44:9 製造雕刻偶像的盡都虛空；他們所喜悅的都無益處；他們的見證無所看見，無所知曉，他們便覺羞愧。
44:10 誰製造神像，鑄造無益的偶像？
44:11 看哪，他的同伴都必羞愧。工匠也不過是人，任他們聚會，任他們站立，都必懼怕，一同羞愧。
44:12 鐵匠把鐵在火炭中燒熱，用鎚打鐵器，用他有力的膀臂錘成；他飢餓而無力，不喝水而發倦。
44:13 木匠拉線，用筆劃出樣子，用鉋子鉋成形狀，用圓尺劃了模樣，仿照人的體態，做成人形，好住在房屋中。
44:14 他砍伐香柏樹，又取柞（或譯：青桐）樹和橡樹，在樹林中選定了一棵。他栽種松樹，得雨長養。
44:15 這樹，人可用以燒火；他自己取些烤火，又燒著烤餅，而且做神像跪拜，做雕刻的偶像向它叩拜。
44:16 他把一分燒在火中，把一分烤肉吃飽。自己烤火說：「啊哈，我暖和了，我見火了。」
44:17 他用剩下的做了一神，就是雕刻的偶像。他向這偶像俯伏叩拜，禱告它說：「求你拯救我，因你是我的神。」
44:18 他們不知道，也不思想；因為耶和華閉住他們的眼，不能看見，塞住他們的心，不能明白。
44:19 誰心裡也不醒悟，也沒有知識，沒有聰明，能說：「我曾拿一分在火中燒了，在炭火上烤過餅；我也烤過肉吃。這剩下的，我豈要作可憎的物嗎？我豈可向木墩子叩拜呢？」
44:20 他以灰為食，心中昏迷，使他偏邪，他不能自救，也不能說：「我右手中豈不是有虛謊嗎？」
9 All
who make idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit; their
witnesses neither see nor know. And so they will be put to shame. 10Who
would fashion a god or cast an image that can do no good? 11Look,
all its devotees shall be put to shame; the artisans too are merely human. Let
them all assemble, let them stand up; they shall be terrified, they shall all
be put to shame.
12 The
ironsmith fashions it and works it over the coals, shaping it with hammers, and
forging it with his strong arm; he becomes hungry and his strength fails, he
drinks no water and is faint. 13The carpenter stretches a line,
marks it out with a stylus, fashions it with planes, and marks it with a
compass; he makes it in human form, with human beauty, to be set up in a
shrine. 14He cuts down cedars or 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. 15Then it can be used as fuel. Part of it he
takes and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Then he makes a god
and worships it, makes it a carved image and bows down before it. 16Half
of it he burns in the fire; over this half he roasts meat, eats it and is
satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Ah, I am warm, I can feel the
fire!” 17The rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, bows down to
it and worships it; he prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god!”
18 They
do not know, nor do they comprehend; for their eyes are shut, so that they
cannot see, and their minds as well, so that they cannot understand. 19No
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. Now shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before
a block of wood?” 20He feeds on ashes; a deluded mind has led him
astray, and he cannot save himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand
a fraud?”
************
先知用幽默的筆法來說明偶像是人造出來的，是和一般人燒柴用的木頭並沒有兩樣。所以，拜偶像是一種不智的行為，是將自己降卑的行為，讓自己比木頭還小，那是違反上帝造人的目的！也因此，上帝不僅是維護自己的尊嚴，更是維護我們的尊嚴，所以不可以拜偶像。
所以，拜偶像的人在先知的眼中是頭腦有問題的人，因為這等人是思想混亂，「他們不知道，也不思想；因為耶和華閉住他們的眼，不能看見，塞住他們的心，不能明白。」
其實不管是拜怎樣的偶像，都是愚昧無知，因為這些都是上帝所造的，怎能保護我們，滿足我們心裡真正的需要，使我們喜樂充足！也因此，我們要遠離偶像來親近上帝，唯有上帝才是真神，其他之外沒有神了！
