18 They do not (A)know, nor do they understand, for He has (B)smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see, and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend. 19 No one [a]remembers, nor is there (C)knowledge or understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eat it. Then [b]I make the rest of it into an (D)abomination, [c]I bow down before a block of wood!”

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 44:19 Lit returns to his heart
  2. Isaiah 44:19 Or shall I make?
  3. Isaiah 44:19 Or shall I bow...?

18 They know nothing, they understand(A) nothing;
    their eyes(B) are plastered over so they cannot see,
    and their minds closed so they cannot understand.
19 No one stops to think,
    no one has the knowledge or understanding(C) to say,
“Half of it I used for fuel;(D)
    I even baked bread over its coals,
    I roasted meat and I ate.
Shall I make a detestable(E) thing from what is left?
    Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”(F)

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Therefore I declared them to you long ago,
Before [a]they took place I proclaimed them to you,
So that you would not say, ‘My (A)idol has done them,
And my carved image and my cast metal image have commanded them.’
You have heard; look at all this.
And you, will you not declare it?
I proclaim to you (B)new things from this time,
Hidden things which you have not known.
They are created now and not long ago;
And before today you have not heard them,
So that you will not say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 48:5 Lit it

Therefore I told you these things long ago;
    before they happened I announced(A) them to you
so that you could not say,
    ‘My images brought them about;(B)
    my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’
You have heard these things; look at them all.
    Will you not admit them?

“From now on I will tell you of new things,(C)
    of hidden things unknown to you.
They are created(D) now, and not long ago;(E)
    you have not heard of them before today.
So you cannot say,
    ‘Yes, I knew(F) of them.’

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