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Isaiah 40:20

He has chosen strong wood that will not decay. The skillful artisan seeks a way to set up an idol that cannot be moved.

Catholic Public Domain Version

In The King James Version

He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.

In Context

19Should the workman cast a statue? Or has the goldsmith formed it with gold, or the silversmith with plates of silver?

21Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been announced to you from the beginning? Have you not understood the foundations of the earth?

Read all of Isaiah 40

Cross References

Isaiah 2:8And their land has been filled with horses. And their four-horse chariots are innumerable. And their land has been filled with idols. They have adored the work of their hands, which their own fingers have made.

Isaiah 44:13The maker of wood has extended his ruler. He has formed it with a plane. He has made it with corners, and he has smoothed its curves. And he has made the image of a man, a seemingly beautiful man, dwelling in a house.

Jeremiah 10:3For the laws of the people are empty. For the work of the hand of the craftsman has cut a tree from the forest with an axe.

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 40:19-27

Vanity of Idols. ( b. c. 708.) 18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? 19 The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains. 20 He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved. 21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

King James VersionBíblia Portuguesa MundialLuther Bibel (Deutsch)Bible Louis Segond (Français)Библия (Русский)新标点和合本성경 (한국어)الكتاب المقدس باللغة العربية، فان دايكBibbia Diodati (Italiano)Kinh Thánh (Tiếng Việt)Biblia Cornilescu (Română)Polish Biblia Gdanska (1881)Statenvertaling (Nederlands)

Study Isaiah 40:20

Matthew HenryJamieson-Fausset-BrownAdam ClarkeJohn WesleyJohn CalvinKeil and DelitzschScofieldFamily Bible NotesGeneva Bible Notes (1599)
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