18-20 So who even comes close to being like God?
    To whom or what can you compare him?
Some no-god idol? Ridiculous!
    It’s made in a workshop, cast in bronze,
Given a thin veneer of gold,
    and draped with silver filigree.
Or, perhaps someone will select a fine wood—
    olive wood, say—that won’t rot,
Then hire a woodcarver to make a no-god,
    giving special care to its base so it won’t tip over!

21-24 Have you not been paying attention?
    Have you not been listening?
Haven’t you heard these stories all your life?
    Don’t you understand the foundation of all things?
God sits high above the round ball of earth.
    The people look like mere ants.
He stretches out the skies like a canvas—
    yes, like a tent canvas to live under.
He ignores what all the princes say and do.
    The rulers of the earth count for nothing.
Princes and rulers don’t amount to much.
    Like seeds barely rooted, just sprouted,
They shrivel when God blows on them.
    Like flecks of chaff, they’re gone with the wind.

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18 (A)To whom then will you liken God,
    (B)or what likeness compare with him?
19 (C)An idol! A craftsman casts it,
    and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
    and casts for it silver chains.
20 (D)He who is too impoverished for an offering
    chooses wood[a] that will not rot;
he seeks out a skillful craftsman
    to set up an idol that will not move.

21 (E)Do you not know? Do you not hear?
    Has it not been told you from the beginning?
    Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
    and its inhabitants are (F)like grasshoppers;
(G)who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
    and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 40:20 Or He chooses valuable wood

18 (A)To whom then will you liken God?
Or what likeness will you compare with Him?
19 As for the [a](B)idol, a craftsman casts it,
A goldsmith (C)plates it with gold,
And a silversmith fashions chains of silver.
20 He who is too impoverished for such an offering
Selects a (D)tree that does not rot;
He seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman
To [b]prepare [c]an idol that (E)will not totter.

21 (F)Do you not know? Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?
Have you not understood (G)from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is He who [d]sits above the [e](H)circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like (I)grasshoppers,
Who (J)stretches out the heavens like a (K)curtain
And spreads them out like a (L)tent to live in.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 40:19 Or carved image
  2. Isaiah 40:20 Or set up
  3. Isaiah 40:20 Or a carved image
  4. Isaiah 40:22 Or is enthroned
  5. Isaiah 40:22 Or vault

18 To whom then will you (A)liken God?
Or what likeness will you compare to Him?
19 (B)The workman molds an image,
The goldsmith overspreads it with gold,
And the silversmith casts silver chains.
20 Whoever is too impoverished for such [a]a contribution
Chooses a tree that will not rot;
He seeks for himself a skillful workman
(C)To prepare a carved image that will not totter.

21 (D)Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who (E)stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
And spreads them out like a (F)tent to dwell in.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 40:20 an offering