Yesaya 44:13-17

44:13 A carpenter takes measurements; ¹ 

he marks out an outline of its form; ² 

he scrapes ³  it with chisels,

and marks it with a compass.

He patterns it after the human form, ⁴ 

like a well-built human being,

and puts it in a shrine. ⁵ 

44:14 He cuts down cedars

and acquires a cypress ⁶  or an oak.

He gets ⁷  trees from the forest;

he plants a cedar ⁸  and the rain makes it grow.

44:15 A man uses it to make a fire; ⁹ 

he takes some of it and warms himself.

Yes, he kindles a fire and bakes bread.

Then he makes a god and worships it;

he makes an idol and bows down to it. ¹⁰ 

44:16 Half of it he burns in the fire –

over that half he cooks ¹¹  meat;

he roasts a meal and fills himself.

Yes, he warms himself and says,

‘Ah! I am warm as I look at the fire.’

44:17 With the rest of it he makes a god, his idol;

he bows down to it and worships it.

He prays to it, saying,

‘Rescue me, for you are my god!’

[44:13]  ¹ tn Heb “stretches out a line” (ASV similar); NIV “measures with a line.”

[44:13]  ² tn Heb “he makes an outline with the [?].” The noun שֶׂרֶד (shered) occurs only here; it apparently refers to some type of tool or marker. Cf. KJV “with a line”; ASV “with a pencil”; NAB, NRSV “with a stylus”; NASB “with red chalk”; NIV “with a marker.”

[44:13]  ³ tn Heb “works” (so NASB) or “fashions” (so NRSV); NIV “he roughs it out.”

[44:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “he makes it like the pattern of a man”; NAB “like a man in appearance.”

[44:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “like the glory of man to sit [in] a house”; NIV “that it may dwell in a shrine.”

[44:14]  ⁶ tn It is not certain what type of tree this otherwise unattested noun refers to. Cf. ASV “a holm-tree” (NRSV similar).

[44:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “strengthens for himself,” i.e., “secures for himself” (see BDB 55 s.v. אָמֵץ Pi.2).

[44:14]  ⁸ tn Some prefer to emend אֹרֶן (’oren) to אֶרֶז (’erez, “cedar”), but the otherwise unattested noun appears to have an Akkadian cognate, meaning “cedar.” See H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 44-45. HALOT 90 s.v. I אֹרֶן offers the meaning “laurel.”

[44:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “and it becomes burning [i.e., firewood] for a man”; NAB “to serve man for fuel.”

[44:15]  ¹⁰ tn Or perhaps, “them.”

[44:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “eats” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV “roasts.”