷the Philistines were afraid. “The gods have entered their camp!” they said. “Woe to us, for nothing like this has happened before.

⁸Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness.

⁴Say to those with anxious hearts: “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance. With divine retribution He will come to save you.”

¹⁹To an idol that a craftsman casts and a metalworker overlays with gold and fits with silver chains?

¹²The blacksmith takes a tool and labors over the coals; he fashions an idol with hammers and forges it with his strong arms. Yet he grows hungry and loses his strength; he fails to drink water and grows faint.

¹King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, and he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

²Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to assemble the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the other officials of the provinces to attend the dedication of the statue he had set up.

²⁴It began with a silversmith named Demetrius who made silver shrines of Artemis, bringing much business to the craftsmen.

²⁵Demetrius assembled the craftsmen, along with the workmen in related trades. “Men,” he said, “you know that this business is our source of prosperity.

¹⁹To an idol that a craftsman casts and a metalworker overlays with gold and fits with silver chains?

²⁰One lacking such an offering chooses wood that will not rot. He seeks a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not topple.

¹King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, and he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

²Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to assemble the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the other officials of the provinces to attend the dedication of the statue he had set up.

¹²The blacksmith takes a tool and labors over the coals; he fashions an idol with hammers and forges it with his strong arms. Yet he grows hungry and loses his strength; he fails to drink water and grows faint.

¹³The woodworker extends a measuring line; he marks it out with a stylus; he shapes it with chisels and outlines it with a compass. He fashions it in the likeness of man, like man in all his glory, that it may dwell in a shrine.

²⁴He replied, “You took the gods I had made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you say to me, ‘What is the matter with you?’”

³For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut down a tree from the forest; it is shaped with a chisel by the hands of a craftsman.

⁴They adorn it with silver and gold and fasten it with hammer and nails, so that it will not totter.

¹⁷And the five men who had gone to spy out the land went inside and took the graven image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molten idol, while the priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred armed men.

¹⁸When they entered Micah’s house and took the graven image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molten idol, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

²³And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God.

⁵Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.

⁶And unto Me you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to speak to the Israelites.”

²for you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.

⁷Our God, did You not drive out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham Your friend?

¹⁴You are My friends if you do what I command you.

¹⁵No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything I have learned from My Father I have made known to you.

²Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave you birth. When I called him, he was but one; then I blessed him and multiplied him.

²²Indeed, for the sake of His great name, the Lord will not abandon His people, because He was pleased to make you His own.

¹⁴For the Lord will not forsake His people; He will never abandon His heritage.

⁶For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of the earth.

⁷The Lord did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than the other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.

⁵Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?

²And Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your fathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates and worshiped other gods.

³But I took your father Abraham from beyond the Euphrates and led him through all the land of Canaan, and I multiplied his descendants. I gave him Isaac,

¹I ask then, did God reject His people? Certainly not! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.

²God did not reject His people, whom He foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says about Elijah, how he appealed to God against Israel:

⁹Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

¹But now, this is what the Lord says—He who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine!

²When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you go through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched; the flames will not set you ablaze.

³¹What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

⁶Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or terrified of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”

⁷Then Moses called for Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance.

¹³I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

²⁹He gives power to the faint and increases the strength of the weak.

³⁰Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall.

²²But if you will listen carefully to his voice and do everything I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.

²⁴Surely they will say of Me, ‘In the Lord alone are righteousness and strength.’” All who rage against Him will come to Him and be put to shame.

⁹As for those who belong to the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews but are liars instead, I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I love you.

¹⁷No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord.

³⁹They came to appease them and led them out, requesting that they leave the city.

⁸But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.

⁹Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked directly at Elymas

³⁵I have seen a wicked, ruthless man flourishing like a well-rooted native tree,

³⁶yet he passed away and was no more; though I searched, he could not be found.

⁷he will perish forever, like his own dung; those who had seen him will ask, ‘Where is he?’

⁸He will fly away like a dream, never to be found; he will be chased away like a vision in the night.

¹⁴In the evening, there is sudden terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who loot us and the lot of those who plunder us.

¹⁰Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

²³Yet I am always with You; You hold my right hand.

⁸My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.

³¹For He stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save him from the condemners of his soul.

⁶“I, the Lord, have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations,

¹⁷But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message would be fully proclaimed, and all the Gentiles would hear it. So I was delivered from the mouth of the lion.

⁵For your husband is your Maker—the Lord of Hosts is His name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth.

¹⁴Thus says the Lord your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake, I will send to Babylon and bring them all as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.

⁶But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.

