18 They don’t know or understand anything. Their eyes are plastered shut, so they can’t see. And their minds are closed, so they can’t understand.
19 No one stops to think. No one has enough knowledge or understanding to say, “I burned half of the wood in the fire. I also baked bread over its coals. I roasted meat and ate it. Now I am making the rest of the wood into a disgusting thing and bowing to a block of wood.”
20 They eat ashes because they are deceived. Their own misguided minds lead them astray. They can’t rescue themselves or ask themselves, “Isn’t what I hold in my right hand a false god?”
21 Remember these things, Jacob:You are my servant, Israel.I formed you; you are my servant.Israel, I will not forget you.
22 I made your rebellious acts disappear like a thick cloudand your sins like the morning mist.Come back to me, because I have reclaimed you.
23 Sing with joy, you heavens, because the Lord has done this.Rejoice, you deep places of the earth.Break into shouts of joy, you mountains,you forests and every tree in them.The Lord has reclaimed Jacob.He will display his glory in Israel.
24 The Lord reclaimed you.He formed you in the womb.This is what the Lord says:I, the Lord, made everything.I stretched out the heavens by myself.I spread out the earth all alone.