6Thus says the LORD, King of Israel and its Redeemer, the LORD of Hosts: I am the first and I am the last, and besides me there is no God.7Who is like me that he should call and declare it and set it in order for me, since I established an enduring people, and the coming things and those that will come—let them declare them.8Do not dread and do not fear. Have you not heard from of old and declared, and you are my witnesses? Is there a god besides me? There is no Rock; I have not known any.9All who form an idol are nothing, and their desirable things will not profit; their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame.10Who has formed a god or cast an idol that profits nothing?11Behold, all his companions will be ashamed, and the craftsmen themselves are mere men; let them all gather together; let them stand up; let them dread; let them be ashamed together.12The ironsmith works with an axe and labors over the coals and hammers it into shape; he works it with the strength of his arm; yet he grows hungry and has no strength; he drinks no water and becomes faint.13The woodworker stretches out a measuring line; he marks it out with a stylus; he shapes it with planes and with a compass he marks it out; and he makes it like the figure of a man, like the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house.14He cuts cedars for himself, and he takes cypress and oak; he strengthens it for himself with the trees of the forest; he plants a fir, and the rain makes it grow.15It becomes fuel for a man to burn; he takes some of it and warms himself; he also kindles a fire and bakes bread; he also makes a god and bows down; he fashions it into an idol and prostrates himself before them.16Half of it he burns in the fire; over the other half he roasts meat and eats; he satisfies himself, warms himself, and says, 'Aha, I am warm; I have seen the fire.'17The rest of it he makes into a god, his idol; he bows down to it, prostrates himself, prays to it, and says, 'Deliver me, for you are my god.'18They neither know nor understand, for their eyes are smeared so they cannot see, and their hearts so they cannot understand.19He does not take it to heart, nor has he knowledge or understanding to say, 'Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and ate; and shall I make the rest of it into an abomination and bow down to a block of wood?'20He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has led him astray; he cannot deliver his own soul, nor will he say, 'Is there not a lie in my right hand?'21Remember these things, O Jacob and Israel, for you are my servant; I formed you; you are my servant, O Israel; you will not be forgotten by me.22I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you.23Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done it; shout, O depths of the earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing; O forest and every tree in it, for the LORD has redeemed Jacob and will glorify himself in Israel.