³⁴Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of Hosts is His name. He will fervently plead their case so that He may bring rest to the earth, but turmoil to those who live in Babylon.

⁶how much less man, who is but a maggot, and the son of man, who is but a worm!”

¹⁴May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

¹³Rise and thresh, O Daughter of Zion, for I will give you horns of iron and hooves of bronze to break to pieces many peoples. Then you will devote their gain to the Lord, their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.

⁴The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the flesh. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

⁵We demolish arguments and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

⁷What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain. Then he will bring forth the capstone accompanied by shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”

¹²You marched across the earth with fury; You threshed the nations in wrath.

¹⁰O my people, crushed on the threshing floor, I tell you what I have heard from the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel.

²⁷Surely caraway is not threshed with a sledge, and the wheel of a cart is not rolled over the cumin. But caraway is beaten out with a stick, and cumin with a rod.

²I will send strangers to Babylon to winnow her and empty her land; for they will come against her from every side in her day of disaster.

¹⁰I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom wears a priestly headdress, as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

¹¹For as the earth brings forth its growth, and as a garden enables seed to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

²⁴Surely they will say of Me, ‘In the Lord alone are righteousness and strength.’” All who rage against Him will come to Him and be put to shame.

²⁵In the Lord all descendants of Israel will be justified and will exult.

¹⁸yet I will exult in the Lord; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!

²³This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches.

²⁴But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, who exercises loving devotion, justice and righteousness on the earth—for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.

⁷I will scatter them with a winnowing fork at the gates of the land. I will bereave and destroy My people who have not turned from their ways.

¹“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!

³For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.

¹⁹O people in Zion who dwell in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will surely be gracious when you cry for help; when He hears, He will answer you.

⁶Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

¹²For he will deliver the needy who cry out and the afflicted who have no helper.

¹³He will take pity on the poor and needy and save the lives of the oppressed.

¹The Spirit of the Lord God is on Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners,

⁶Then the lame will leap like a deer and the mute tongue will shout for joy. For waters will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.

⁷The parched ground will become a pool, the thirsty land springs of water. In the haunt where jackals once lay, there will be grass and reeds and papyrus.

³⁵He turns a desert into pools of water and a dry land into flowing springs.

¹¹The Lord will always guide you; He will satisfy you in a sun-scorched land and strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

²⁵And from every high mountain and every raised hill, streams of water will flow in the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall.

¹⁷For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. ‘He will lead them to springs of living water,’ and ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”

¹Then the man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar.

²Next he brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and there I saw the water trickling out from the south side.

¹³Instead of the thornbush, the cypress will grow, and instead of the brier, the myrtle will spring up; this will make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign, never to be destroyed.”

³¹And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root below and bear fruit above.

³²For a remnant will go forth from Jerusalem, and survivors from Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.

¹The wilderness and the dry land will be glad; the desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose.

¹³The glory of Lebanon will come to you—its cypress, elm, and boxwood together—to adorn the place of My sanctuary, and I will glorify the place of My feet.

²¹Then all your people will be righteous; they will possess the land forever; they are the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, so that I may be glorified.

¹¹For as the earth brings forth its growth, and as a garden enables seed to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

⁹Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?

²⁷Let them know that this is Your hand, that You, O Lord, have done it.

²¹The people I formed for Myself will declare My praise.

²³Sing for joy, O heavens, for the Lord has done this; shout aloud, O depths of the earth. Break forth in song, O mountains, you forests and all your trees. For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and revealed His glory in Israel.

¹⁶But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power to you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.

⁷everyone called by My name and created for My glory, whom I have indeed formed and made.”

⁸Bring out a people who have eyes but are blind, and who have ears but are deaf.

³If only I knew where to find Him, so that I could go to His seat.

⁴I would plead my case before Him and fill my mouth with arguments.

³Now brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall inform Me.

¹Hear now what the Lord says: “Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.

²Hear, O mountains, the Lord’s indictment, you enduring foundations of the earth. For the Lord has a case against His people, and He will argue it against Israel:

²¹Speak up and present your case—yes, let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago? Who announced it from ancient times? Was it not I, the Lord? There is no other God but Me, a righteous God and Savior; there is none but Me.

¹⁰I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’

⁷Who then is like Me? Let him say so! Let him declare his case before Me, since I established an ancient people. Let him foretell the things to come, and what is to take place.

¹⁴Come together, all of you, and listen: Which of the idols has foretold these things? The Lord’s chosen ally will carry out His desire against Babylon, and His arm will be against the Chaldeans.

⁹Behold, the former things have happened, and now I declare new things. Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.”

¹⁴He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you.

¹⁹I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it comes to pass, you will believe that I am He.

