They will be disappointed, yes, confounded, all of them. Those who are makers of idols will go into confusion together.
Parallel translations
- KJV They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols.
- BSB They will all be put to shame and humiliated; the makers of idols will depart together in disgrace.
- NKJV They shall be ashamed And also disgraced, all of them; They shall go in confusion together, Who are makers of idols.
- NASB They will be put to shame and even humiliated, all of them; The manufacturers of idols will go away together in humiliation.
- NLT All craftsmen who make idols will be humiliated. They will all be disgraced together.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
All makers of idols will be put to shame and confounded. False worship leads only to disappointment.
Overview
In contrast to those saved by Yahweh, idolaters face certain humiliation when their lifeless gods fail them. Isaiah repeatedly exposes the futility of idolatry. The verse warns that every hope set on substitutes for the true God collapses, driving us to find refuge in the only Savior.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Isa 44:9Everyone who makes an engraved image is vain. The things that they delight in will not profit. Their own witnesses don’t see, nor know, that they may be disappointed.
- Isa 42:17“Those who trust in engraved images, who tell molten images, ‘You are our gods’ will be turned back. They will be utterly disappointed.
- Isa 44:11Behold, all his fellows will be disappointed; and the workmen are mere men. Let them all be gathered together. Let them stand up. They will fear. They will be put to shame together.
- Isa 45:20“Assemble yourselves and come. Draw near together, you who have escaped from the nations. Those have no knowledge who carry the wood of their engraved image, and pray to a god that can’t save.
- Jer 10:14–15Every man has become brutish and without knowledge; every goldsmith is disappointed by his engraved image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
- Ps 97:7Let all them be shamed who serve engraved images, who boast in their idols. Worship him, all you gods!
- Jer 2:26–27As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets;
- Isa 41:19I will put cedar, acacia, myrtle, and oil trees in the wilderness. I will set cypress trees, pine, and box trees together in the desert;
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 45:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.