rsv Isaiah:44:10-20 SEEK
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Who fashions a god or casts an image ,
that is profitable for nothing ?
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Behold ,
all his fellows shall be put to shame ,
and the craftsmen are but men ;
let them all assemble ,
let them stand forth ,
they shall be terrified ,
they shall be put to shame together .
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The ironsmith fashions it and works it over the coals ;
he shapes it with hammers ,
and forges it with his strong arm ;
he becomes hungry and his strength fails ,
he drinks no water and is faint .
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The carpenter stretches a line ,
he marks it out with a pencil ;
he fashions it with planes ,
and marks it with a compass ;
he shapes it into the figure of a man ,
with the beauty of a man ,
to dwell in a house .
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He cuts down cedars ;
or he chooses a holm tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest ;
he plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it .
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Then it becomes fuel for a man ;
he takes a part of it and warms himself ,
he kindles a fire and bakes bread ;
also he makes a god and worships it ,
he makes it a graven image and falls down before it .
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Half of it he burns in the fire ;
over the half he eats flesh ,
he roasts meat and is satisfied ;
also he warms himself and says , "
Aha ,
I am warm ,
I have seen the fire !"
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And the rest of it he makes into a god ,
his idol ;
and falls down to it and worships it ;
he prays to it and says , "
Deliver me ,
for thou art my god !"
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They know not ,
nor do they discern ;
for he has shut their eyes ,
so that they cannot see ,
and their minds ,
so that they cannot understand .
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No one considers ,
nor is there knowledge or discernment to say , "
Half of it I burned in the fire ,
I also baked bread on its coals ,
I roasted flesh and have eaten ;
and shall I make the residue of it an abomination ?
Shall I fall down before a block of wood ?"
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He feeds on ashes ;
a deluded mind has led him astray ,
and he cannot deliver himself or say , "
Is there not a lie in my right hand ?"