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1The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works 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 shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass.
2He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house.
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3He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress 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 an idol and falls down before it.
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Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it 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.
4He prays to it and says, "Deliver me, for you are 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 hearts, 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 meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an
5abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?"
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6He feeds on
7ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, "Is there not
8a lie in my right hand?"
The Lord Redeems Israel
21 Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are
9my servant; I formed you; you are my servant;
10O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.
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11I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you.
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12Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done it; shout, O
13depths of the earth; break forth into singing, O mountains, O forest, and every tree in it! For the LORD has redeemed Jacob,
14and will be glorified in Israel.
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Thus says the LORD,
15your Redeemer,
16who formed you from the womb:
17"I am the LORD, who made all things,
18who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself,
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who frustrates the signs of liars and makes fools of diviners,
19who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish,
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20who confirms the word of his servant and fulfills the counsel of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, 'She shall be inhabited,'
21and of the cities of Judah, 'They shall be built, and I will raise up their ruins';
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22who says to the deep, 'Be dry; I will dry up your rivers';
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who says of
23Cyrus, 'He is
24my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose'; saying of Jerusalem, 'She shall be built,'
25and of the temple, 'Your foundation shall be laid.'"