Isaiah 44:10
8 Do 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.”
9 All 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.
Who fashions a god or casts an idol which profits him nothing?
11 Behold, all his companions will be put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are only human. Let them all assemble and take their stand; they will all be brought to terror and shame.
12 The 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.
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- Who fashions a god or casts an idol which profits him nothing?
- KJV
- Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing?
- WEB
- Who has fashioned a god, or molds an image that is profitable for nothing?
- ASV
- Who hath fashioned a god, or molten an image that is profitable for nothing?
- DARBY
- Who hath formed a God, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing?
- BLB
- Who would fashion a god, or cast an idol, that gives no benefit?
- ÅB
- Hvem har dannet en gud og støpt et bilde - til ingen nytte?
- OTB
- Hvem former en gud eller støper et idol, som er til ingen nytte?
- B1930
- Hvem har dannet en gud og støpt et billede - til ingen nytte?
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Jeremiah 10:5
Like 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.”
Read in contextHabakkuk 2:18
What 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.
Read in contextActs 19:26
And you can see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in nearly the whole province of Asia, Paul has persuaded a great number of people to turn away. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all.
Read in contextDaniel 3:1
King 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.
Read in context1 Corinthians 8:4
So 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.
Read in contextIsaiah 41:29
See, they are all a delusion; their works amount to nothing; their images are as empty as the wind.
Read in context1 Kings 12:28
After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”
Read in contextDaniel 3:14
and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, is it true that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden statue I have set up?
Read in context