Isaiah 44:12

The blacksmith makes an iron tool for woodcarving. Working over hot coals, he hammers it into shape as hard as he can. He gets hungry and loses his strength, and because he doesn't drink he grows weak.

Free Bible Version

In The King James Version

The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint.

In Context

11Everyone who makes idols should be ashamed of themselves. Idol-makers are just human beings! Bring them all together and have them stand up, trembling in shame.

13The woodworker measures out a piece of wood, and draws an image on it. He carves it with a chisel and uses a compass to make an outline. He creates an idol that looks like a person, someone beautiful, to be put in a shrine.

Read all of Isaiah 44

Cross References

Exodus 32:4He took what they gave him and using a molding tool cast an idol in the shape of a bull calf. They shouted out, “Israel, these are the gods that brought you out of the land of Egypt.”

Isaiah 40:19Is he a metal idol that a craftsman casts in a mold, and then a goldsmith overlays it with gold and makes silver chains for it?

Isaiah 46:6There are those who extravagantly tip out gold from their bags, and weigh out silver on the scales, and hire a goldsmith to make them a god they can bow down to and worship.

Habakkuk 2:13Hasn't the Lord Almighty decided that all the hard work of such nations is going to be burned up—that they wear themselves out for nothing?

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 44:10-21

The Folly of Idolatry. ( b. c. 708.) 9 They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed. 10 Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing? 11 Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together. 12 The smith with the… Read the whole commentary →

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