⁹Behold, the former things have happened, and now I declare new things. Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.”

⁵Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them, for they can do no harm, and neither can they do any good.”

⁷Who then is like Me? Let him say so! Let him declare his case before Me, since I established an ancient people. Let him foretell the things to come, and what is to take place.

⁸Do not tremble or fear. Have I not told you and declared it long ago? You are My witnesses! Is there any God but Me? There is no other Rock; I know not one.”

⁹Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me.

¹⁰I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’

⁷I form the light and create the darkness; I bring prosperity and create calamity. I, the Lord, do all these things.

⁸Drip down, O heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open up that salvation may sprout and righteousness spring up with it; I, the Lord, have created it.

⁴So about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one.

⁸Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.

²⁹See, they are all a delusion; their works amount to nothing; their images are as empty as the wind.

¹⁴Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.

⁸But they are altogether senseless and foolish, instructed by worthless idols made of wood!

²⁶And you must not bring any detestable thing into your house, or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. You are to utterly detest and abhor it, because it is set apart for destruction.

²Who has aroused one from the east and called him to his feet in righteousness? He hands nations over to him and subdues kings before him. He turns them to dust with his sword, to windblown chaff with his bow.

⁴³I ground them as the dust of the earth; I crushed and trampled them like mud in the streets.

⁶I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets.

¹⁰I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’

¹¹I summon a bird of prey from the east, a man for My purpose from a far-off land. Truly I have spoken, and truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, and I will surely do it.

⁵They will be like mighty men in battle, trampling the enemy in the mire of the streets. They will fight because the Lord is with them, and they will put the horsemen to shame.

¹⁰Then my enemy will see and will be covered with shame—she who said to me, “Where is the Lord your God?” My eyes will see her; at that time she will be trampled like mud in the streets.

⁷Who then is like Me? Let him say so! Let him declare his case before Me, since I established an ancient people. Let him foretell the things to come, and what is to take place.

²²“Let them come and tell us what will happen. Tell the former things, so that we may reflect on them and know the outcome. Or announce to us what is coming.

²¹Speak up and present your case—yes, let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago? Who announced it from ancient times? Was it not I, the Lord? There is no other God but Me, a righteous God and Savior; there is none but Me.

¹⁸What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it—or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.

¹⁹Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ or to silent stone, ‘Arise!’ Can it give guidance? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all.”

⁹All the nations gather together and the peoples assemble. Who among them can declare this, and proclaim to us the former things? Let them present their witnesses to vindicate them, so that others may hear and say, “It is true.”

⁹Go up on a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news. Raise your voice loudly, O Jerusalem, herald of good news. Lift it up, do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”

⁷How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

²⁸who says of Cyrus, ‘My shepherd will fulfill all that I desire,’ who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be rebuilt,’ and of the temple, ‘Let its foundation be laid.’”

¹⁵Look to the mountains—the feet of one who brings good news, who proclaims peace! Celebrate your feasts, O Judah; fulfill your vows. For the wicked will never again march through you; they will be utterly cut off.

³I foretold the former things long ago; they came out of My mouth and I proclaimed them. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.

¹⁰“You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may consider and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me no god was formed, and after Me none will come.

⁵I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled that no one assisted. So My arm brought Me salvation, and My own wrath upheld Me.

²Why was no one there when I arrived? Why did no one answer when I called? Is My hand too short to redeem you? Or do I lack the strength to deliver you? Behold, My rebuke dries up the sea; I turn the rivers into a desert; the fish rot for lack of water and die of thirst.

¹⁰The astrologers answered the king, “No one on earth can do what the king requests! No king, however great and powerful, has ever asked anything like this of any magician, enchanter, or astrologer.

¹¹What the king requests is so difficult that no one can tell it to him except the gods, whose dwelling is not with mortals.”

¹³Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or informed Him as His counselor?

¹⁴Whom did He consult to enlighten Him, and who taught Him the paths of justice? Who imparted knowledge to Him and showed Him the way of understanding?

⁸So all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the inscription or interpret it for him.

¹⁶He saw that there was no man; He was amazed that there was no one to intercede. So His own arm brought salvation, and His own righteousness sustained Him.

¹³The prophets are but wind, for the word is not in them. So let their own predictions befall them.”

²⁴Behold, you are nothing and your work is of no value. Anyone who chooses you is detestable.

⁹All makers of idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Their witnesses fail to see or comprehend, so they are put to shame.

¹⁰Who fashions a god or casts an idol which profits him nothing?

⁴Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.

⁵They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see;

¹⁸What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it—or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.

¹⁵The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.

¹⁶They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see;